The National Council of Negro Women, Inc. (NCNW) is a nonprofit membership organization comprised of 36 national African American women’s organizations and more than 230 community and campus-based sections. NCNW’s mission is to lead, empower and advocate for nearly three million women, their families and communities. We seek to harness the collective power of women of African descent, so that they may realize their full potential and create a just society that enhances the quality of life for all people.
Education, Entrepreneurship, Health, and Public Policy drive NCNW’s initiatives. NCNW serves as a catalyst for effective action to address disparities and inequities in communities of color through research, service, and advocacy. We fulfill our mission through national and community-based health, education and economic empowerment services and programs undertaken by our section and affiliate volunteers in 31 states.
NCNW addresses local needs while impacting communities nationwide. NCNW’S programs promote civic engagement, empower voters, educate business owners, prevent HIV/AIDS, tutor and mentor youth and young adults, close the digital divide and STEM gaps, encourage healthy lifestyles, promote traditional values and serve seniors and disadvantaged youth.
Education (STEAM)
NCNW seeks to establish a more comprehensive, integrated response to the need for science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics education for communities of color. In recognition of the fact that economic stability and career opportunities are enhanced by familiarity with STEAM, NCNW believes it is important to cooperatively plan for and implement measures that will provide greater awareness of STEAM careers and greater access to the paths to those careers.
We are committed to creating strategies to address and eliminate the barriers that artificially limit STEM opportunities in the workplace and in the classroom for many hard-working American families.
Although there are efforts to promote technological competence, there remains a significant digital divide that disproportionately affects blacks and women. Meanwhile, the national economy is hampered by an inadequate number of persons prepared to work in science-related occupations, including aviation.
NCNW has established partnerships with a variety of organizations committed to promoting interest in STEAM, access to STEM education, awareness of careers in technology and equal opportunity in education, employment, and business formation.
Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship
NCNW is committed to erasing the race and gender wealth gap. Specifically, we seek to increase awareness about the importance of acquiring and growing assets within the Black community in general, and specifically among African American women.
NCNW works to provide Black women with the information and the tools that they need to improve their financial well-being and create a plan for generating, maintaining and growing intergenerational wealth.
Health
Our Chair wisely guided NCNW to adopt Four for the Future – a forward-looking platform for growth and change. One of the essential pillars of Four for the Future is protecting the health of our members, their families, and communities. As the saying goes, “health is wealth.”NCNW has formed partnerships with the Black Women’s Health Imperative and the AIDS Health Foundation to address one of the most disturbing health challenges – protecting black women from HIV. According to Dr. Barbara Lee Jackson, Director, Program Design and Implementation at BWHI, we must eliminate the stigma. We can’t protect ourselves until we acknowledge that protection is needed, desired and deserved.
Public Policy
NCNW is a coalition of organizations, comprised of 200 community-based sections and 30 national women’s organizations that enlightens, inspires and connects more than 3,000,000 women and men. Its mission is to lead, advocate for and empower women of African descent, their families and communities. NCNW was founded in 1935 by Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, influential educator and activist, and for more than fifty years, the iconic Dr. Dorothy Height was president of NCNW..