Ron J Clark

Mentor, Business Man, Servant Leader

Ron J. Clark possesses nearly two decades of experience developing, implementing, and consulting on program services targeting fathers, fatherless males, and young unwed parents. He holds a M.A. in Public Policy and a MBA Executive Education Certificate. His educational pursuits lead him to earn part of his educational credentials from the University of Sydney in Australia as a Rathbone Fellow.

He provided leadership as Director of the nationally recognized Virginia Governor's Fatherhood Campaign for nearly a decade under the State Department of Health. During this time, he was appointed to the State Secretary of Health and Human Services Child Support Guidelines and Review Commission and the State Attorney Generals Taskforce on Gang and Youth Violence.

He served as a State Program Administration Specialist for the Federal USDA WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) Program from 2004 to 2006.

.

From 2006 to 2007, he served as the Director of Training and Technical Assistance for the Federal Office of Family Assistance National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse. In this position, he functioned as lead trainer and consultant in the providing technical assistance to ninety-nine federal fatherhood grant recipients across the country.

For the past number of years, he served as Director of National Programming for the National Fatherhood Initiative. In this position, he facilitated the provision of training and technical assistance to family service providers in order increase to their capacity to support fathers and their families. Lead Consultant for the Federal Office of Family Assistance's Circle of Parents Project, a national network of home-visiting and child abuse prevention programs for parents, represented one of his main responsibilities

His published articles include, but not limited to: Fathers Voices in Child Welfare: Not About Us Without Us; Teaching Your Children Lessons on Friendship; How Do You Spell Dad: DAD or AFDC? Fatherhood: Sons Need Dads, Fatherhood: Daughters Need Dads; Parenting From Wall Street To Sesame Street; and Have You had the Talk Yet. Most recently, he served as a content reviewer for the American Bar Association Center on Children & the Law new publication entitled Advocating for Non Resident Fathers in Child Welfare Court Cases. He continues to serve as the lead Father Engagement Consultant for the National Quality Improvement Center on Non-Resident Fathers and the Child Welfare System, a collaborative federal project with the American Humane Association & American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law.

He is currently in high demand as a keynote, workrshop and webinar presenter for venues that target judges, lawyers, child welfare, health and family service-related staff around issues of father/male engagement. During 2011, he served as Director of Virginia's Statewide Family Strengthening Initiative at Hampton University's National Center on African American Marriages and Parenting. In this position, he provided leadership, coordination, and management of a State-sponsored, statewide, and multi-sector family strengthening initiative. He is regularly called up to consult, write and speak on the important issues of fatherhood, male responsibility, unwed parenting and family strengthening issues. More importantly, he is happily married and the proud father of two sons.