National Fatherhood Initiative


The National Fatherhood Initiative is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-sectarian organization that aims to improve the well-being of children through the promotion of responsible fatherhood. Headquartered in Germantown, Maryland, United States, its mission is to improve the well-being of children by increasing the proportion of children with involved, responsible, and committed fathers. NFI was founded on March 7, 1994 by Don Eberly, a civil society scholar.
Its three-fold mission is to educate and inspire all Americans, equip organizations and fathers in six different sectors, and engage all sectors of society to address this issue. The three target sectors of its equipping strategy are military, corrections, and community-based organizations. The organization also produced and disseminated a national public service advertising campaign, in partnership with the Ad Council. The campaign included print, television, radio, Internet, and outdoor ads.
Although the size of NFI's staff has decreased over the last 5 years, the organization remains by some measures the largest provider of fatherhood resources and training in the nation. It offers more than 100 resources in its online store and print catalog, as well as, numerous free online and downloadable resources for dads and practitioners. Since 2004, NFI has distributed more than 6.9 million fatherhood resources. Since 2002, NFI has trained nearly 14,000 practitioners from more than 6,300 organizations on how to deliver fatherhood programming to dads. And since 2007, NFI has also trained nearly 15,000 practitioners via webinar. These programs include , the most widely used fatherhood curriculum in the country, and , the only evidence-based program designed specifically for incarcerated fathers.
Andy Schoka, currently with Acumen Solutions, is the board chairman, and Christopher A. Brown is the organization's president after serving as executive vice president for 3 years.