About Us

Too many gender diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives focus on how women themselves should address inequities and obstacles, reinforcing the perception that these are "women's issues" alone and that men—often the most influential stakeholders in an organization—don't need to be involved.

The Authors

Gender-in-the-workplace experts David G. Smith, PhD, and W. Brad Johnson, PhD, show why and how men have a crucial role to play in promoting gender equality at work. Research shows that when men are deliberately engaged in gender-inclusion programs, 96 percent of women in those organizations perceive real progress in gender equality, compared with only 30 percent of women in organizations without strong male engagement. Smith, a sociologist, and Johnson, a clinical psychologist, are former naval officers with a mission to help men become more effective allies with women and more inclusive leaders in the workplace.

Using evidence‑based practices from Athena Rising and Good Guys and the newest insights from Fair Share, they show men how to partner with their female colleagues to advance women’s leadership and equality. Together these books guide men to break ingrained gender stereotypes and overcome unconscious bias, intentionally develop and sponsor talented women, and create productive, respectful working relationships.

Fair Share adds practical strategies for redistributing workplace and caregiving responsibilities, advocating for inclusive policies (flexible schedules, equitable parental leave, workload transparency, and fair promotion criteria), and normalizing shared domestic labor so that both organizational and home practices enable women’s full participation and advancement. The combined approach helps men act as accountable allies and systemic change agents—shifting everyday behaviors, manager practices, and institutional policies to produce measurable improvements in gender equity.

W. Brad Johnson, PHD

W. Brad Johnson, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and the co-founder of Workplaceallies.com. For 30 years, he served sailors and marines in the U. S. Navy, first as a commissioned officer in the Navy’s Medical Service Corps, and later as a tenured full professor at Annapolis in the U. S. Naval Academy's Department of Leadership, Ethics, and Law. As an officer, Dr. Johnson served as a psychologist at Bethesda Naval Hospital and the Medical Clinic at Pearl Harbor where he was the division head for psychology. For 20 years, he was also a clinical faculty associate at Johns Hopkins University where he was awarded the annual Faculty Teaching Excellence Award.

He is an award-winning mentor with distinguished mentor awards from the National Institutes of Health and the American Psychological Association. He is also a fellow of the American Psychological Association. He has served as chair of the American Psychological Association’s Ethics Committee and as president of the Society for Military Psychology.

Dr. Johnson is the author of more than 140 journal articles and book chapters—many on the topic of mentoring—and 14 books, in the areas of mentoring, gender in the workplace, and professional ethics. Recent books include: Fair Share: How Men and Women Can Create a More Equitable Workplace Together (2026, June, with David Smith); Good Guys: How Men Can Become Better Allies for Women in the Workplace (2020, October, with David Smith); On Being a Mentor: A Guide for Higher Education Faculty (3rd Ed.) (2025, with Kimberly Griffin); The Elements of Mentoring (3rd Ed.) (2018, with Charles Ridley); and Athena Rising: How and Why Men Should Mentor Women (2016, with David Smith).

He speaks around the globe on the topics of mentorship and cross-gender workplace relationships.

More About Brad

David Smith, PHD

David Smith, PhD, is a Professor of Practice and Co-Director of the Gender & Work Initiative in the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. A former Navy pilot, David led diverse organizations of women and men, culminating in command of a squadron in combat, and flew more than 3,000 hours over 30 years, including combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As a sociologist, he focuses his research in gender, work, and family issues, including allyship, inclusive leadership, mental load, gender bias in performance evaluations, and dual career families.

David is the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters—many on the topic of gender and the workplace—and 3 books in the area of gender in the workplace. These books include Fair Share: How Men and Women Can Create a More Equitable Workplace Together (June 2026 with Brad Johnson), Good Guys: How Men Can Be Better Allies for Women in the Workplace (October 2020 with Brad Johnson), and Athena Rising: How and Why Men Should Mentor Women (September 2016 with Brad Johnson).

David is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review and his work has also been featured in ABC News – Good Morning America, Chief, Fast Company, Female Quotient, Financial Times, Forbes, Globe and Mail, Inc., Kiplinger, Los Angeles Times, Management Today, MarketWatch, McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org, MedPage Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Reuters, Rutgers Business Review, SHRM, theSkimm, and The Wall Street Journal, He speaks around the globe on the topics of allyship, leadership and gender and workplace relationships.

More About David

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