I Am Dad

It’s All About Child Support w/ Dr. Jessica Pearson

The Fatherhood Research and Practice Network (FRPN) is a five-year initiative funded by Office of Planning Research and Evaluation to build the evidence base for fatherhood programming. Co-directed by Jessica Pearson of CPR and Jay Fagan, professor of social work, Temple University, FRPN funds teams of researchers and practitioners to conduct rigorous research; provides technical assistance to grantees to improve the quality of the research they conduct; builds the capacity of researchers and fatherhood practitioners by conducting webinars, training programs, preparing written materials, and conducting original research on fatherhood; and disseminates new research and best practices through a comprehensive website, www.frpn.org.
Pearson founded CPR in 1981. Her research includes some of the first national studies of mediation in custody and visitation disputes, parent education, and supervised visitation. She has also completed leading evaluations of new initiatives in child support programs including hospital-based paternity, family-centered services, collaborations with workforce agencies, early intervention strategies, methods of avoiding and addressing child support debt, and addressing parenting time orders and access and visitation problems.
Dr. Pearson served as co-principal investigator of a seven-state demonstration project that resulted in the creation of the State Access and Visitation Grant Program that now awards $10 million annually for programs to support parenting time. Pearson provides technical assistance, research, and facilitation services to federal, state and local agencies, and service delivery programs. Her areas of expertise include improving access to public benefit programs, developing effective work programs for low-income parents and mentoring and literacy programs for disadvantaged learners.
Dr. Pearson is currently the Director of the national Fatherhood Research and Practice Network where she oversees grants distributed to projects to rigorously evaluate fatherhood programs, and provides training to improve practice and evaluation in the fatherhood field. 

Let’s Talk about Sex: Having “THE TALK” w/ Jackie Brewton

Jackie Brewton is a highly sought-after youth speaker, author and teen relationship expert. She is a graduate of Furman University. In 2001, she walked away from a successful career in corporate America in 2001 to establish, MotivationN3D, Inc. a motivational speaking company. She can be found speaking to classrooms of thirty or delivering keynotes before large assemblies of thousands. Over the past 20 years, Jackie has spoken to hundreds of thousands of teens across the country and abroad, and has amassed more than 17,000 letters from students. These letters, along with her “real talk” classroom discussions, have given her a window into the hearts and minds of teen girls and guys, few adults ever get to experience.

From Good Times to Black-ish: Exploring Black Fathers in Television w/ Dr. Janice Kelly

Dr. Janice Kelly is a Full Professor, the Chair of Interdisciplinary Studies, and the Program Director of Professional Communications at Molloy University. She was a guest editor for Fathering: Theory, Research, and Practice about Men as Fathers. She produced a documentary on “Perceptions of Fathers in the Media: In search of the Ideal Father.” She co-edited “Deconstructing Dads: Changing Images of Fathers in Popular Culture.” 
She holds memberships and leadership in several local and national professional organizations and community-based initiatives. She recently published Sistas in Action: Hearing the call leading the way in the book Black Female leaders in Academia: Eliminating the Glass Ceiling with Efficacy, Exuberance, and Excellence. And co-authored an article, “From Silver Streak to Black Panther: The shifting landscape of Black masculinity in film.” Her recent project examines the evolving images and perceptions of Black fathers in TV commercials between 2018-2022. Her research interests include organizational communication, media literacy, media representation of the black family, and gender and leadership styles.

A Daddy Tragedy: Why Do People Commit Suicide? w/ Dr. Thomas Joiner

THOMAS JOINER grew up in Georgia, went to college at Princeton, and received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. He is The Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology at Florida State University (FSU), Tallahassee, Florida. Dr. Joiner’s work is on the psychology, neurobiology, and treatment of suicidal behavior and related conditions. Author of over 795 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Joiner is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, and was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Residency Fellowship for work on suicidal behavior. 

Garbage Bag Suitcase: A Journey of Foster Care and Troubled Fathers w/ Shenandoah Chefalo

Shenandoah Chefalo is a graduate of Michigan State University, holding a Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Science, a Core Essentials Graduate from Coach U, and a member of the Foster Leaders Movement. She is a sought after speaker on topics surrounding youth in foster care, and has been featured as a guest locally, nationally and internationally. A survivor and alumni of the foster care system, Shenandoah Chefalo is also the co-founder of the Good Harbor Institute, which translates evidence-based research on trauma into skills that can be used immediately and everyday. At Good Harbor Institute they believe that knowing is not enough. Skills + Action = Healing. In additional to her book, Garbage Bag Suitcase, she also wrote an e-book entitled Setting Your Vision and Defining Your Goals, and is also working on her next manuscript, Hiking for Stillness.

Exploring the Intersections of Responsible Fatherhood, Friendship and Brotherhood w/ Patrick Patterson

Patrick J. Patterson is President of Global Partners for Fathers and Families Consulting, LLC, a national consulting firm that equips schools, hospitals, Head Start, Healthy Start, public and private sector agencies with the tools to authentically serve fathers, men, boys, and their families. 
Patrick has launched and managed community, statewide, and national fatherhood programs during his 20-year career, including serving as contract manager for the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse during President George W. Bush, President Barack H. Obama, President Donald J. Trump, and President Joseph R. Biden Administrations.  As an expert working with fathers, men, and boys, Patrick has been a featured fatherhood keynote, workshop leader or trainer in 46 states, the US Virgin Islands and 7 different countries. 
He is married to his high school sweetheart, Sherani Ashford Patterson, and they have 2 beautiful daughters, Peyton (16) and Lorin (14), with whom Patrick has co-authored two children’s books entitled “I Love When Daddy Reads to Me” and “Unplugged – A Day of Family Fun without Devices” which are sold on Wal-Mart, Target, Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, and Books a Million websites.
Patrick earned a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Benedict College (an HBCU) and dual Master’s degrees in Social Work and Public Health from the University of South Carolina.   

Conversation with the founder of Daddy Saturday w/ Justin Batt

The purpose of Justin's life is to connect and he's on a mission to connect the hearts of fathers to their children and children back to their fathers. 
Justin is passionate about reigniting and restoring fatherhood around the world and changing the next generation. He's an active father who's taken a bold approach by building a fatherhood platform on four core areas: faith, family, fitness and finances. He believes that if you win at work, but don't win at home then you haven't won. His goal is to provide fathers with events, experiences, education and technology to unleash the unlimited potential inside of their kids and raise resilient kids who go out and change the world. He's created a for-profit and a non-profit that will impact 10 million fathers in the next 10 years and end fatherlessness. He's worked with the NFL, Pro Football Hall of Fame, NASCAR, Fortune 500 and INC 5000 corporations, provides executive 1-1 coaching, completed a TEDx on fatherhood and built a fatherhood media ecosystem that continues to expand. Justin believes that far more is caught than taught and is an intentional and active father with his four kids and serves as a father figure to countless young men in his community.
Justin is also deeply passionate about helping people tell their stories to the world. As the author of the best selling book Daddy Saturday, he created a field manual for fathers on how to be intentional with their kids. In his career as a publisher, he has the honor of helping business leaders, athletes, celebrities, entrepreneurs and thought leaders become professionally published authors. 
Justin wears many hats and is an avid Spartan obstacle course racer. He believes in doing hard things daily and becoming comfortable being uncomfortable. His kids participate in Spartan Kids races and he's integrated the "earned not given" mantra into his home. He's also a farmer and raises highland cows to sell to hobby farms and breeders. Each sale creates the purchase of a cow for a family in Daddy Saturday Kenya. He manages True South Farm, the families personal residence and retreat that hosts weddings, masterminds and corporate events and has a barn Airbnb on site.
His wife Heather Batt is an incredible entrepreneur and he's supported her women-owned businesses for the last 15 years. In fact, that's how Daddy Saturday started as he found himself at home all day on Saturdays with four kids while she ran her bridal business.
He has a B.S. in Sports Marketing from Clemson University.
He and Heather raise their four children (Hayden 15, Blane 13, Mason 10, Easton 8), 15 highland cows, miniature pony and run their modern working farm "True South Farm" outside Nashville, TN.

I Never Met My Father w/ Eugene Schneeberg

Mr. Eugene Schneeberg, President of Fathers Forward and author of “I Never Met My Father: My Journey from Fatherless to Fatherhood” is an award winning and sought after speaker and trainer. Eugene is an expert at providing trainings in the fields of fatherhood, prisoner reentry, youth violence prevention & faith based partnerships.  Eugene provided strategic advice to the White House Office and the U.S. Department of Justice after being appointed by President Barack Obama as the Director of Faith Based Partnerships for the Justice Department.
Eugene led DOJ’s efforts as part of the President Obama’s Responsible Fatherhood Initiative, and the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative. This resulted in over $30 million dollars in new grants for Juvenile Justice Involved Young Fathers and an increased focus on Empowering Parents within the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Eugene co-chaired the Obama Administration’s efforts to support and improve outcomes for Children of Incarcerated Parents. He helped lead the Attorney General Eric Holder’s Federal Reentry Council. He helped expand DOJ’s Youth Violence Prevention efforts helping to build the capacity of more than 30 major US Cities to combat youth violence.
Eugene has received numerous awards, authored several articles and has addressed hundreds of audiences. He has appeared on ABC, CBS and has been quoted and referenced in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Huffington Post, Christian Broadcast Network and many other news outlets.

RECOGNIZING HOW FATHERHOOD SHAPES HOW WE WORK WITH FAMILIES w/ Dr. Stacey Bouchet

Dr. Bouchet is a Senior Consultant for Fathers Incorporated.  She is
the co-author (with Kenneth Braswell) of Fathers Incorporated's
training curriculum, What About Dad, that equips health and human
service providers to more effectively engage fathers. Dr. Bouchet is
also the Principal Consultant for Bouchet and Associates--Strategic
Consulting for Social Change--where she provides expertise in public
relations and communications, outreach, coalition building, research,
evaluation, policy, practice, and program management. She has provided
technical assistance and training to individuals, non-profits,
government entities, philanthropic and mission-driven organizations.
 
Dr. Bouchet is the former Executive Director of Women In Fatherhood
where she advocated for the removal of structural barriers faced by
low-income fathers and developed the Voices of Women and Men Matter
media campaigns to increase positive images of low-income fathers and
men of color and raise the awareness of the importance of fathers from
the vantage point of women.  She was honored as a Champion of Change
for low-income men and fathers by the White House for her work with
Women In Fatherhood.  Dr. Bouchet was also the Project Director for
the Hispanic Healthy Marriage Initiative (HHMI) Grantee Implementation
Evaluation, which was a joint effort between the ACF Office of
Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) and the Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). Dr. Bouchet
brings over 10 years of research-based advocacy on issues related to
vulnerable youth and disadvantaged, minority populations. She is also
a trained behavioral therapist who worked with children with Autism
Spectrum Disorders and provided support for their families.  Dr.
Bouchet is also the proud mother of her 16 year old daughter, Chloe.

A FATHERHOOD JOURNEY TO A DOOR OF NO RETURN w/ Kwame Alexander

Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, producer, and #1 New York Times Bestselling author of 36 books, including THE DOOR OF NO RETURN, AN AMERICAN STORY, BECOMING MUHAMMAD ALI, co-authored with James Patterson, REBOUND, which was shortlisted for prestigious UK Carnegie Medal, The Caldecott Medal and Newbery Honor-winning picture book, THE UNDEFEATED, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, and his NEWBERY medal-winning middle grade novel, THE CROSSOVER.
A regular contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, Kwame is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, The Coretta Scott King Author Honor, Three NAACP Image Award Nominations, and the 2017 Inaugural Pat Conroy Legacy Award. In 2018, he opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic in Ghana, as a part of LEAP for Ghana, an international literacy program he co-founded. He is the writer and executive producer of THE CROSSOVER TV series on Disney+.