The Greater Washington Urban League and United Way of the National Capital Area celebrated this month the graduation of the inaugural cohort of the Black Fatherhood Blueprint (BFB).
The BFB is a two-year demonstration project funded through the Greater Washington Community Foundation’s Health Equity Fund.
“We started with a blank piece of paper and now look at where we are,” Greater Washington Urban League Chief Administrative & Financial Officer Kimberly Corbin said. “We understand a tree does not exist without its roots.”
Sixteen graduates completed the initial 15-week intensive coursework of the yearlong program. It supports and empowers Black fathers to regain their financial footing, build stronger familial bonds, and improve their social and emotional wellbeing. It provides financial support services, therapy, co-parenting mediation, healing circles, legal assistance, career advancement and other help to Black fathers.
“(The graduates) represent a truth we see every day in working together with the Greater Washington Urban League at our Financial Empowerment Centers. Fathers are joining our services to find a better way to build a better life for their children,” Scott Mengebier, United Way NCA’s Senior Director of Research and Evaluation, said.
The inaugural cohort graduation was held Dec. 13 at THEARC West.
“Today marks the end of this program, but it is also the beginning of something bigger,” Jamar Bradford told his fellow graduates. “You walk forward as men who have invested in their futures, men who stand tall with new tools, new confidence, new visions, men who know their value at home, in their communities, and within themselves.”
United Way NCA provides program guidance and data management. It also connects fathers to resources within our network of 300+ partners. The project leverages existing support provided through our Washington DC Financial Empowerment Center.
“We’re working to disrupt something about what we think is the way it’s going to be,” Mengebier told graduates. “The way we think things are supposed to be is you’re supposed to figure it out on your own alone, without the knowledge, the support, and the community to be sure you’re going to be successful for yourself and your families. What you have done today is you have demonstrated that we can disrupt the narrative.”
The program’s second cohort will celebrate its induction Jan. 28, 2026.
To learn more about the Black Fatherhood Blueprint, visit https://gwul.org/blackfatherhood/.
