The National Fatherhood Rally with Dr. Jeffery Johnson

Our distinguished guest this evening is Dr. Jeffery Johnson host of an upcoming event entitled “National Rally for Responsible Fatherhood on Behalf of America’s Children: A Call to Personal Responsibility.” On Saturday, June 20, 2009 in Washington, D.C. at the Lincoln Memorial Thousands of men and fathers across America are invited to the Lincoln Memorial to take a personal pledge of responsibility to their children in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Father's Day holiday in America. This rally is in celebration of 100 years of Father’s Day in America. Dr. Jeffery M. Johnson is President and CEO of the National Partnership for Community Leadership (NPCL). As a national nonprofit intermediary organization, the mission of NPCL is to strengthen the service capacity of nonprofit and community-based agencies to empower youth and families. Prior to his work at NPCL, Dr. Johnson spent nearly two decades as a senior manager and management consultant in the private and public sector. As president of NPCL, Dr. Johnson has overseen the planning and implementation of two of the nations largest social welfare research projects involving low-income men. They are the Partners for Fragile Families Site Demonstration, and the Fathers at Work Demonstration. These projects have served more than 6000. Since 1997, Dr. Johnson and NPCL have also convened an annual international fatherhood conference that attracts thousands of community-based and family practitioners from around the world. Dr. Johnson is a nationally recognized authority in the areas of leadership, employment and training, urban poverty and youth employment. A particular focus of Dr. Johnson's work has been on the plight of African-American men and families. He is regularly invited to testify before the United States Congress on matters pertaining to low-income fathers and strengthening families. He played a principal role in passage of the first national fatherhood legislation in Congress.