Contact: White House Office of Communications, 800-230-1085

WASHINGTON, June 16, 2011 /Standard Newswire/ -- Today, Thursday, June 16 at 3:30 PM ET,  Michael Strautmanis, Deputy Assistant to the President & Counselor to the Senior Advisor for Strategic Engagement, and Joshua Dubois, Special Assistant to the President & Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, will hold a conference call to discuss President Obama's Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative and the year of Strong Fathers, Strong Families.  The call will be on the record without embargo.

This week, President Barack Obama's Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative kicked off a year of Strong Fathers, Strong Families through events highlighting the important role fathers play in creating strong families. Over the past two years, the President's Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative has helped fathers nation-wide engage with their families by providing support for local fatherhood programs, town halls around the nation, partnerships with outside organizations and through www.fatherhood.gov.  This effort is supportive of all families, and affirms the central role of mothers in the lives of our children, especially those who have stepped up to the plate when dads haven't been around. 

The Mentoring Initiative is working to promote simple, yet meaningful, opportunities for dads and kids to connect through partnerships with organizations like bowling centers, sports leagues, zoos and aquariums and companies like LivingSocial and Groupon.  Yesterday, the President hosted military fathers and their children for a screening of Cars 2 from Disney•Pixar at the White House.  As a commitment to the First Lady and Dr. Biden's Joining Forces initiative, major studios including Disney, Universal, Warner Brothers and Fox are hosting special movie screenings for military families throughout the year.  President Obama also wrote an essay on fatherhood in People Magazine.

Details about this effort are available here.

WHO:            
Michael Strautmanis, Deputy Assistant to the President & Counselor to the Senior Advisor for Strategic Engagement

Joshua Dubois, Special Assistant to the President & Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

WHAT:         
Conference call to discuss President Obama's Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative and the Year of Strong Fathers, Strong Families. The call will be on the record without embargo.

WHEN:         
TODAY, Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 3:30 PM ET

RSVP:           
Media who want to attend this call should dial (800) 230-1085 and ask to join the "White House call."  No passcode is necessary.