Ken Canfield
Dr. Ken Canfield is a nationally known leader and scholar who has committed his life to strengthening fathers and families. He founded the National Center for Fathering – fathers.com – in 1990 and has been involved with many other organizations during his care
He is the author of numerous articles, both popular and scientific, and has written twelve books, including The 7 Secrets of Effective Fathers, The Heart of a Father, The Adventures in Fatherhood Series, They Call Me Dad, and most recently, The HEART of Grandparenting, as well as several book chapters in collaborative texts.
Besides publishing, Canfield was heard on a daily weekday radio commentary, Today’s Father, which he began in 1993 and aired on over 600 stations nationwide. He has been interviewed on The Oprah Winfrey Show (twice), NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s World News Tonight, Focus on the Family, 700 Club, and numerous other radio and television programs.
Ken is also founder and president of the National Association for Grandparenting (grandkidsmatter.org), believing that grandparents are a missing and needed addition to strengthen the family system.
David Hirsch
David Hirsch is the father of five, grandfather of one and a native Chicagoan. David graduated from University of Illinois and has a MBA from the JL Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He was previously a CPA/tax accountant with Price Waterhouse and since 1985, a wealth manager previously with Shearson American Express, Smith Barney, Credit Suisse and currently a Sr. VP at UBS Financial Services. In 1997 he helped found Illinois Fatherhood Initiative and in 2015 the 21st Century Dads Foundation. He’s the author of 21st Century Dads: A Father’s Journey To Break The Cycle Of Father Absence and gave a TEDx Talk entitled: Why We Need To Break The Cycle Of Father Absence. He is also host of the SFN Dad To Dad Podcast.
Karen Hwang
Karen S. Hwang is an entrepreneurial attorney based in Chicago where she focuses on business, branding, and intellectual property law in the hospitality, entertainment, and tech market space. She is dedicated to advising entrepreneurs and companies in starting, growing, and protecting all aspects of their businesses. Her prior experiences include working in Korea, and with various companies ranging from start-ups to a Fortune 500 company which allows her to combine her business acumen and legal advisory services to meet the diverse aspects of her client's needs.
Karen is also an active member of the Chicago legal and Asian community, and President of the Korean American Coalition of Chicago (KACC), a non-partisan, non-profit organization with national headquarters in Los Angeles and one of the leading advocacy and leadership development organizations for Korean American entrepreneurs and professionals in Chicago.
Karen is licensed to practice law in Illinois since 2012 and California since 2013.
Jeffrey D. Schmidt
Jeffrey D. Schmidt is a veteran attorney with more than two decades of experience representing businesses and individuals in all types of corporate and contractual transactions, including the acquisition and disposition of businesses, buy-sell agreements, vendor agreements, employment agreements, non-compete and confidentiality agreements, licensing agreements, supplier agreements and many other sophisticated matters. His experience includes work on behalf of technology, manufacturing, health care and professional services clients, among others.
Mr. Schmidt has become a trusted advisor to many family and closely held businesses. He has represented these businesses throughout the corporate life cycle-from formation, through growth and acquisitions, succession planning and divestitures.
Mr. Schmidt received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Notre Dame and his M.B.A. from Boston College, Carroll Graduate School of Management. He was named a 2009 Illinois Rising Star by Illinois Super Lawyers Magazine. Mr. Schmidt is licensed to practice in Illinois and Indiana.
Mr. Schmidt is active in his church and serves as a volunteer and advisor to the H Foundation, which raises money for cancer research. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Business School at Moraine Valley Community College. Mr. Schmidt previously served on the Board of GAP Community Center, a non-profit corporation that provides services to at-risk children and disadvantaged adults. He is also an active member of a variety of other professional organizations, including the Notre Dame Club of Chicago. Mr. Schmidt previously served on the Board of Directors of Midwest Electric, Inc., an electrical contractor based in Columbus, Ohio.
Mr. Schmidt grew up in Indiana and Michigan. He currently lives with his wife and daughter in Palos Heights, Illinois.
Kimberly Wolf
Kimberly Wolf, M.Ed., is a national expert on the topics of youth wellness, youth media use, and parent-child communication in adolescence. An educator and sought after speaker, she teaches young people next-level health and wellness strategies and equips parents with the information and tools they need to support the physical and mental wellbeing of today's teenagers. With a deep understanding of the power fathers have to influence girls' lives for the better, Kimberly coaches dads around the world on the art of father-daughter relationships in the adolescent years. She holds an undergraduate degree from Brown University (B.A.) and a master’s in human development and psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (M.Ed.), where she studied the intersections between adolescent health and mass media. Kimberly has been quoted on or contributed to platforms including CNN, NPR, Forbes, The Huffington Post, WebMd, and Health.com.
Stephen Dypiangco
Stephen Dypiangco is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Dadventures, a startup connecting parents with fun things to do with their kids.
Previously, he was a producer, director and digital executive focused on the intersection of entertainment and technology, especially online video.
He produced the Academy Award-winning Best Live Action Short Film “God of Love,” worked on the Academy-Award winning Best Animated Short Film “Dear Basketball,” and the action comedy film Awesome Asian Bad Guys (available at AwesomeAsianBadGuys.com, iTunes, Amazon).
He co-founded of the National Film Society, a media studio that produced over 100 YouTube videos in partnership with PBS Digital Studios. His work has been featured by PBS, Mashable, The Wall Street Journal, AllThingsD, Filmmaker Magazine, Indiewire, Tubefilter and Angry Asian Man.
Elliot Haspel
Elliot Haspel is the co-founder of Dads Who Care, a grassroots organization dedicated to rapidly mobilizing fathers to advocate for public policies that support gender equity. The father of two daughters, Elliot works professionally in philanthropy and education policy, and is the author of Crawling Behind: America's Childcare Crisis and How to Fix It. He resides in Richmond, VA.
Kate Mangino
Kate Mangino is a consultant focusing on gender and social inclusion that leads to positive social change. She’s excited to be a member of Fathering Together’s Advisory Council for “Dads for Gender Equity” and brings with her expertise in Gender Facilitation &Training and Instructional Design. This expertise has led her to work with partners across the globe to develop multi-staged trainings to strengthen and deepen the conversations around gender in the workplace as well as in the home.
Past clients of Kate’s range from RUMPUN, an Indonesia-based organization, Warren Wilson College’s Program for Writers, the United States Peace Corps, and White Ribbon Alliance. With all of her partnerships, she brings a high-level of care and attention to ensure everyone grows!
Joe Samalin
Joe Samalin offers consultation on gender violence prevention, especially engaging men and boys. Serious woodworking hobbyist. Lived in Japan for 5 years and speak the language. Founder of MenChallenging.
Michelle Travis
Michelle Travis is a mom of two daughters and a long-time advocate for gender equity and work/family integration. She is a Professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law, where she serves as the Co-Director of USF’s Labor and Employment Law Program. Her award-winning book, Dads For Daughters: How Fathers Can Give Their Daughters a Better, Brighter, and Fairer Future, is an invitation and guidebook for men to become stronger advocates for gender equity in their homes, workplaces, and communities. Michelle has a J.D. from Stanford Law School and a B.A. in psychology from Cornell University. Her research focuses on employment discrimination, work/family policies, gender stereotypes, and male allyship for gender equity. Michelle is also the author of a children’s picture book, My Mom Has Two Jobs, which celebrates working parents.
Kimberly Wolf
Kimberly Wolf, M.Ed., is a national expert on the topics of youth wellness, youth media use, and parent-child communication in adolescence. An educator and sought after speaker, she teaches young people next-level health and wellness strategies and equips parents with the information and tools they need to support the physical and mental wellbeing of today's teenagers. With a deep understanding of the power fathers have to influence girls' lives for the better, Kimberly coaches dads around the world on the art of father-daughter relationships in the adolescent years. She holds an undergraduate degree from Brown University (B.A.) and a master’s in human development and psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (M.Ed.), where she studied the intersections between adolescent health and mass media. Kimberly has been quoted on or contributed to platforms including CNN, NPR, Forbes, The Huffington Post, WebMd, and Health.com.
Creed Anthony
Creed Anthony is a married father of two. Middle school teacher by day, super blogger by night. He is the only dad blogger endorsed* by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Creed loves to write about fatherhood, travel, sports, movies, writing, photography, and much, much more. Creed encourages you to join The Poop Deck Community on Facebook.
Dr. Lawrence Chatters
Dr. Lawrence Chatters currently serves as the Vice President for Student Affairs at Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska. Dr. Chatters holds a Doctorate and a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology from The University of Nebraska-Lincoln.. Dr. Chatters is an avid reader, entrepreneur, Rap Artist, and International DJ. He is most proud of his family, which consists of his two daughters aged 15 and 11, and his partner of 15 years, Katie.
Dr. Chatters has been engaged in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work for the past 13 years. Through a range of professional experiences including a diversity concentration in his post-doctoral fellowship at Penn State University, his role as the diversity and inclusion coordinator for the Nebraska Athletic Department, and his position as the men’s program coordinator in the Women’s Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, to name a few. Dr. Chatters’ dissertation focused on ways to better engage African American students at predominantly white institutions.
Bryan W. Jackson
Bryan Jackson serves as the founder and CEO of Attach Consulting, a race equity-based organization that customizes serves to fit the unique needs of teams and offers support across all levels. Previously, Bryan worked as an educator in the classroom and school administration where he prioritized social emotional learning and developed students’ sense of creativity and love of self.
He is a husband and proud father of a biracial and interfaith son and daughter. His approach to fatherhood is based on answering this questions: How do I raise a proud, confident, and intelligent Black child?
You can also find Bryan co-hosting the podcast, Dad Genes: Exploring the DNA of Healthy Fathering with Dedan Bruner and Harris Tay.
Joe Saucedo
Joe is a part of the Chicago-based nonprofit Partnership for College Completion. In his role as Program Manager, he advises and consults with community colleges and four-year universities who participate in the Illinois Equity in Attainment Initiative, a cohort-based program with a goal to narrow graduation gaps that persist among Black, Latinx, and low-income students across partner institutions.
Prior to this role, Joe spent eight years at Loyola University Chicago engaged in student diversity initiatives. He was responsible for leading a department tasked with multicultural education, mentorship, and fostering social belonging for students from underserved communities including first-generation, students of color, LGBTQIA, and undocumented students. Joe developed expertise in cultural competency training and development for students, staff, and faculty across Loyola’s Chicago lakeside and global campuses. He also integrated a strengths-based approach to mentoring students and cultivating classroom and co-curricular spaces where marginalized students can be successful. At Loyola, Joe served on the Dreamer Committee advising the University President on policies and practices necessary to effectively meet the needs of undocumented students. He facilitated the Share the Dream Undocumented Student Ally training designed to equip stakeholders with greater fluency around issues affecting undocumented immigrants and families.
Simran Jeet Singh
Simran Jeet Singh is the Senior Diversity and Inclusion Adviser for YSC Consulting and a Visiting Professor at Union Seminary. He is a Soros Equality Fellow with the Open Society Foundation, a Racial Equity Media Fellow with the Interfaith Youth Core, and a Senior Fellow for the Sikh Coalition. Simran holds a PhD, MPhil, and MA from Columbia University, an MTS from Harvard University, and a BA from Trinity University. His expertise is in South Asian histories, cultures, and religions.
Simran is the author of the best-selling children's book from Penguin Random House (Kokila)– Fauja Singh Keeps Going: The True Story of the Oldest Person to Ever Run a Marathon – the first from a major publisher to feature a Sikh story. Simran is currently writing an adult non-fiction book for Penguin Random House (Riverhead) entitled More of This Please: Sikh Wisdom for the Soul.
Harris K. Tay
Harris K. Tay is a recognized Diversity and Inclusion leader within the United Methodist Church providing strategic direction, thought leadership, and advocacy in the development of an inclusive environment through the integration of diversity practice into all aspects of the institution. His passion for creative problem solving is central as he displays emotional intelligence and empathy at his core.
Harris understood early in his career that the key to aligning the culture through his diversity and inclusion efforts was to nurture a shared sense of purpose within individuals.
Tay continues to create space for diverse leaders to make and deliver resources to the church to transform the world. Through leadership, coaching, and motivational efforts, his focus on transforming conflict into opportunities has led to gaining the buy-in of key stakeholders and promoting positive, necessary change.
Harris is married to Mallory, a native of Springfield, Ohio, and they have two young daughters, Niecia and Stella.
Emily Williams
Emily Williams is a strong leader whose practice and analysis is informed by intersectionality. For more than a decade, Emily has worked toward achieving an equitable world with a womyn-centered approach starting with the most-marginalized. As Senior Program Officer at the Solidarity Center, Emily designed a multi-year women's changemakers leadership program for activists from ten sub-Saharan African countries. The program culminated in several of the participants successfully negotiating an international convention and recommendation against gender-based violence at the United Nations.
Emily is a diligent intrapreneur who has founder’s experience and has strengthened dozens of organizations’ capacity to incorporate social justice values into their mission and practice. In 2014, she co-founded the Social Justice Initiative at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she built the center from the ground up by securing resources through institutional and community partnerships. She also formed active networks and developed programs combining social justice practice with intellectual inquiry. This programming highlighted the interconnections of race, gender, class, and other systems as a critical foundation for work and action which advances social justice. This intersectional analysis informed Emily’s approach to organizational change at the Solidarity Center where she designed an organization-wide educational process to increase intersectional equality and inclusion across the organization.
In addition to Emily’s professional roles, she has supported organizations through change management processes. Emily served on the Board of Directors for WomanMade Gallery in Chicago during a period of transition when the Founding Executive Director retired after twenty years. Emily led the Board in developing a dynamic vision for the organization and strategies to expand partnerships and programs which led to an increase in the inclusion of artists and visitors from diverse backgrounds.
She has a Master of Art in Women’s and Gender Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She has worked in diverse settings to promote mental health and social well-being. As a volunteer with Girl Talk, Emily designed empowering programs with a trauma-informed approach for girls at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. She also worked as a Case Manager for adults with mental illness and addiction. This early-career experience proved foundational to Emily’s dedication to creating a more socially-just world that is better for everyone.
The mission of Fathering Together is close to Emily's heart as she is a Daughter who was raised by a loving knowledgeable Father and understands the importance of socially-conscious and thoughtful Dads for daughters!!!