About Us

Dads Evoking Change is comprised of Kareem Chadly, Founder & Executive Director, and a network of volunteers and consultants who have lived experience and/or expertise in the areas of healthy youth development and child custody/child support systems. Dads Evoking Change (DEC) was founded by Kareem Chadly to memorialize his son. Kareem became a father at just 18. He dedicated his life to positively parenting his son and empowering youth across the Bay Area through his community outreach work with nonprofits such as Youth Radio, RYSE center, Camp Sweeney, and media outlets such as iheart Media.

Dads Evoking Change shares the same initials as Kareem’s son, Damani Elijah Chadly, who was tragically killed by gun violence in 2018, at the age of just 17. Kareem spent the last decade leading up to his son’s death in a stressful and turbulent child custody battle. With no knowledge of the system, and no financial means to hire an attorney, Kareem was marginalized by the family court system. The traumatic experience of losing his son, while what felt like unfair treatment during the process of trying to get custody, has inspired Kareem to advocate for under-resourced fathers and create change within family courts across the nation.