MIKE BOBBITT
Director, Fatherhood Initative
New York City Department of Youth &
Community Development

Mike Bobbitt is the director of the Fatherhood Initaitive of the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development.  He is also a sought-after independent consultant, addressing issues relating to criminal and social justice as well as media. Before accepting the position with the City of New York, Mike was a program Manager in the JEHT Foundation's Criminal Justice Program, which sought to reduce the high levels of incarceration that exist in the U.S.; protect public safety; ease the financial burden to society of supporting the current approach to incarceration; and ensure that adults who come in contact with the justice system are fairly and appropriately treated.

Previously, Mike was the associate managing director for training and technical assistance at Family Justice, where he directed the operations of a team providing technical assistance to federal, state and local government bodies and community-based organizations seeking to reduce criminal recidivism, improve family well-being, and increase compliance with supervision mandates for families who have members with involvement in the criminal justice system. Before Family Justice, he
was on staff at the Vera Institute of Justice for six years. In his last appointment he served as program director of the Safe Return Initiative, providing technical assistance to grantees of the U.S. Department of Justice`s Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative in collaboration with the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community at the University of Minnesota, to provide technical assistance to grantees of the U.S. Department of Justice's Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative seeking to address domestic violence when prisoners return to their families.

Before establishing his career in criminal justice reform, Mike worked extensively in the entertainment industry, marketing a diverse range of artists including Chris Rock, Allen Ginsberg, The Last Poets, KRS-One, Baaba Maal, Hassan Hakmoun, Paul Mooney, and others.

Mike has a BA in Urban Studies from Harvard University.  To read his publications, please visit:

Safe Return:  Working Toward Preventing Domestic Violence When Men return from Prision (Bobbitt, Campbell, Tate)  Vera: New York. 2006

The Front Line: Building Program that Recognize Families' Role in Reentry (Bobbitt, Nelson)  Vera: New York. 2004

>> BACK TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS