Monty Badami
Dr Monty Badami is an Anthropologist and the Founder of Habitus, a social enterprise that uses Anthropology and Emotional Intelligence to unlock the superpower of what it means to be human.
Monty is also an Infantry Officer in the Australian Army Reserves. He combines his knowledge of Army leadership with evolutionary evidence and cross-cultural research to demonstrate how our creativity, diversity and imperfection is essential to our adaptability and success as a species.
Monty’s PhD research involved living with a marginalised indigenous group in India who were slaves until recently. He studied many things including substance use, high rates of suicide and mental health within the community. It is here that he fully developed his social and ethical foundations and nurtured a deep appreciation for the innovation and resilience of humans all over the world.
He now works closer to home, where he delivers transformative workshops that help organisations to improve their performance and gain a competitive edge by embracing our humanity and nurturing collaborative and inclusive cultures.
Monty uses the profits from Habitus to work with public schools and communities in need. He works closely with men and boys, running Rites of Passage programs and father and son camps, and he runs a series of “Brave Conversations” where he uses his anthropological knowledge to challenge the norms of toxic masculinity as well as other stereotypes of class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and race. He is currently working on a major “Citizen Ethnography” project with people with lived experience in the suicidality and mental health space.
Apart from being a passionate educator, Monty is a jazz singer, martial arts instructor, and hosts a Podcast, called “The Meaning Of…” with Philosopher and friend Dr Tim Dean.
Abstracts this author is presenting: