SpoFI founder shares decade of transformation on Spokane Public Radio’s Inland Journal

The interview, which aired February 5th on Inland Journal, covers the events that sparked SpoFI’s creation in 2016, the evidence-based 24/7 Dad curriculum that’s helped 832 fathers graduate with a 93% completion rate, and the profound shifts that happen when men choose to change.

One moment captures what drives this work:

Ron shares the story of a dad in divorce court who held up his SpoFI completion certificate. When his ex-wife dismissed it as “no big deal,” he responded with what his four-year-old daughter told him: “Daddy, you don’t get mad at us like you used to. You don’t yell at us anymore.”

That dad made his decision after just four hours in class—not because anyone taught him to stop yelling, but because something shifted internally through reflection and listening to other fathers’ stories.

“When a man makes an internal choice like that, on his own, unprompted, and not forced on him by a government or a court,” Ron explains in the interview, “that decision will stick.”

The full conversation explores SpoFI’s origins—including the January 20, 2016 meeting where 100 community leaders unanimously identified fatherlessness as Spokane’s biggest problem—the National Fatherhood Initiative’s 24/7 Dad curriculum, what keeps fathers coming back to the 12-session program, and why community matters when men are rebuilding their lives and relationships.

“Many times, dads are connected to a government agency… but to have a chance to tell my story in context, to not be judged by what I’ve done, to be welcomed with a friendly face—that’s the sense of community we have developed.”

Ron also addresses the broader cultural context, noting that men today often feel “lost, confused, scared, intimidated” and that male suicide rates are four times higher than women’s. SpoFI creates what he calls “a safe place” where fathers can speak freely, find purpose, and connect with other men facing similar challenges.