White House Selects Jeffery Leving as Resource: First Annual White House Roundtable on Responsible Fatherhood

Chicago, IL – August 6, 2009 — Fathers’ Rights Attorney Jeffery Leving joined senior White House staff yesterday to discuss strategies to promote responsible fatherhood and healthy families. This was the first White House Roundtable on Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families held in Chicago – it marks the beginning of President Barack Obama’s national conversation on responsible fatherhood and community involvement. Michael Strautmanis, Chief of Staff to the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison (Valerie Jarrett) also attended the private Roundtable event with Jeffery Leving and Congressman Danny K. Davis.

This private Roundtable focused on strengthening fathers and families and addressed the challenge of father absence in America and was held at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). The private Roundtable was followed by a Town Hall Meeting where President Barack Obama participated through a video conferencing link. Director of the Fatherhood Educational Institute, James M. Hagler was also invited by the White House and participated in the Town Hall Meeting.

This event was co-sponsored by the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships and the Administration for Children and Families.