FEATURED WORKSHOP PRESENTER — A POWERFUL REASON TO JOIN US
Honoring Fathers. Rewriting Narratives. Building the Future of Family Care.
27th International Families and Fathers Conference
Next Generation: Leading Legacies, Building Futures
April 13–16, 2026 | In-Person Only
Hilton Los Angeles Airport | Los Angeles, CA
Conference information, registration, and full schedule:
https://fathersandfamiliescoalition.org///www.fathersandfamiliescoalition.org/conferences.html
With more than 60 national and international speakers, cross-sector workshops, policy-driven dialogue, and community-centered practice, the International Families and Fathers Conference is where the future of family health, fatherhood, and systems transformation takes shape. This year’s gathering brings together leaders who are not only asking what works—but who are building what works.
One of those leaders is Imani Lucas, Executive Director of United And Guided, whose work is reshaping how fathers are engaged in perinatal, early childhood, and family systems of care. Her session offers a grounded, replicable blueprint for father-inclusive birth equity, dyadic care, and whole-family resilience—making this conference an essential space for practitioners, policymakers, and community leaders alike.
Honoring Fathers, Rewriting Narratives, and Building a New Future for Family Care
Written by Imani Lucas, MS, Executive Director, United And Guided
In every community I have served—from Sacramento’s Oak Park to statewide networks connected through CalAIM and Medi-Cal’s Birth Equity initiatives—one truth has remained constant: fathers matter. Fathers change outcomes. Fathers bring stability, emotional grounding, and generational healing into their families. Yet in far too many systems—healthcare, behavioral health, early childhood, and social services—fathers are still treated as optional, invisible, or secondary to what is often labeled the “real work” of perinatal care.
My name is Imani Lucas, and for the past several years I have dedicated my life’s work to changing this reality. Through United And Guided, we created Sacramento’s first Co-Ed Doula Model, pairing male and female doulas to support both expecting mothers and fathers through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery. This model emerged from a deep recognition that families do not thrive when fathers are left out of the equation. Families thrive when fathers are supported, prepared, respected, and invited into the birthing ecosystem as partners, protectors, nurturers, and leaders.
What began as an idea—to bridge the gap between traditional clinical care and the emotional, cultural, and relational needs of underserved families—has grown into a movement. Today, I am honored to bring this work to the 27th International Families and Fathers Conference, joining leaders who understand that transforming fatherhood is central to transforming family health and community wellbeing.
The urgency of this work has never been clearer. Disparities in maternal and infant health are no longer hidden. Black mothers continue to face disproportionately high rates of mortality and complications. Black fathers remain disconnected from systems never designed to include them. Families navigating fragmented health, behavioral, social, and economic systems encounter more barriers than bridges. This moment demands a fundamental shift in how fathers are engaged during the perinatal and early childhood periods. When fathers are emotionally supported and engaged as equal stakeholders, outcomes improve across the board—birth experiences stabilize, maternal stress decreases, infant development strengthens, co-parenting relationships deepen, and family systems become more resilient.
At United And Guided, we see these outcomes daily. Fathers want to show up. They want to protect, nurture, and lead. What they need are systems that believe in their presence and invite their voice.
Our Co-Ed Doula Model was born through collaboration with the Perinatal Equity Initiative and Black Fathers Inc., grounded in a simple but radical belief: birth equity is family equity, and family equity requires father inclusion. Traditional doula programs rightly center mothers, but excluding fathers misses a profound opportunity for transformation. Fathers often carry their own fears, trauma, and unmet emotional needs during pregnancy and birth. Without support, those unspoken struggles can limit their capacity to fully engage.
By placing a male and female doula together as a team, the model creates balance in the birth space. The female doula supports the birthing parent with education, emotional care, and clinical navigation, while the male doula supports the father or partner—helping him process fear, understand his role, prepare for labor, and remain emotionally grounded. The result is symmetry, accountability, and shared responsibility. Families consistently report stronger prenatal connections, reduced anxiety during labor, greater confidence in early bonding, and clearer communication during postpartum recovery. Father inclusion is not an accessory to care—it is an imperative for equity.
When we began hosting listening sessions and father-led spaces, the voices we heard were strikingly consistent. Fathers spoke about wanting to be present but not knowing how, about systems that did not see them, about fear, isolation, and never having been taught how to father. These conversations clarified what fathers truly need: emotional coaching, skills-based preparation, culturally grounded mentorship, clear communication with providers, validation of both fears and strengths, and safe spaces to be vulnerable without judgment.
One father shared with us that he did not just learn to be present at birth—he learned to be present in life.
As the work expanded, so did the vision. Our efforts evolved into a full Fatherhood Ecosystem, encompassing peer coaching by Black and Brown fathers; co-ed, doula-led prenatal education; father-friendly community events; ECM and reentry support; housing and economic stabilization; and emotional wellness and group healing. This ecosystem affirmed a powerful truth: fatherhood is not an individual journey. It is a collective movement.
The next evolution emerged from an even deeper realization. Supporting fathers and mothers is powerful. Supporting the father-mother-child relationship is transformative. This led to the development of Dyadic Care and Family Resilience Services, where licensed clinical social workers, midwives, and counselors work together to provide integrated emotional, behavioral, developmental, and relational support. In dyadic care, the relationship becomes the patient. Connection becomes the intervention. Healing spreads across bonds, not just individuals.
The relevance of this work extends far beyond the United States. With international participation at this year’s conference, including registrants from Europe, the message is clear: fatherhood is universal, birth equity is global, and intentional father inclusion strengthens families everywhere. Across cultures, fathers are asking the same question: How can I be the father my child needs?
At the conference, my 90-minute session will guide participants in building inclusive perinatal systems, centering fathers in birth equity, operationalizing dyadic care, developing a paid, sustainable workforce of male doulas and fatherhood coaches, and forming cross-sector coalitions capable of replicating this model nationally and globally.
We are at a turning point. For decades, fatherhood leaders—including the International Families and Fathers Conference community—have affirmed that families are stronger when fathers are engaged, empowered, and included. Birth equity, childhood resilience, and generational transformation cannot be achieved without fathers in the room.
This conference is more than a gathering. It is fuel for a movement.
If you believe fathers deserve support, families deserve culturally grounded care, communities deserve healing, children deserve connected parents, and systems deserve transformation, I invite you to join me. Together, we can build a global advisory network for dyadic care, a workforce pipeline for father-inclusive doulas, and an international community committed to family wellbeing.
Fathers and families deserve systems that see, value, and uplift them. The work we do together at this conference will ripple outward—to homes, to communities, and across generations. I look forward to learning with you, sharing our journey, and building a future where fatherhood is not an afterthought, but a foundation.
Redirect link for publication:
https://fathersandfamiliescoalition.org///www.fathersandfamiliescoalition.org/conferences.html