I Am Dad

In this episode of I Am Dad Podcast, Kenneth Braswell sits down with Dr. Matisa Wilbon at the 2026 National Fatherhood Summit for a thoughtful conversation on human flourishing, fatherhood, co-parenting, and emotional wellness.
The conversation begins with the idea of human flourishing, drawing from the framework of happiness and life satisfaction, mental and physical health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, and close social relationships. Kenneth and Dr. Wilbon then place that concept inside the developing framework of Co-Parenting Maturity™, asking what it looks like when fathers and co-parents are not only functioning, but truly flourishing.
Together, they explore how fathers often enter fatherhood programs carrying barriers connected to child support, custody, parenting time, legal issues, relationship strain, grief, fear, shame, and systems that may not always see them as whole human beings. But this conversation does not stay in the deficit. It pushes toward hope, joy, maturity, resilience, mindfulness, steadiness, covenant, partnership, and the emotional health required to keep children at the center.
This episode explores:
• What human flourishing means in the context of fatherhood• How Co-Parenting Maturity™ connects to resilience, mindfulness, and steadiness• Why co-parenting must remain child-centered• How communication can either block or build understanding• Why fathers need to be honored as whole human beings• The difference between happiness and joy• How systems can disrupt fathers’ ability to flourish• Why maturity includes learning to find joy beyond barriers• How gratitude, perspective, and emotional wellness can shift fatherhood practice• What “co-parenting flourishing” might mean for fathers, mothers, children, and families
Kenneth and Dr. Wilbon also reflect on the importance of language. Words like repair, recovery, rebuilding, maturity, joy, and flourishing matter because they shape how fathers see themselves and how programs support them. Rather than treating fathers as broken, the conversation invites us to see fathers as worthy, resilient, capable, and still becoming.
One of the central ideas in this episode is that fathers are not simply program participants. They are human beings with feelings, fears, hopes, dignity, relationships, and children who need the best of them. When fathers flourish, families are strengthened. When co-parents mature, children benefit. When joy becomes part of the work, the conversation moves beyond crisis and toward transformation.
This episode is for fathers, mothers, co-parents, practitioners, researchers, faith leaders, family-serving organizations, and anyone interested in the future of fatherhood, family wellbeing, and healthy co-parenting.

In this episode of Sideline Dad, powered by the I Am Dad Podcast Network, host Javin Foreman welcomes Tom Henske, founder of Total Cents and Total Cents University.
Tom is a certified financial planner, University of Virginia professor, former two-time All-American soccer player, three-time NCAA champion, author, and financial education leader helping young people, athletes, parents, and universities build stronger financial habits.
This conversation connects the world of sports to the world of money. Just like athletes do not wait until game day to prepare, young people should not wait until their first paycheck, NIL deal, endorsement, or career opportunity to learn how money works.
Javin and Tom discuss how parents can use ordinary moments such as car rides, dinner conversations, sports fees, shoe purchases, and youth athletics to teach children discipline, decision-making, saving, stewardship, responsibility, and gratitude.

In this episode of I Am Dad Podcast, host Kenneth Braswell interviews Christopher Emanuel, co-founder of Sky Is the Limit Foundation, during the National Shared Parenting Summit in Washington, D.C.
Christopher’s story is one of faith, fatherhood, pain, purpose, and perseverance. After his biological daughter became involved in what he describes as human trafficking through adoption, Christopher fought for her, gained full custody, and transformed that experience into a larger mission to serve families, youth, and fathers.
In this conversation, Christopher talks about his daughter Skylar, the power of a child’s voice, and the importance of helping young people discover their gifts, talents, and calling. He explains how Sky Is the Limit Foundation began as a community response to truancy, gang involvement, and the lack of father presence, and how it has grown into a safe, gender-specific, trauma-responsive space for youth and families.
Kenneth and Christopher also discuss the shared parenting movement, responsible fatherhood, the Responsible Father Registry, adoption trafficking, community healing, and the need to create spaces where fathers feel seen, heard, supported, and equipped.
This episode explores:
• Christopher Emanuel’s fatherhood journey• How pain can become passion and purpose• The story of Skylar and the power of a child’s voice• Why fathers need safe spaces to be heard and seen• How Sky Is the Limit Foundation supports youth and families• The Responsible Father Registry and adoption trafficking concerns• Why shared parenting advocacy must reach more communities• How fathers can model healing, leadership, and purpose• Why awareness is one of the biggest challenges in shared parenting• The importance of bringing responsible fatherhood and shared parenting work together
At the heart of Christopher’s message is a powerful truth: fathers are not asking to replace mothers. Fathers are asking to be recognized, respected, and included in the lives of their children.
This conversation is for fathers, mothers, advocates, practitioners, policymakers, youth leaders, and anyone committed to protecting children, strengthening families, and building communities where fathers are fully seen.

In this episode of I Am Dad Podcast, host Kenneth Braswell interviews Mark Ludwig, President of the National Council on Equal Shared Parenting, during the Shared Parenting Summit in Washington, D.C.
Mark shares the deeply personal story that brought him into this work: a custody experience that left him separated from his son for 204 days and forced him to confront the emotional reality many fathers face when trying to remain present in their children’s lives. What began as one father’s fight became a national mission to educate policymakers, build coalitions, support parents, and advance shared parenting reform across the country.
Kenneth and Mark explore the evolution of the fatherhood and shared parenting movement, including the challenges of moving beyond anger, trauma, and old “father’s rights” narratives toward mature, strategic, policy-focused advocacy. They discuss how legislative change requires relationships, trust, language, credibility, and the ability to meet lawmakers where they are.
The conversation also touches on:
• Mark’s personal custody journey and why he wrote letters to his son every night• The importance of protecting children from feeling unwanted or abandoned• How the shared parenting movement has matured over time• Why advocacy must be strategic, not reactive• The role of women, veterans, military families, child welfare, child support, and domestic violence voices in shared parenting conversations• Why child support and Title IV-D reform are central to the shared parenting debate• How federal funding structures influence family court systems• The importance of training advocates to work effectively with legislators• Mark’s book, The Parental Alienation Playbook• Kenneth’s emerging concept of Co-Parenting Maturity• Why responsible fatherhood and shared parenting advocates must collaborate
This episode is not simply about custody. It is about children, systems, family stability, and the urgent need to create policies that do not force parents into unnecessary conflict.
At the center of the conversation is a shared belief: fathers should not have to prove that they matter after the fact. Systems should begin with the understanding that children need meaningful relationships with both parents whenever it is safe and appropriate.

In this episode of Sideline Dad, powered by the I Am Dad Podcast Network, host Javin Foreman welcomes John Damon, former Division I football player at Boston College, performance coach, gym designer, and founder of The Cave in Charlotte, North Carolina.
For more than 30 years, John Damon has trained and advised Hollywood talent, Fortune 500 executives, professional athletes, coaches, and high performers. His work has shaped elite training spaces from The Sports Club/LA to Equinox, Active Fitness, IRON, and now The Cave, a private training and recovery sanctuary built around discipline, detail, recovery, and intentional excellence.
But this conversation goes far beyond fitness.
John and Javin explore what it means to build “The Standard” in sports, parenting, leadership, and fatherhood. They discuss how young athletes are shaped by environment, expectations, love, habits, recovery, and the people around them. John challenges parents to think deeply about the culture they create for their children, the standards they model, and the importance of giving kids both love and good information.

In this episode of I Am Dad Podcast, host Kenneth Braswell travels to East New York, Brooklyn, for an on-location conversation with Bishop Ferguson, board chair of Fathers Incorporated and program director at the Liberty Avenue Men’s Shelter.
This conversation asks a question we do not ask often enough:
What does housing instability mean for men and fathers?
Too often, conversations about homelessness focus on women and children, while men, especially fathers, are treated as an afterthought. But many unhoused men are fathers. Many are sons, grandfathers, uncles, veterans, returning citizens, men living with mental health challenges, and men trying to hold on to dignity in systems that often see them only as cases, beds, risks, or numbers.
Bishop Ferguson offers a deeply honest look inside a men’s shelter serving 150 men in East New York. He explains the realities of working with men who are unhoused, men returning from incarceration, men with mental health needs, men who have been couch surfing, men who have lost relationships or caregivers, and men who are trying to rebuild their lives one step at a time.
This episode explores:
• The difference between being unhoused and being homeless• Why many men in shelters are also fathers• How housing systems often fail to account for fatherhood• Why some fathers refuse studio apartments because they need space for their children• The importance of dignity, respect, and agency for men in shelter settings• How mental health, reentry, aging, and housing instability intersect• Why some men have been in shelters for 10, 15, or even 17 years• The need for case management, medical care, psychiatric care, housing specialists, and follow-up support• Why men’s shelters are often underfunded and misunderstood• How staff safety, compassion, and structure all matter in shelter environments• Why housing men is also fatherhood work
One of the most powerful moments in the conversation comes when Bishop Ferguson describes a father who refused to leave shelter until he could secure a one-bedroom apartment because he wanted a place where his children could visit. That story reminds us that housing is not just about having a roof. It is about belonging, dignity, family, identity, and the possibility of being a father in a real and present way.
Kenneth and Bishop Ferguson also explore how society responds differently to women’s homelessness than men’s homelessness. They challenge listeners to remember that every unhoused man is also someone’s son, someone’s father, someone’s uncle, someone’s brother, and someone whose humanity deserves to be seen.
This episode is a necessary conversation for fatherhood practitioners, housing advocates, faith leaders, policymakers, social service providers, reentry programs, and anyone committed to strengthening families by addressing the full reality of men’s lives.

In this episode of I Am Dad Podcast, host Kenneth Braswell welcomes Dr. Tova Walsh, Associate Professor at the Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, for a deep and timely conversation about the evolving field of fatherhood research and the systems that still struggle to fully include fathers.
Dr. Walsh began her career as a home visitor working with families during pregnancy and early childhood. In that role, she quickly noticed something many systems still overlook today: programs often use words like “family” and “parent,” but in practice, they are designed around mothers and babies while fathers are left out.
This conversation explores how far fatherhood research has come, how far it still needs to go, and what it will take to build systems that treat fathers as essential to child and family wellbeing.
Kenneth and Dr. Walsh discuss:
• Why fatherhood research has grown dramatically over the last few decades• Why we no longer need to prove that fathers matter• How social work education still needs to better prepare practitioners to engage fathers• Why researchers must build real partnerships with fatherhood organizations and compensate fathers for their expertise• The need for stronger, more reliable fatherhood data• Why fatherhood needs a stronger national representative body or organizing infrastructure• How maternal and child health systems often leave fathers out by design• Why fathers should be included in prenatal care, pediatric care, and early childhood guidance• The importance of co-parenting support during the first year of a child’s life• How child support policy can harm low-income fathers and families when it is built around stereotypes• Why paternal mental health needs greater attention, especially during the transition to fatherhood• The emotional toll of child support debt, incarceration, unemployment, and relationship disruption• Whether father absence should be understood as an adverse childhood experience
Dr. Walsh also reflects on her own family story, including how her father’s history and family trauma shaped her understanding of parenting, fatherhood, and the need to support men as whole people.
This episode is a must-watch for fatherhood practitioners, researchers, social workers, policymakers, maternal and child health professionals, early childhood providers, child support leaders, family service organizations, and anyone committed to building stronger families by fully including fathers.

In this powerful Part 2 conversation on I Am Dad Podcast, host Kenneth Braswell welcomes back longtime friend, brother, faith leader, and community advocate Greg Owens for a deeper discussion on Black fatherhood, race, culture, leadership, and the work required to move from narrative to impact.
After Part 1 explored fatherhood, faith, and the Black church, this episode shifts into a broader and more critical conversation: what happens when the phrase “Black fathers” becomes more visible in research, policy, media, philanthropy, and public discourse?
Kenneth and Greg unpack the importance of naming Black fathers without reducing them to a stereotype or treating them as a monolithic group. They explore how conversations about race can either open doors to understanding or chase people out of the room when not handled with wisdom, precision, and care.
This episode examines:
• What it means to talk about Black fathers without flattening their experiences• Why race matters, but cannot be the only entry point into the conversation• How universal values such as safety, health, access, family, and dignity keep more people in the room• Why philanthropy after George Floyd often invested in ideas without building infrastructure• The difference between outputs, outcomes, and real community impact• Why Black men and Black women must resist being pushed into a “victimization war”• How leadership must move beyond transactions and toward transformation• What it means to raise Black children with culture, agency, faith, resilience, and discernment
Greg also reflects on raising his daughter and helping her develop confidence, agency, and cultural grounding while allowing her faith walk and identity to become her own. Kenneth adds powerful reflections on parenting through pain, watching children endure hardship, and understanding that some lessons cannot be rescued away.
This episode is a call to think more deeply about language, leadership, race, family, and impact. It asks us to move beyond slogans and toward strategy. Beyond visibility and toward infrastructure. Beyond representation and toward transformation.

This episode of I Am Dad Podcast opens a powerful conversation about fatherhood, faith, leadership, and the responsibility of the Black church to speak more intentionally to men and families.
Host Kenneth Braswell sits down with longtime friend, brother, faith leader, and community advocate Greg Owens inside Macedonia Baptist Church in Albany, New York. Their relationship crosses many spaces: community work, music, radio, church, fatherhood, family advocacy, and the shared commitment to strengthening Black families.
Together, Kenneth and Greg move beyond a simple “church conversation” and into something deeper: a conversation about faith, trust, leadership, justice, and how men experience spiritual spaces.
 

This episode of I Am Dad Podcast features a timely and important conversation from the Moynihan Institute for Fatherhood Research and Policy on how Black fathers are portrayed in television commercials and popular media.
Guest host Dr. David Miller sits down with Dr. Jeffrey Shears and Dr. Janice Kelly to discuss their research study on the portrayal of Black fathers in TV commercials. The conversation explores how Black fathers are often made invisible, reduced to background roles, or narrowly depicted in ways that do not reflect the lived experiences of many Black families.
The episode opens with a discussion of well-known advertising moments, including the public response to ads where Black fathers were absent from family-centered images. From there, the conversation moves into a deeper analysis of why representation matters, how advertising shapes public perception, and what Black fathers themselves said when asked to respond to commercials featuring fathers and families.
This episode explores:
• Why Black fathers are often missing or minimized in advertising• How TV commercials shape cultural narratives about family• Why authentic portrayals of Black fatherhood matter• What Black fathers said about how they want to be represented• The importance of showing fathers as nurturing, loving, funny, and present• Why intergenerational images of Black fathers, sons, and grandfathers matter• How advertisers can do better by listening to Black fathers directly• The need for more research on Black fathers in television, cable, faith communities, and grandparenthood
The discussion also highlights a critical truth: Black fathers are not asking for perfect portrayals. They are asking for full portrayals.
They want to be seen as caregivers, protectors, workers, nurturers, disciplinarians, partners, sons, grandsons, fathers, and grandfathers. They want commercials and media images that reflect the complexity, tenderness, humor, responsibility, and generational strength that exist in Black family life.
This episode is essential viewing for advertisers, media professionals, researchers, practitioners, fathers, families, and anyone who cares about reshaping the narrative around Black fatherhood.