Bernard Franklin
At a very young age, Dr. Bernard Franklin demonstrated exceptional leadership skills and strong ambition
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- Educator
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At a very young age, Dr. Bernard Franklin demonstrated exceptional leadership skills and strong ambition. As an undergraduate at Kansas State University, he became the first black student ever elected President of the Student Government Association. At the age of 24, Franklin made Kansas history by becoming the youngest person ever appointed to the Kansas State Board of Regents and the youngest Chair of the Board at age 28. Franklin has been a Fellow for the Study of the United States Presidency and has served on an advisory commission to President Carter’s Administration with martin Luther King III and other prominent African Americans
Franklin has been employed with AT&T and Commerce Bank in Kansas City, MO, and as a banker in San Antonio, TX. In 1984, he began his higher education career at the University of South Alabama as Director of Student Activities and Minority Student Affairs and followed with a similar position at Rollins College, Winter Park, FL. From 1990-96, he served as Assistant Dean of Student Life and Director of Leadership Development Programs at his alma mater, Kansas State University.
At the National Center for Fathering, Franklin served as Vice President and Urban Director from 1996-99, where he was on the cutting edge in establishing education efforts to urban men. He completed a two month journey to Wast Africa to research the fathering heritage of African American men. Franklin Recently published a chapter in the book The Faith Factor in Fatherhood: Renewing the Sacred Vocation of Fathering. The Morehouse College Research Institute presented Franklin the Vision Award for his “pioneering work in the area of educating men on the importance of fatherhood.”
Franklin served as Executive Director of Kauffman Scholars, a unique $70 million, 20 year initiative funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to guide and support urban Kansas City 7th graders to high school graduation and then support them through college graduation.
Franklin is the former President of Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley in Kansas City, MO.
For over 20 years Franklin has advised and worked with undergraduate men’s fraternities and other male organizations. He is currently on the Board of Directors as President of Delta Upsilon International Fraternity.
Franklin has served as a member of the NFL Kansas City Chiefs professional counseling team.
The Mayor of Kansas City appointed Franklin to co-chair the Mayor’s task force on Race and the Latin American Community. He was selected as a “Midwest Voices” columnist for the Kansas City Star (2006).
In 1998 and 2009, Franklin was honored as one of the 100 Most Influential African Americans in Kansas City. His work and contributions to urban boys was recognized in the opening chapter of Bill Cosby’s book, Come On People (2008). The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce honored him with their distinguished Leadership Award (2009) for contributions to urban education. Franklin is also a past recipient of the Urban Hero award presented by the Downtown Kansas City Council.
Franklin serves on the Board of Directors of the Partnership for Children; the Community Development Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank, Midwest Region; Truman Medical Center; and the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City. Franklin is also chair of the Board of the Satchel Paige Foundation (KC), which provides financial assistance to low income single parents who are working to improve their income potential.
Franklin received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Kansas State University. In 1989, he received his masters in Counseling and Behavioral Studies from the University of South Alabama, and in 1996 a Ph.D. in Counseling and Higher Education Administration with an outside emphasis in Family Studies from Kansas State University. Franklin has consulted on a wide range of topics including leadership, diversity, urban education, and urban father and family issues on a local, national, and international level. He is regarded as a leader in articulating the issues of urban men, youth, and families. Franklin’s main desire is to be a loving father of a daughter and three sons as well as empower people to act and to change the world…one person at a time!
Based on the best selling book by Patrick Lencioni, this lecture or workshop/seminar works through the five interrelated issues that undermine the performance of a team. Dr. Franklin is accomplished in assisting your organization from getting unstuck.
Have you found yourself stuck and unable to get going feeling the rest of the world around you moving, even swirling? Sometimes it’s our thinking that has us stuck. We let our current or past life impact what we think our future may hold. We waste so much time and energy medicating our false perceptions. This presentation will give you tools to get up from where you, begin to imagine a whole new life, and move you on. And this presentation is only for the serious!
Losing my wife to breast cancer in 2004 was like loosing my life. It was devasting. I had to immediately begin to raise three sons and a daughter–alone. I was president of a local community college. Loss is all around us. It is in some ways a part of the human experience. Dr. Franklin will share how he has climbed his way out of grief and in to a full life. This presentation will apply to just about any loss.
Do you want to be an effective leader in a global economy? This presentation will change your leadership life. In a practical, easy to understand style, Dr. Franklin will help you and your leaders understand how to move ahead of the pack as high productive and efficient leaders.
We are leading in exponential times and we need to change how we are leading and performing our tasks. Based on the best selling book, “Change or Die,” Dr. Franklin will help his audience understand the dire consequences of not changing our leadership methods.
Why are dads important to a child’s attachment?
This session focuses on what father’s contribute to a child’s security as they move through adolescent, into teen years and beyond. This session will not in any way diminish the role of mother’s. However, we all must come to understand that a child created by two pair’s of DNA, needs both pairs to grow into secure and mature adults. We will also discuss how to get father’s involved in this vital and critical parenting process.Effective Parenting: It’s takes TWO!
Attachment theory is focused on the relationship and bond between parent(s) and child. Researchers have found that attachment patterns established early in life can lead to a number of outcomes. For example, children who are securely attached in utero and as infants tend to develop stronger self-esteem and better self-reliance as they grow older. These children also tend to be more independent, perform better in school, have successful social relationships, and experience less depression and anxiety. Children who do not develop secure attachments experience the reverse outcomes. Dr. Franklin will provide an update to current attachment theory research and share from his own parenting journey that perhaps many of our children suffer from attachment disorder, and some children could have behavior patterns similar to soldiers with PTSD. Some of our children are conceived and born in “hard places”!
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