Voices of Young Fathers

Join young parent leaders Azar Webb, Sando Zou-Capuzzi, and Isaiah Burrell in Voices of Young Fathers. They share their experiences and challenges navigating young fatherhood and the importance of healthy co-parenting for a child’s well-being. Tune in for this insightful conversation!

Isaiah Burrell is a young parent leader with the Brighter Futures Workgroup NYC and CASA NYC, committed to improving outcomes for youth and young parents in foster care. He advocates for expanding programs and services to support all young people, recognizing that even those not involved in the system often lack essential resources. Outside his advocacy work, Isaiah is a rapper and artist who finds self-expression through music.

Azar Webb began his local and state advocacy journey over 10 years ago as a Youth Advocate Leader for Project Everlast in Omaha, Nebraska. Azar demonstrated his leadership while advocating for foster youth, educating foster parents, Senators, Judges, and other stakeholders, and supporting youth and young adults in identifying and obtaining safe and stable housing. In 2015, Azar became a Jim Casey Fellow. In addition to being an advocate, Azar received his Associate of Architectural Design from Metro Community College in Nebraska and has a successful career as an architect. In 2016, he filed and won a court case against the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services for wrongful termination of his medicaid coverage, impacting health care coverage for youth in foster care in Nebraska.  Azar is a father of two children and believes more programs and services should support healthy co-parenting.

Sando Zou-Capuzzi is a young parent leader from Georgia. Sando is a co-founder of The Metamorphosis Initiative, a peer mentoring program founded by youth with lived experience in foster care in support of youth in care. Sando is passionate about the rights of young fathers in foster care and advocates for the inclusivity of fathers when advocating for systems-level change so that all children, youth, and families can thrive. In addition, Sando believes it is crucial to create education and job opportunities for young parents to help them explore careers and gain financial security to care for themselves and their families. Sando is an alumnus of Year Up, a job training program, and he is currently earning his associate’s degree in Cybersecurity. 

Resources:

1. Fathers and Families Coalition: A national fatherhood network for parents, practitioners, and stakeholders, offering annual conferences, training, and an online community.
2. National Fatherhood Initiative: A resource for organizations aiming to enhance their fatherhood programs.
3. Young United Parents: Co-Parenting: Listen to other young parents share their co-parenting experiences.
4. NYC Fatherhood Initiative: A resource for fathers in New York City, providing services for individual and family counseling, child support assistance, mediation, conflict resolution training, employment counseling, and father-to-father mentoring.