Alameda County hosted the Fatherhood Summit in Downtown Oakland, CA at the Oakland Marriott City Center. This positive, family-focused event can be a model for not only other counties in the state of California, but the nation, to support our communities’ fathers.
The Alameda County Fatherhood Summit, whose goal is “Celebrating & Honoring the Power of Fatherhood,” is part of a ten-year effort in Alameda County to support fathers and fatherhood throughout the county’s systems. In 2013, two men, Kevin Bremond and Gary Thompson, who were working at First 5 Alameda, an agency dedicated to helping families with young children, founded the Alameda County Fathers Corps (ACFC).
Then in 2016, Alameda County formally adopted the Father Friendly Principles, a set of seven father-friendly principles for all Alameda agencies and departments to follow. These principles advise how any part of the system can make it services and messaging father-friendly.
The 2023 event featured numerous speakers, information booths from relevant support services and nonprofits, and a job fair. Inspiring keynotes were presented by Jerry Tello, Ashanti Branch (“The Mask You Live In”), Prentice Powell, and Shaka Senghor. The breakout session tracks included themes such as Health and Wellness, Leadership and Social Justice, Economic and Career Development, Healthy Relationships, Parenting, and Early Childhood Development, and Fathers’ Rights. A primary sponsor was The Kresge Foundation, and they as well as the additional sponsors and organizer Kevin Bremond deserve a huge thanks. This truly important and informative programming should be a model for counties everywhere, in states around the country.
The full 2023 Alameda County Fatherhood Summit program can be viewed here.
In 2019, the first Fatherhood Summit was held, only to be put on hold during the pandemic. Following the online 2022, the 2023 Summit was once again an in-person event, drawing hundreds of fathers and families at the one-day event in downtown Oakland.
Here is a highlight video of the 2019 Alameda County Fatherhood Summit:
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