The National Congress of Black Women, Inc. (NCBW) is an historic and valued Nonprofit Organization.  Dr. C. DeLores Tucker was the Convening Founder of NCBW in August 1984, and Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm became the first elected National Chair at NCBW’s National Assembly in June 1985.  They signed Articles of Incorporation with Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (Washington, DC) creating a structure for the highly anticipated movement across the nation to provide a nonpartisan voice of advocacy for Black Women.

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Dr. Tucker convened the first of several organizing meetings at the Black Postal Workers Union Headquarters in DC, which were later followed by the National Assembly in Atlanta, GA.  With headquarters in DC and local chapters across the nation, the National Assembly’s focus was to provide Black Women with the tools needed for success in life.  The National Assembly’s theme was “Organizing for Empowerment” with workshops titled: Political Skills Development; Organizing, maintaining your chapter and networking; Mobilizing, outreach and membership building; Impacting public policy; and many other challenging topics confronted then and now. 

  

NCBW’s programs benefit thousands of people annually, and it collaborates with groups of various backgrounds.  With a focus on youth educational opportunities, NCBW programs offer educational scholarships, youth mentoring and youth leadership development.  It reaches students in all communities, offering college-based learning programs and access to technology along with resources to compete in the workforce.  Current programs include College for Kids, College for Teens, Leadership Training and The Young Ambassadors, to name a few of the successful and long-standing programs that originate from the hard work, fierce advocacy and commitment of our trailblazers and the founding members of NCBW.

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A “Special Salute” to NCBW Founding Chairs in the 2006 Founders’ Day Celebration reads:

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“[Dr. C. DeLores Tucker] One of this century’s most renowned visionaries and civil rights activists, former Secretary of State, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1971-1977), was a convening  founder and national chair of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. (NCBW), having succeeded the Hon. Shirley Chisholm in 1992.  She was the first African American woman in the nation to serve as Secretary of State.” 

 

“[Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm] An American politician, educator and author.  She was a Congresswoman, representing New York’s 12th District for seven terms from 1969-1983.  In 1968, she became the first African American woman elected to Congress.  On January 23, 1972, she became the first African-American woman to make a serious bid to become President of the United States.”

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Our mandate today is to preserve the legacies of those who paved the way for this historic Organization and to protect and promote the NCBW mission for perpetual duration!