Retired from the U.S. Marine Corps due to combat wounds, 30-year-old Tim Brooks is now a medical student in West Virginia.

He is also a single father with full custody of his 5-year-old son, Austin, and a proud supporter of the HeForShe movement. Tim spoke with Austin about the meaning of HeForShe. The child’s reflection: It was “weird” to him “because shouldn’t we be nice to everyone?” Tim smiled and said yes—and added, “Keep an eye out and stand up for those who need you.”

Joannes Paulus Yimbesalu describes his trip to three primary schools as the highlight of his year.

In December of 2014, the 27-year-old Cameroonian was visiting school projects that his NGO, HOPE for Children Cameroon, was involved with. A deep believer in HeForShe, he decided to integrate gender-equality messages into his talks and inspire the children’s male relatives to make public promises to respect their wives.

“You are not stuck in traffic. You are traffic. Speak up. Cycle on. Support gender equality.”

This was the message on the poster of a recent HeForShe event. On April 5, 2015, over 700 cyclists joined a bicycle rally in Pune, India, to campaign for the HeForShe movement. This innovative event was developed by UN Global Youth Advocate Saket Mani and the World Peace Centre Youth Mission, supported by UN Women.

The 40-year-old Kenyan activist came across HeForShe on social media in November 2014 and signed the campaign’s commitment. It came at a time when Erick was exploring the direction for a project he had been incubating called Spice Chungu. Inspired by HeForShe, he transformed his project to establish a creative hub in western Kenya to empower rural women.

Women have always impacted society in their own creative ways. The men, however, have never stood up to realize and recognize these abilities.

When Michael Bacon, a buyer for a large online shoe retailer, isn’t pitching deals, he pitches equality. His best prop? The HeForShe logo on his computer.

One day, Michael was making a sales presentation when someone saw the HeForShe wallpaper on his desktop and asked what it meant. The question opened the door for Michael to explain the movement and discuss why gender equality is important to him. Caught off-guard, one co-worker asked, “I thought you had to be a woman to be a feminist.”

HeForShe Equality Stories Spotlight Powerful Impact Created by Global Supporters

A team of students from the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) engaged more than 5,000 men and boys in Pakistan to commit to HeForShe.

The commitment drive, held across two days in May, 2015, brought the global total of commitments to more than 300,000. In July, the young volunteers received UN Women’s first-ever global HeForShe Award, recognizing them as role models and leaders.

What did it take to win? Two days, 72 students, and 5,000 HeForShe commitments to gender equality.

In June 2015, Senior Chief Inkosi Kachindamoto annulled 330 youth marriages in Dedza district, in the Central Region of Malawi.

The move affected 175 girl wives and 155 boy fathers and is part of an effort to encourage former child spouses to return to school and continue a healthy childhood.