Talking Across the Lines of Gender, Race, and Class: The New England Fathering Conference Turns Twenty

by Donald N.S. Unger

The Founding Parent of the New England Fathering Conference was . . . a mother: Donna Cabral. In the late 1990s, when the Clinton Administration “discovered” fathers, Donna—the director of a Head Start program in Somerville, Massachusetts—took advantage of a modest, early, federal grant and created a pilot program for men. From that seed grew an annual conference that quickly came to include participants from all of the New England states. This “fathering conference founded by a woman” was unique in a variety of other ways as well: it created a space both for the providers who serve fathers in need of support and for the men themselves who are regular attendees and participants; and it has been a place where serious, substantive, discussions are married to nurturance and respect, a model of functional and effective cooperation across the lines of race and class. For Twenty Years now, NEFC has provided an example of how we can get past our differences and get to work on some of the most vexing social problems our country needs to face.

135 pages, Paperback

Published March 6, 2020

About the author

Assembling something of a hodge podge here, I guess:

"Scholarly" Book on Gender & Fathering

Self-Published:

Collected Humor Pieces
Collected Short Fiction
Collected Essays on Sustainability Issues

A "Pulp" Trilogy

Reviews

[Donald Unger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been attending the New England Fathering Conference for some thirteen years.

It is one of the few places that gives me hope, regarding our ability as a country to genuinely address issues related to gender, race, and class.

I've tried to do NEFC's story justice here; let me know how I've done . . .