Atlanta, GA—May 18, 2017—Atlanta based Fathers Incorporated, a national 501(c)3 not-for-profit announces its newest board members; Dr. Jeff Gardere and Brett Chestnut. The two were installed at the April board meeting. “They both bring a wealth of experience to both our local and national work,” says Kenneth Braswell; Executive Director of Fathers Incorporated. “With our move to Atlanta from New York in 2015 we needed to bring both local and national experience to keep up with the growing demand of our agency to address the needs of our community via the work of responsible fatherhood,” says Ron Williams, Board President.
Fathers Incorporated has ramped up its local efforts recently via its REAL DADS READ program. The initiative is aimed at elementary and middle school aged children (0-11) and their fathers/male caregivers with the goals of 1) encouraging children to develop a love of reading, 2) improving children’s literacy skills and educational outcomes, and 3) strengthening bonds between fathers/caregivers and their children. Real Dads Read is a two-generation approach to engaging and improving outcomes for both men and the children for which they are responsible.
The agency is not done seeking additional board members. “We still need to fill a few transitional seats on our board; so we are always active in identifying great fits for our vision and goals,” says Braswell. “Atlanta has been great for us and we want to give back by being great for Atlanta. There is a lot of work to do and we are committed to serving in our programmatic capacity and doing our part to ensure that fathers are equipped, supported, and encouraged to be a part of the solution of building an Awesome Atlanta,” Braswell ends.
Below are the bios of Fathers Incorporated’s new board members.
Dr. Jeff Gardere
Dr. Jeff Gardere, better known as “America’s Psychologist”, was born in Manhattan and raised in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. His parents were born in Haiti. Dr. Jeff attended Brooklyn Technical High School and earned his BA from The University of Rochester. He earned a Masters degree from Columbia University, and a Masters and Ph.D. in philosophy and clinical psychology from the George Washington University.
Dr. Jeff is a Board Certified Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor and Course Director of Behavioral Medicine, Cultural Competence and Behavior and Public Health, at the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in New York City
In addition to being a respected academician, Dr. Jeff is a well-known media personality. He has been a contributor to Salon.com, FOX News network, MSNBC, CNN, WPIX, WCBS, WNYW and WABC. Dr Jeff was the host of VH1’s Dad Camp, and was the therapist on The Housewives of Atlanta and I Dream of Nene on Bravo, Love and Hip Hop New York, on VH1. This season he is the principle psychologist on: Housewives of Potomac on Bravo, For My Man, on TV One, Celebrity Damage Control and They Got Away with It on the Reelz Channel. He is also the staff psychologist on the syndicated show, Lauren Lake’s Paternity Court and the brand new show, Couples Court.
Brett Chestnut
Brett Chestnut is a Financial Advisor who works with business owners, executives and families to grow, preserve and protect their personal and business finances. After spending nearly a decade working in the energy industry for one of the nation’s largest power supply cooperatives, Brett truly knows how to manage investments, manage risk and develop efficient tools to enhance portfolio performance. Bringing those skills to the personal lives of others is the mission for his financial planning practice.
Brett has received numerous awards for his team’s performance and regularly speaks at churches as well as schools in both Georgia and South Carolina to educate the community in financial literacy.
Brett holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Clemson University and a MBA from Mercer University. He also holds a Georgia Professional Engineering license as well as a Series 7 & 66 license.
