Being The Dad I Never Had: Lifelong Lessons For Fathering After Fatherlessness

David has a diverse educational background. He completed his undergraduate degree in Computer Science at The United States Military Academy, where he graduated as a Distinguished Cadet in the Class of 1999. He holds a Master s in Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education degree with a concentration in Human Resource Development at Drexel University. Born and raised in the small Caribbean island of Barbados, Mr. Inniss developed an early awareness of community and has continued to build on this solid foundation. His passion about youth development is seen through his involvement as an avid youth soccer coach in his community. He has also presented multiple workshops to a variety of audiences and on a wide range of topics that include ＂Reaching Your Next Level, Perceptions & Media Depictions of The Black Male, Making Yourself Elite, Own Your Legacy, The Current Reality of Masculinity and Fatherlessness: Emerging from the Daddy Issue . David has had a lifelong intrigue about the state of fatherhood and more specifically, the state of fatherlessness in society. To that end he has focused his doctoral research on issues related to father absence. Having experienced fatherlessness himself, David views father absence as a core societal issue that spawns many of the ills in our communities today. Disproportion in academic performance, early exposure to substance abuse, and incarceration are but a few of the telling statistics that support his assertion. Through his research and growing expertise, David intends to uncover some of the factors that lead to the highly differentiated outcomes among men who were previously exposed to fatherlessness with specific focus on resiliency, masculinity and the reproduction of fatherhood. David currently serves on the Board of Directors for The Center for Fathers and Families, and ACE, a Sacramento-based nonprofit focused on mentorship for African American boys. He is a Senior Fellow of the Nehemiah Emerging Leaders Program a leadership development program aimed at developing catalysts for change and is President of the Graduate Students Association at Drexel University, Sacramento. David is a proud father of two sons and lives by the personal mantra ＂Pave the Way, Bridge Gaps and Serve Others a motto that embodies the notions of leadership, relationship building, civic responsibility and ownership of one s legacy.