The NCBW Story

In the winter of 1970 in New York City, a handful of Black women, led by visionary Edna Beach, began meeting in their homes to assess the problems and opportunities left behind in the wake of the turbulent 1960s.  For the rest of the 1970s, they slowly but persistently worked to master root causes of issues that affected their families, their communities and themselves.  Naming themselves the Coalition of 100 Black Women, they boldly began to reach out to other Black women in common cause and, eventually, mobilized their emerging stature as a visible force of influence.  By the beginning of the next decade, that influence had become a national movement.

On October 24, 1981, representatives from 14 states and the District of Columbia founded the National Coalition of 100 Black Women (NCBW).  They responded to the New York Coalition’s nationwide call to develop a leadership forum for professional Black women from the public and private sectors.  That call resulted in a network of Black women who joined together to meet the personal and professional needs of the contemporary Black woman, the needs of her community and her access to mainstream America.

Today, the national movement has garnered more than 6,000 members over the years throughout 60 chapters representing 25 states and the District of Columbia.  In profile, the typical Coalition woman has completed college, holds a professional position, earns a median income of $40,000, is age 40 to 50, and is integrally involved in the socioeconomic and political matrix of her respective community.