The dinner has been moved to January 14th, 2011 in New York City...It has been moved for awesome reasons...You are not going to want to miss this dinner.  If you have not purchased your tickets I encourage you to do so quickly.

 It has been documented that nearly 70% of all job loss in recent economic downturn have occurred to men; many of them also fathers. It is not lost that men of color, particularly in urban communities are continually hit the hardest in turbulent times. Research shows that more often than not, when a father is not working; his children are in poverty. It also shows that when a man is unemployed all of his problems become more extreme. Thus; the need to elevate this notion of responsible fatherhood has never been more important. Over the last several months we have been a part of several dialogues regarding responsible fatherhood as a board member of the National Fatherhood Leaders Group and ongoing White House initiatives.

In a continued response to President Obama’s recent call to encourage the work of responsible fatherhood and mentoring, Fathers Incorporated is hosting its 1^st Annual Fatherhood Heritage Awards Dinner. The goal of the dinner is to highlight a few individuals and organizations that have stood in the gap of serving fathers and families when services and support were all too often unavailable for them. We believe that celebration and recognition is a vital element of promoting the need and the appreciation of responsible fatherhood work.

The dinner theme is “Ties Never Broken.” The theme speaks to the need to address fatherlessness and to note how important it is to project positive fatherhood images for our youth to follow. Our Keynote Speaker will be announced after confirmation, as well as the additional awardees. A special presentation will be delivered by Shawn Dove; Program Manager for Open Society’s Campaign for Black Male Achievement.

We also seek to use this occasion to further the work of Fathers Incorporated. Our five-year goal to become the #1 voice in the world in the promotion of responsible fatherhood and mentoring is within our reach. Through social marketing platforms, traditional media and network development, we seek to close the social image gap of fathers and increase awareness of the need for embracing, encouraging and supporting responsible men.

In 2011 we will collaborate with national civic and corporate entities to engage in a comprehensive marketing strategy to promote responsible fatherhood and mentoring particularly in urban communities. In concert we will all find ways through our respective work to promote a message of responsible fatherhood and mentoring. It is also our intention to use this effort to find ways of assisting President Obama in implementing his fatherhood initiative and fatherhood pledge.

For more information, I can be reached by phone at 518-227-6161 or by email at kenneth.braswell.gmail.com.