African American Organizations

Pittsburgh Region

• African American Chamber of Commerce of Western Pennsylvania
  http://www.aaccwp.com/
  provides access and business opportunities for African American business owners and professionals throughout the region.
• Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society, Pittsburgh Chapter
  http://pittsburgh.aahgs.org/
  AAHGS is designed to encourage the research, documentation and preservation of African American families. Beginning genealogy classes are offered as well tips on how to overcome "brick walls" in your research. Monthly meetings and annual conferences are open to the public.
• Afro-American Music Institute
  http://www.aamipittsburgh.org/
  Located in Homewood, the Afro-American Music Institute (AAMI) provides systematic, specialized instrumental and vocal training in all styles of the African-American music tradition (i.e. Gospel, Negro Spirituals, Jazz, etc.). In addition, the Institute provides a forum both in performing and recording opportunities for otherwise undiscovered talent in the Greater Pittsburgh community.
• August Wilson Center for African American Culture
  http://www.africanaculture.org/
  The August Wilson Center for African American Culture (formerly known as the African American Cultural Center of Greater Pittsburgh) is a not-for-profit organization that presents performing, visual and education programs that celebrate the contributions of African Americans within the region and the impact of cultural expression from Africa to the African Diaspora.

• Brady Enterprise Association
  http://www.bradyresearch.com/
  is devoted to electronic trade, commerce and community development information exchange via the internet, to persons of African Heritage, using research and development tools by higher education scholars, volunteer retired professors and other interested parties.
• Christian Life Skills Inc.
  http://www.christianlifeskills.net/
  provides training, resources, programs, and activities which assist churches, church-based groups, community groups, and parents in instilling Christian Life Skills, values, and behaviors in children, youth, and families, particularly African Americans, through a networking process.
• First Fridays Pittsburgh
  http://www.firstfridayspgh.com/
  A chance for African American professionals to socialize and network.
• Hill House
  http://www.hillhouse.org/
  A multi-purpose social services agency that has been providing services to residents of the Hill District and the Pittsburgh area for more than 30 years.
• Jazz Workshop, Inc.
  http://www.jazzworkshopinc.org/
  a nonprofit organization established in 1973 by accomplished musician and social worker Harold Young, Sr. and provides free jazz music lessons to more than 200 inner city children and adults yearly. It operates in the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - Homewood.
• The Kingsley Association
  http://www.kingsleyassociation.org/
  The Kingsley Association works diligently to provide comprehensive, culturally relevant, educational, recreational, and social programming that positively impacts the lives of youth, their families and the East End communities of East Liberty, Garfield, Point Breeze, Homewood, Lincoln, Larimer, Lemington, Belmar, East Hills, Wilkinsburg, and beyond.
• Manchester Craftsmen's Guild
  http://www.manchesterguild.org/
  a multi-cultural arts education and presenting organization that has been providing cultural activities to residents of Western Pennsylvania for the past twenty-nine years.
• Multicultural Arts Initiative
  http://www.mcai-pittsburgh.org/
  The Multicultural Arts Initiative is an arts organization that works to put more black arts and artists in the spotlight and to build awareness and audiences for black arts groups.
• NAACP, Greensburg/Jeanette Branch
  http://paweb.bizland.com/NAACP2.htm
  The Greensburg/Jeannette Branch National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a volunteer community-based organization that has been in existence for 45 years and covers Central Westmoreland County.
• NEED Negro Emergency Education Drive
  http://www.needld.org/
  providing "last dollar" financial assistance and educational counseling to high school seniors with limited means seeking higher education.
• Nego Gato
  http://www.negogato.org/
  A dance troupe performing Capoeira, a mixture of dance and martial arts that originated among Brazilian slaves.

• PACE: The Program to Aid Citizen Enterprise
  http://www.pacepgh.com/
  The mission of the Program to Aid Citizen Enterprise is to identify and respond to the needs in the African American and disadvantaged communities, particularly in southwestern Pennsylvania, through direct funding of nonprofit agencies, service programming and technical assistance.
• Steel On Ice, Inc
  http://www.steelonice.com/
  The Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Brotherhood of Skiers that offers activities in golf, travel and cycling as well.
• UMOJA African Arts Company
  http://www.umojacompany.com/
  UMOJA is a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of African culture through the public performance of authentic traditional and neo-traditional music, dancing, and storytelling, and through demonstrations and educational lectures and workshops in African heritage, culture, and arts.
• Urban League of Pittsburgh
  http://www.ulpgh.org/
  A leading provider of programs and services and advocate of public policy initiatives that promote improved quality of life for African Americans and thereby the whole community. Their programs and services include Early Childhood Services, Education, Employment, Training and Economic Empowerment, Housing, and Youth Development.
• Urban League Young Professionals of Pittsburgh (ULYP-Pittsburgh)
  http://www.ulyp-pgh.org/
  The Urban League Young Professionals of Pittsburgh (ULYP-Pittsburgh), an auxiliary of the Urban League of Pittsburgh, is composed of professionals who live, work and serve in the greater Pittsburgh region between the ages of twenty-one (21) and thirty-nine (39).
• Women of Visions
  Women of Visions is a nonprofit organization promoting the art and education of African American women in Pittsburgh through collaborative exhibits with other arts groups and individual artists.

• Young Men and Women’s African Heritage Association, Inc. (YMWAHA)
  YMWAHA is a community based, not-for-profit agency whose mission is to provide the best quality services possible for children and families with particular focus on the needs of children of African heritage and their families in the areas of social services, sports and recreation, arts, education, economic development, and spirituality.

Pennsylvania

• Governor's Advisory Commission on African American Affairs
  http://www.africanam.state.pa.us/
  The Governor appoints fifteen individuals who are representatives of the Commonwealth’s African American community to advise the state government on issues of interest and concern to the African American Community.
• Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus
  http://www.pahouse.com/plbc/
  The purpose of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, founded in 1973, is to serve as an information and advocacy vehicle to advance the interests of African-American, Latino, and other minority citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

United States

• Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society
  http://www.aahgs.org/
  The Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc. (AAHGS), headquartered in Washington D.C., strives to preserve African-ancestored family history, genealogy, and cultural diversity by teaching research techniques and disseminating information throughout the community. Their primary goals are to promote scholarly research, provide resources for historical and genealogical studies, create a network of persons with similar interests, and assist members in documenting their histories.
• Blacks in Government
  A national organization of Black civil service employees.
• Center for Third World Organizing
  CTWO is a racial justice organization dedicated to building a social justice movement led by people of color, headquartered in Oakland, California.
• Congressional Black Caucus Foundation
  The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (CBCF) was established in 1976 as a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy, research and educational institute whose mission is to serve as the non-partisan policy oriented catalyst that educates future leaders and promotes collaboration among legislators, business leaders, minority-focused organizational leaders, and organized labor to effect positive and sustainable change in the African American community.
• Jack and Jill of America
  This is the oldest African-American family organization for mothers of children between the ages of two and nineteen that seeks to provide children with a constructive educational, cultural, civic, health, recreational, and social program and to aid mothers in learning more about their children by careful study. There is a chapter in Pittsburgh.
• Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity
  http://www.kappaalphapsi.com/
  An African American fraternity whose fundamental purpose is achievement.
• Links Incorporated
  http://www.linksinc.org/
  Links Incorporated is an organization of over 10,000 professional women of color in 270 chapters, located in 40 states and three countries. Links members are accomplished, dedicated women who are active in their communities as role models, mentors, activists and volunteers.
• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
  http://www.naacp.org/
  Founded in 1909 as the National Negro Committee, the NAACP has been at the forefront of the fight for equal rights for African Americans.
• National Black Graduate Student Association
  The National Black Graduate Student Association, Inc. (NBGSA) is a non-profit, student-run organization dedicated to improving the status of African Americans in higher education by systematically identifying and addressing their needs and concerns.
• National Black United Fund
  http://www.nbuf.org/
  NBUF raises funds for and provides technical assistance to Black organizations that provide a wide variety of services to Black Americans in the areas of children, health, education, equal opportunity, economic development, the environment, and social justice.
• National Council of Negro Women
  http://www.ncnw.org/
  
• National Society of Black Engineers
  links of interest to engineers and educators
• National Society of Black Physicists
  The National Society of Black Physicists was established in 1977 at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD out of a need to address many of the important issues of concern for African-American physicists. Today, NSBP is the largest and most recognizable organization devoted to the African-American physics community. Among its many activities, NSBP has named Science Ambassadors to give lectures to elementary, middle, high school, and university students encouraging them to pursue careers in science, engineering, and mathematics, with a special emphasis on physics.
• National Urban League
  the premier social service and civil rights organization in America; a nonprofit, community-based organization headquartered in New York City assisting African Americans in the achievement of social and economic equality.
• Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc
  http://www.zphib1920.org/
  Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. is a Community Conscious Action Oriented Organization dedicated to the ideals of Service, Scholarship, Sisterhood, and Finer Womanhood.