About City Dads
City Dads Group is a dynamic, diverse and inclusive community of fathers dedicated to being active in their children’s lives and, by example, redefining what it means to be a dad in the 21st century.
We bring fathers together, in real life and online, to:
Support each other’s efforts to be the best possible father and parenting partner
Share parenting perspectives, knowledge and experiences – good and bad
Demonstrate that modern parenting includes caring and capable fathers actively involved in raising their children
City Dads Group has chapters in most major metropolitan areas in the United States and eastern Canada. Our members get together, with and without their children, to socialize with, learn from, and support one another.
City Dads Groups also works with reporters, brands and entertainment outfits to encourage more accurate and positive representation of fathers and fatherhood in media, advertising and entertainment.
The City Dads Story
November 2008: It’s a mom, mom, mom, mom world of parenting.
New York City residents Matt Schneider and Lance Somerfeld learned this quickly after each became a stay-at-home father, a decision reached with their wives out of a desire to have a parent home to raise their children and out of practicality – financial, logistical and otherwise.
They found mom-centric “parenting” publications, mom blogs and “Mommy & Me” classes all around them. But what about dads?
These two friends and former teaching colleagues realized there must be other fathers like them in the Big Apple. They created NYC Dads Group as a way to meet them. Initially composed of a handful of fathers, NYC Dads Group grew to have more than 900 members in five years.
Buoyed by their success, Matt and Lance expanded the concept in 2013 by helping start similar groups in other major metropolitan areas around the United States. This national organization is City Dads Group. In the years since, City Dads Group has grown to boast tens of thousands of members in from Charlotte to Seattle, Toronto to Orlando, and many places in between.
Our History
Timeline
2008
First City Dads Meetup in NYC
2009
Launch of City Dads Blog
2011
Launch of New Dad Boot Camp
2011
First Movember team to support Men’s Health
2013
New Dad Boot Camp featured on The Today Show
2013
Launch of The Modern Dads Podcast
2013
City Dads goes national with expansion to Chicago and Los Angeles
2014
City Dads at the White House
2015
BABYBJÖRN and City Dads Celebrate Babywearing
2016
City Dads Fight Pediatric Cancer with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation
2016
City Dads and Plum Organics Give Back on #GivingTuesday
2018
City Dads and Dove Men+Care Paid Paternity Leave Panel at Carnegie Hall
2019
City Dads and Pampers Campaign for Changing Tables in Men’s Restrooms
2021
City Dads in 41 Cities across the United States and Canada
National Leadership
Co-Founder
Lance Somerfeld lives with his wife and two children in New York City. He is frequently asked to talk about modern fatherhood, work-life balance, shifting gender roles, and marketing to dads, appearing in or on many major local, national and international media outlets.
Co-Founder
Matt Schneider lives with his wife and two sons in New York City. Matt works with companies, brands, and writers to break down the barriers standing in the way of men being the best dads they can be. He co-hosts The Modern Dads Podcast, a show featuring authors, journalists and top parenting experts.
Editor
Kevin McKeever is a freelance writer and editor with three children: boy, girl and canine. He is also a two-time nationally award-winning newspaper columnist and blogger. His work has been featured in USA Today, Canada’s Globe and Mail, the New York Daily News and landfills worldwide.
Outreach
A good, thriving community gives back to those in need and contributes to the betterment of society. City Dads chapters and their members are active participants in local and national campaigns for parenting-related causes. These have included:
Dove Men+Care
Dove Men+Care not only makes grooming products for guys, the brand campaigns for various issues related to men and fathers. We have partnered many times with DM+C to advocate for various causes including a national paid family leave law and a broader view of men as caregivers.
Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation
City Dads Group chapters from coast-to-coast have set up lemonade stands to raise money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation to aid its effort to fund research to find better treatments and ultimately a cure for childhood cancer. (Read about what we’ve done here!)
GOOD+ Foundation
NYC Dads Group and L.A. Dads Group members have volunteered numerous times over the years to work with Good+ Foundation (formerly Baby Buggy) collecting, sorting, and bundling donated children’s clothing and gear that is distributed to help families in need. (Read about what we’ve done here!)
Plum Organics
Hearty donations through partner Plum Organics, one of the leading organic baby food brands in the United States, allowed our members to stock food pantries throughout the country to assist families with young children in need.
Movember
We have grown mustaches in November as a “living ribbon” to raise awareness about health issues that affect men such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, anxiety, and depression. Our co-sponsored teams for the Movember Foundation have raised tens of thousands of dollars to support these causes.
National Diaper Bank Network
One in three U.S. families with children under age 4 lack a sufficient supply of diapers and wipes to keep their infant or toddler dry, clean and healthy. City Dads has worked with the National Diaper Bank Network and its founder, Huggies, to supply and stock NDBN outlets with necessities for these families.