About Us
One Dad At A Time
Our Mission
Supporting Fathers Through the System
Dads Evoking Change (DEC) supports fathers as they navigate the complex child custody and/or child support process in family court. Our target population is low-income fathers, fathers of color, and young fathers who may not have the legal knowledge or financial means to hire lawyers to advocate for them.
DEC provides a network of supportive ambassadors for fathers experiencing legal, socio-emotional and financial challenges with child custody and child support issues. We offer free legal consultations, young fathers group workshops, co-parenting mediation, and access to community resources.
We Believe
In promoting sensible child custody and child support agreements that benefit the child first, and the family overall thereafter. Our vision is a transformed family court system, that is free of bias and discrimination against low-income fathers and fathers of color who want to parent their children.
Our Origin
How We Started
Dads Evoking Change is comprised of Kareem Chadly, Founder and Executive Director, and a network of volunteers and consultants with lived experience and expertise in healthy youth development and child custody and child support systems.
DEC was founded by Kareem Chadly, who became a father at 18 and spent years navigating the family court system without legal representation or support. Drawing from that experience, and from years of community work with organizations like Youth Radio, Youth Uprising, Camp Sweeney, and iHeart Media, Kareem built DEC so that every family, regardless of income or background, has access to the resources, support, and guidance needed to create a healthy, stable environment for their children.
Our Supporters
Past/Present Funding Partners
Walter & Elise Haas Fund
The mission of the Walter & Elise Haas Fund is to help build a healthy, just, and vibrant society in which people feel connected to and responsible for their community. Through grantmaking, collaboration, storytelling, and thought leadership, we invest in a variety of organizations whose work aligns with our values, advances our mission, and supports community well-being in all of its expressions.
Akonadi Foundation
For over 25 years, Akonadi Foundation has been committed to building a racially just Oakland — a place fostering the liberation and well-being of all young people and their families. The foundation has worked alongside community partners to remove barriers and create a community where every individual, particularly those who have been historically marginalized, can find belonging and have the opportunity to dream and flourish.
Kenneth Rainin Foundation
The mission of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation is to enhance quality of life by championing the arts, promoting early childhood literacy and supporting research to cure chronic disease. The Foundation envisions a world where all Oakland children read at or above grade level, no one suffers from Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and Bay Area artists thrive.
The California Wellness Foundation
The California Wellness Foundation’s vision is for every resident of California to enjoy good health and experience wellness. Its mission is to protect and improve the health and wellness of the people of California by increasing access to health care, quality education, good jobs, healthy environments, and safe neighborhoods.
The San Francisco Foundation
Founded in 1948, the San Francisco Foundation is one of the nation’s largest community foundations — a grantmaking public charity dedicated to improving life within a specific local region. Its mission is to mobilize resources and act as a catalyst for change to build strong communities, foster civic leadership, and promote philanthropy in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Black Freedom Fund
The California Black Freedom Fund is a five-year, $100 million initiative to ensure that Black power-building and movement-based organizations have the sustained investments and resources they need to eradicate systemic and institutional racism.
East Bay Community Foundation
The Just City Cultural Fund is a unique public-private partnership of the East Bay Community Foundation, the Akonadi Foundation, and Oakland’s Cultural Affairs Division. The Fund is supported by the Surdna Foundation’s national initiative Radical Imagination for Racial Justice and additional funding from the Akonadi Foundation.
East Bay Fund For Artists
Since 2003, the East Bay Fund for Artists at EBCF has partnered with more than 9,500 generous donors and more than 200 nonprofit organizations to commission new works by over 300 local artists. The East Bay Fund for Artists has leveraged almost $3.1 million in new financial support for the arts in the East Bay.
Oakland Fund for Children and Youth
The Oakland Fund for Children and Youth (OFCY) is a program of the City of Oakland, and is housed in the Children and Youth Services Division of the Human Services Department. As the largest grant-funding program within the City of Oakland, OFCY’s funding for community-based programs and services provides critical support to Oakland’s most vulnerable children, youth and families.
