Our Mission
We give young African-American and Hispanic fathers – ages 17 to 24 – the skills and support they need to be better fathers for their children and better men in their communities.
We believe.
We believe in the power of being present.
We believe in meeting the responsibilities of fatherhood — both emotional and economic.
We believe in the positive impact young fathers can have on children they help raise and on generations of children to come.
We believe in proper education — especially when it comes to felony street law — to ensure fathers remain part of their families.
Our Objectives
Quality time
Increase quantity and quality of time fathers spend with their children.
Employment
Provide the skills fathers need to gain and maintain employment.
Education
Ensure fathers enroll in school or begin the process of completing a GED.
FOCUSING ON FATHERS
The Dovetail Project’s founder, Sheldon Smith, is a Chicago native with deep roots in the city.
Sheldon Smith is a Chicago-based nonprofit leader, social entrepreneur, and trailblazer in the field of fatherhood. He is the Founder and Executive Director of The Dovetail Project, one of the country’s premier fatherhood initiatives. In the past six years alone, he has raised $4.6 million for the organization’s programming serving young fathers ages 17-24 in the City of Chicago. For over a decade, he has committed his life to rewriting the narrative of Black fatherhood.
Among many awards and honors, Mr. Smith has been named a Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneur (2018), has received the American Red Cross Community Impact Hero Award (2018) and the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award (2018), and has been recognized as an exemplary civic leader by the Obama Foundation (2017). He has also been honored as a CNN Hero (2016), appointed as a member of Chicago’s My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Cabinet by Mayor Rahm Emanuel (2015), and recognized as a “40 Under 40 Game Changer” by Ariel Investments (2014). He frequently travels to speak about fatherhood on the national stage, including TEDx University of California Santa Barbara, Black Enterprise’s Black Men Xcel Conference, and Chicago Ideas Week. Recent press coverage includes CNN, CTV, People Magazine, The Ellen Show, Today Show and MSNBC.
Smith began working as a community organizer on Chicago’s South Side at 13. When he became a father at 21, he founded The Dovetail Project to support his fellow young Black and Brown fathers ages 17-24. The organization’s signature 12-week program teaches life skills, job skills, and felony street law; provides connections to GED completion, job training, and trade enrollment opportunities; and helps fathers to maintain an active and engaged presence in their children’s lives. Over the past decade, 590 young fathers have graduated from the program. During that time, Dovetail has grown from a single location to three sites, and is currently spearheading citywide COVID-19 relief efforts for thousands of young parents through its Fatherhood Relief Fund initiative.
Of all of his accomplishments, Smith’s greatest is being a devoted father to his daughter, Jada, and husband to his wife, Mary.
“I took all of my experiences with my father’s life and my life and thought about how I could make it better for children. I love working with the men, but I really do this for the babies.”
— Sheldon Smith
