Black Fatherhood in Baltimore: The Men Behind I AM MENtality's Mission
The Foundation Starts at Home
Growing up without a consistent father figure is not an abstract statistic in Baltimore. It is a daily reality that shapes how a young man sees himself, what he believes he can become, and whether he has anyone to hold him accountable when no one is watching. Research from the CDC confirms that children with active fathers in their lives show higher rates of academic achievement and lower rates of delinquency and substance abuse. The same research shows that Black fathers have increased their involvement with their children over time, a fact that rarely makes headlines but matters deeply to the families living it.
I AM MENtality was built in the space between what should be and what is. When a father is present, the organization reinforces what he is building. When he is absent, the organization sends in men who have done the work on themselves and come back to give it away. The six men featured here represent both realities. Each of them shows up, every week, for Baltimore's young men.
Ryan Dunston, HomeTown Lenders
Ryan Dunston is a mentor, financial advisor, philanthropist, husband, and father. He meets I AM MENtality Youth Leaders in Lunch and Learn sessions at Co-Balt Workspace, where he challenges them to think critically about money. The sessions are direct. In one exchange, he asked the young men about the new 2K release and flipped it into a conversation about financial decisions.
Growing up in Baltimore, Dunston wanted to be a basketball player. He was good enough to take it seriously. But without positive male influences close enough to spot his blind spots, there was no one to motivate him, push him, or hold him accountable.
"The one positive male influence in my life was my Godfather," he said. "I got to analyze his life from a distance which ultimately gave me a life to shoot for. I can remember spending time with him prior to him getting married which really imprinted something opposite of what I had experienced from my father, grandfather and uncles. When my Godfather got married, I remember telling myself, 'I want to be this kind of man, this kind of father, this kind of husband.'"
One model was enough to redirect a life. Dunston built his career as a Loan Officer and Community Outreach Coordinator, co-authored the book Black Men Love alongside 13 other contributors, launched Dunston and Associates with his wife Patrice, and started The Ryan Dunston Podcast. He comes back to the table because he knows what it meant to have someone worth watching.
Gary Franklin, I AM MENtality Mentor
Gary Franklin is a husband, father of five adult children, and one of the most consistent presences in I AM MENtality's programming. He greets Youth Leaders at jiu-jitsu classes at Guardian Baltimore every week. He shows up for bike rides with SOY Baltimore, trips to Earth Treks, and camp excursions. He is there because showing up is what he learned early.
Growing up, Gary wanted to be a doctor. What he got instead was a father who was relentlessly hard on him and his three sisters. No excuses. Curfew enforced. Chores completed. Money you did not have was money you did not spend. You did not lend it. You always had a job. And whatever the task, you did not do it halfway.
Those lessons were not gentle. They were effective. Gary Franklin carried them into adulthood and brings them into every interaction with the young men in I AM MENtality's programs. He leads character building sessions because character is what his father built in him, one non-negotiable at a time.
The measure of a mentor is not what he says in a session. It is whether he is still there the following week.
Bobby Holmes, Son of a Dream Services
Bobby Holmes, LMSW, is an author, speaker, and founder of Son of a Dream Services and Multimedia Resources. He leads book discussions with I AM MENtality Youth Leaders on Strong Mental Health Awareness for Black Boys and 100! Real Talk for Our Boys. His sessions are grounded in the same honesty that runs through his writing.
His first ambition was law enforcement, sparked at age twelve by the movie Bad Boys. He wanted to help people. He loved the idea of Black cops. What carried him forward was not a straight path but a clear foundation.
"My parents laid a foundation and taught the most important thing — hard work. They established work ethic," he said.
Holmes had a stepfather enter his life when his mother remarried, and that presence mattered. But his biological father also shaped him, in a different way.
"I realized at a very early age that I didn't want to make the same decisions he made. He became the example of what I didn't want to be," Holmes said.
He studied Journalism at Morgan State, went out on his own at nineteen, and found his first mentor in Roderick C. Willis. That mentor did for him what he now does for others. In October 2021, Holmes was featured in the WMAR podcast 2Bmore: Black Fatherhood in Baltimore, alongside TJ Smith and Matt Prestbury, discussing exactly this lineage of influence.
Michael Jackson, A Little Faith Accounting and Tax Services
Michael Jackson is a founding member of I AM MENtality and has led Financial Literacy sessions with Youth Leaders for six years. He is a husband, father of three, and the owner of A Little Faith Accounting and Tax Services. He also serves as a Financial Compliance Auditor Lead with the State Department of Education.
As a child, he wanted to be a truck driver. He knew he wanted to own a business. The path between those two things was not obvious until people started helping him see it.
"From teachers, mentors, friends, family, to clients, advisors, coaches, and even total strangers that have helped me in some shape or form. I have so much gratitude for those that have helped me get to where I am and for those that will help me going forward," Jackson said.
His relationship with his own father was complicated. "There was a time where I thought my father was too far from me to talk to, so I held a lot in and attempted to figure things out myself." It was his grandfather who gave him the principle he still lives by. "Whatever you do in life, do your best. As long as you are doing your best, you will have no regrets. You also don't have to compete with anyone else but yourself."
That line carries forward every time he sits across from a young man who is trying to figure out his next move.
John Sly, Attorney and Financial Literacy Mentor
John Sly grew up in a household that talked about history, philosophy, religion, and politics at the table. His father was a history teacher. Those conversations led Sly toward government and politics before he eventually became a lawyer and partner at a boutique firm representing hospitals, healthcare providers, and businesses.
He brings that same seriousness into his sessions with I AM MENtality Youth Leaders. He has led discussions on building a professional network, the mechanics of real estate, and the kind of financial literacy that does not get taught in school. Most recently, he joined Youth Leaders at Bluestone Restaurant for an etiquette class facilitated by The International School of Protocol.
Sly is married and has four children.
Kawahn Young, Save Our Young (SOY) Baltimore
Kawahn Young is a husband, father of three, and founder and Executive Director of Save Our Young (SOY) Baltimore. He joined the Baltimore City Police Department after graduating from Paul Laurence Dunbar Senior High School in 2002 and has worked for the Baltimore County Police Department since July 2012. He is assigned as a School Resource Officer at Woodlawn High School and Meadowood Alternative School, two of the more challenging placements in the area.
He grew up wanting to play in the NFL. Coaches and community elders guided him through his adolescent years. That guidance shaped how he thinks about his role now.
"What I remember most about my dad is his resilience and optimism," Young said.
He facilitates Law Enforcement sessions with I AM MENtality Youth Leaders and organizes community bike rides to build real relationships between young men and the officers who patrol their neighborhoods. The work is intentional. Trust between young Black men in Baltimore and law enforcement does not appear on its own. Young builds it in person, one session at a time.
Black fatherhood in Baltimore is not a crisis to be solved from a distance. It is a responsibility that men like these have chosen to carry up close.
Darren Rogers, Founder and CEO of I AM MENtality
Darren Rogers founded I AM MENtality on January 16, 2016, because of what mentors did for him. He grew up in a single-parent household in Baltimore. The men who stepped into his life, who gave him something to aim at and someone to answer to, changed the direction of what was possible for him. He built the organization to give that same thing to someone else's son.
Rogers is married with two daughters. His wife, Asia Rogers of A Rogers Apparel, has been an active supporter and volunteer since the organization's early days. Over 400 young men in Baltimore are enrolled in I AM MENtality programming. That number is not an accident. It is the result of a decade of men showing up, every week, to do the work.
How You Can Be Part of This
The men in this post are not exceptions. They are the standard I AM MENtality holds itself to. Every session, every bike ride, every book discussion, and every financial literacy workshop exists because men decided to give back what they were given, or give what they never had.
Learn more about the programs these mentors lead here.
Learn about the organization and the team behind it here.
If you want to make sure this work continues, the most direct way to do that is through a contribution.
