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.