About | Ncnw Socal Copy

SCA-NCNW History

Southern California Area NCNW was started when Meda Chamberlain was appointed Executive Director of the Southern California Area. She was followed by Hazel Isaiah Ransom and Otheta Glover who were appointed as conveners. The current President/Convener of Southern California is Dr. Helena Johnson. Lois Carson was on the national board for more than 10 years before term limits were added. She was initially a committee member and progressed to a National Vice President under Dorothy I. Height.

Southern California Area NCNW has offered several federally funded projects as well as partnerships with organizations such as United Way, The American Red Cross, as well as the City and County of Los Angeles. The most infamous project presented by SCA-NCNW was a series of Black Family Reunion that started in 1986 and is still held periodically throughout the area. A major accomplishment was the purchase of our headquarters at 3720 W. 54th St, Los Angeles.

Branches of SCA-NCNW are located in various areas throughout Southern California. There were almost twenty sections in Southern California at one time. Currently sections include Athens Westmont, Bethune, Compton, High Desert, Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Mary McLeod Bethune, Long Beach, Orange County, San Diego, and View Park. In addition, there is the Los Angeles Life Member Guild and Moreno Valley Life Member Guild. We continue to provide programs to enrich families and communities. We continue to grow and hope to bring on at least two new sections this year.

The SCA-NCNW facility owned by the National Council of Negro Women is home to several community programs and is utilized as a Space Sharing resource so that there is room for many community collaboratives. We are an arm of an organization who continues to usher in new eras of social activism and progressive growth. Today we are grounded in our national foundation of critical concerns known as “Four for the Future”, STEAM, Financial Literacy and economic stability, Education, Health (mental and physical), as well as civic engagement and advocacy for sound public policy and social justice.

Prez Message

President's Message

Southern California Area NCNW Members and Friends,

I am sure that you remember the excitement we felt as we counted down to 2020. As we started 2020, we had dreams and visions of what a great year it would be and looked forward to a new chapter in life. Then 2020 surprised us, unfortunately not in a good way. One day, we suddenly saw George Floyd and Brenna Taylor’s faces everywhere on the media followed by the Black Lives Matter movement. We witnessed our nation rising for social justice and change. In 2020, many of us became aware of and/or participating in social movements that we had not experienced since the Civil Rights Movement or had never experienced at any time. When we first learned about the pandemic, we were excited when there were two weeks of no school announced on March 13th. However, we did not know that the two weeks of “vacation” would turn into a whole year and counting. We had no idea what we would experience in 2020 just as we have no idea what we will experience in 2021. However, the beauty of the unknown is that it is unknown.

We may be afraid of another bad year, but we also have no idea how many great things may occur in 2021. We have no idea how many new friends we will make, how many goals we will achieve, and what kind of adventures that we experience. Who knows it could be the best year of your life? So, let us push forward for this unknown 2021, open to opportunities that will fill our lives and create another prosperous year for SCA-NCNW.

Some decisions we are being forced to make such as what parts of us will survive from 2020 loses include income, comfort, elder care and support, jobs, voting right's, health, economy, lifestyle, community and more. We have lived in overpriced homes with unaffordable prices because of the winner-takes-all attitude we have embraced. Opinions have been formed not by knowledge, but by media hyperbole. Long before the coronavirus the homeless were growing under freeways and we were shaking our heads while waiting for others to find a remedy. Media and technology made us listen to the loudest voices hoping something from the past would manifest itself and a true leader/savior would appear and save everyone.

Reality is that we all must become accountable. We all benefit from being a part of the community because the community is greater than we are individually. Last year we all had to adjust to both physical and mental pain. Though we must socially distance until the pandemic ends does not mean we will truly distance ourselves in the communal sense. We must find new ways to embrace togetherness and surround ourselves with individuals who share our passions for the mission of NCNW and as a result you will feel a stronger sense of connection to a greater purpose.

SCA-NCNW will provide several new program and projects this year. Building membership will be a major undertaking. Expect monthly webinars that will offer workshops and trainings ranging from technology training to protocol and procedural workshops. Look forward to surveys and polls that are developed to include input from the entire membership. We will add new sections both local and collegiate. We will partner with Northern California to present a statewide Leadership Conference. Local sections are offering programs that range from job development to reading proficiency.

Who knows, it might be the best year of your life yet. So, let us push forward for this unknown year of 2021, open your heart and mind to opportunities that will fill your life with another significant year unlike any you have experienced. By applying optimism and effort each of us will alter the way we personally and professionally navigate 2021. We will not only survive this year, but we will also thrive in it.

We are deeply grateful to all of you who have helped us to build a great organization in Southern California.

With Appreciation,

Dr. Helena Johnson

"A woman is free if she lives by her own standards and creates her own destiny,

if she prizes her individuality and puts no boundaries on her hopes for tomorrow."

Mary McLeod Bethune

History

NCNW History

The National Council of Negro Women is a coalition comprised of 200 community-based sections in 32 state and 38 national organizational affiliates that work to enlighten and inspire 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 by Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, an influential educator and activist.

For more than fifty years, the iconic Dr. Dorothy Height was president of NCNW. Today, under the leadership of Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole, NCNW's programs are grounded on a foundation of critical concerns known as "Four for the Future".

NCNW promotes education with a concentrated focus on science, technology, engineering, art and math; encourages entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and economic stability, educates women about good mental and physical health practices; promotes civic engagement and advocates for sound public policy consistent with traditional values.

Sections

Our Mission

NCNW’s mission is to lead, advocate for and empower women of African descent their families and communities.

NCNW Bylaws

NCNW Handbook

NCNW Pledge

It is our pledge to make a lasting contribution to all that is finest and best in America, to cherish and enrich her heritage of freedom and progress by working for the integration of all her people regardless of race, creed or national origin, into her spiritual, social, cultural, civic and economic life, and thus aid her to achieve the glorious destiny of a true and unfettered democracy.

"We have a powerful potential in our YOUTH, and we must have the COURAGE to CHANGE old IDEAS and PRACTICES so that we may direct their POWER toward GOOD ENDS."