Tim Mousseau

Retaking Our Story: Reframing the Sexual VIOLENCE Conversation

It took one letter to redefine Tim’s life. With a series of photographs, Tim faced the evidence of an experience he had no memory of – he learned he was a victim of sexual assault. Not only did he have to come to grips with this new reality, but he also had to face the ongoing nightmare of being stalked and blackmailed. After struggling in isolation and grappling with shame reinforced by others, he realized something—this was his story to tell. By telling it, he could help himself and, more importantly, help others rekindle feelings of safety.

After years of silence, Tim published his experience, and thousands read about his story as a survivor. He never imagined the responses. As Tim talked with hundreds, he realized that authentically opening up on this sensitive topic created chances to reframe how communities were having this conversation.

In this keynote, Tim leads a deep and vulnerable conversation on the delicate topic of sexual violence, drawing from his original research, personal experiences, and years of advocacy. Tim provides resources to communities that allow them to facilitate productive conversations around sexual assault, assists in the survivor recovery process, and shares how the power of personal and community action can be utilized in prevention. Students will leave feeling empowered to create a culture of compassion while realistically facing an issue prevalent on campuses across the country. This program is federally compliant with Title IX guidelines and regularly updated to address emerging research in sexual violence prevention.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of attending this program, students will learn:

• How to empower a supportive campus culture focused on preventing sexual violence, promoting healthy relationships, and efficiently using community resources.
• The different forms of sexual violence, how these can impact an individual, and how to better address these issues within their community.
• The beliefs, norms, and status quos that can enable sexual violence to continue, and how everyone can play a role in challenging this on a group and campus level.
• Bystander intervention skills tailored to their specific community, how to overcome common barriers, and a focus on Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary forms of intervention.
• A clear understanding of empathetic consent, survivor support, bystander intervention, healthy relationships, and overcoming rape-supportive cultures.

Creating Safer Campus Communities: Sexual Violence Prevention That GoES Beyond Compliance

Your students, faculty, and staff deserve a campus experience where they feel safe. A community free from sexual violence or harassment. Without the right perspectives, resources, and support, campus professionals might miss opportunities to support their students. Worse, they might not act for fear of violating federal or campus mandates.

Preventing these harmful behaviors takes more than mere compliance. It requires an intentional approach. As a survivor of sexual violence and researcher on this topic, Tim Mousseau has spent nearly a decade supporting campus prevention efforts. He knows that it’s possible to advance your campus dialogue in a way that maintains compliance and reinforces a culture of care.

In this program, faculty and staff will explore the issues of sexual violence currently facing higher education and leave better equipped to support their students. Pairing original research with emerging and campus data, Tim helps professionals recontextualize their role in this conversation. This program aims to demystify the topic, removing stigma or anxiety by combining practical knowledge with trauma-informed best practices. Faculty and staff will leave inspired to engage with existing campus sexual violence prevention efforts and confident about how they can help.

Facilitating this program, Tim has supported Title IX offices operating with limited resources, Departments of Student Affairs seeking to improve their students’ experiences, specific college faculty, and entire athletic departments and coaching staff. He has even helped overwhelmed and resistant groups recognize the importance of engaging with this topic. This program complements Tim’s undergraduate keynote, providing your campus with an all-encompassing view and offering tools to continue the conversation.

Learning Outcomes

Faculty and staff will leave this program with:

• A comprehensive understanding of the trending and emerging issues of sexual violence facing their current student populations.
• Actionable best practices grounded in Title IX compliance and trauma-informed care to support the student populations that they serve.
• Resources and tools to facilitate productive dialogues, direct their students towards campus support services, and manage ongoing conversations if issues emerge in the campus community.
• An in-depth perspective around sexual violence, its causes, and impacts to reframe how they contextualize this topic, determine opportunities for engagement, and challenge harmful cultural norms.
• A clear idea of how they can better engage with your institution’s existing resources and offices to partner on initiatives, seek further Title IX training, or drive departmental change.

Mo-Men-Tum: Changing The Landscape on Modern Masculinity

As a male survivor of sexual assault, researcher, and widely published author on masculinity, Tim has seen firsthand how frequently students want to have conversations concerning the ever-changing idea of masculinity. The key lies in helping guide these discussions in a way that is just as fluid as the differing definitions of masculinity. While working with hundreds of thousands of students discussing sex positivity and sexual violence prevention, Tim has learned how to create spaces where students can have critical discussions about the role of masculinity in their community. And he found that facilitating these honest conversations creates safer, more inclusive spaces for all.

Throughout this program, Tim guides participants to explore, critique, and navigate their personal and communal definitions of masculinity. He also empowers participants to embrace versions of masculinity that feel healthy while pushing past regressive and outdated status quos. In a vulnerable, honest, and authentic conversation, Tim helps everyone understand various obstacles that can shift masculinity from being healthy to causing harm.

In this keynote, Tim leads a vulnerable conversation about exploring his masculinity as a male survivor and how traditional values and tropes of masculinity influence our perceptions. Tim will leave a lasting impact on your students by connecting personal stories with original research grounded in the collegiate experience. This program challenges harmful perceptions while building a welcoming dialogue where everyone can participate.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of attending this program, students will learn:

• How to distinguish between healthy versus harmful masculinity and identify how these perceptions can influence a group culture.
• The societal systems and cultural institutions that shape masculinity and the lingering impact of these rooted norms when left unchallenged.
• Tools, habits, activities, and group norms that they can use to generate productive conversations about masculinity in their particular organizations.
• Ways to better support male-identifying student populations in areas correlated to mental health, seeking out support, and building compassionate cultures.
• Ways to constructively challenge male-identifying student populations to overcome outdated masculine norms, rooted beliefs, and behaviors that are causing harm to the self or others.

Tattooing Your Leadership Legacy

How is student leadership like a tattoo? Despite what you might think, the answer is not that both of these things have “meaning.” Having spent considerable time in tattoo shops, Tim knows that people have countless motivations for getting tattoos. Having spent considerable time supporting student leaders, he also knows that why our students choose to engage, their organizational goals, and what they hope to achieve also stem from countless motivations.

Whether our student leaders want to change the world, build a unique community around a niched interest, or plan the most amazing campus event, each of these goals is meaningful. Instead of defining the intensity of their legacy, the key lies in offering our student leaders a proven process to help them intentionally and creatively accomplish their individually meaningful goals.

In this creative keynote, Tim uses humorous, insightful stories that connect the process behind getting a tattoo to viewing leadership as an art form. He will help students understand how to develop a shared mission, create safe communities, offer their members a say, and help everyone leave their experience satisfied with their legacy. By discussing acting with clearer visions that move beyond ineffective status quos, Tim will prepare students to ditch leadership labels and become their most authentic selves. By embracing their imagination, creativity, and flaws, students will realize the power of being a unique leader, whatever that means for them.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of attending this program, students will learn:

• Why the reasons behind their goals and motivations for joining a student organization or serving as a leader are less meaningful than ensuring everyone feels safe and invested, and satisfied with their accomplishments.
• How to create safe experiences where organization members, stakeholders, and peers feel included in their identities, capable of speaking up, and engaged throughout an experience.
• The derailing factors that limit their peers from speaking up and how to build an organizational culture that overcomes these obstacles.
• Ways to reconcile their intended purpose with the needs and wants of their members to ensure alignment, satisfaction, excitement, and greater buy-in.