The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (The Leadership Conference), formerly called the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, is an umbrella group of
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
Founded in 1925, The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) was the first labor organization led by African Americans to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The BSCP gathered a membership of 18,000 passenger railway ...
founder
A. Philip Randolph
Asa Philip Randolph (April 15, 1889 – May 16, 1979) was an American labor unionist and civil rights activist. In 1925, he organized and led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first successful African-American led labor union. I ...
,
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&n ...
Arnold Aronson Arnold Aronson (March 11, 1911 – February 17, 1998) was a founder of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and served as its executive secretary from 1950 to 1980. In 1941 he worked with A. Philip Randolph to pressure President Franklin ...
, and
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American Labor unions in the United States, labor union that represents workers in the Un ...
president, Walter Reuther. Rather than staging sit-in protests or marches in the streets, the organization worked directly to pass laws with Congress protecting rights for everyone.
Leadership and organizational structure
The Leadership Conference is currently led by Maya Wiley who took the helm in 2022 upon the retirement of
Wade Henderson
Wade J. Henderson (born April 22, 1948) is an African-American advocate, community leader and governmental activist. He has served as president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCHR) and counsel to the Leadership Conferenc ...
who had served as President and CEO of both The Leadership Conference and The Leadership Conference Education Fund (see below) from 2010-2017 and as interim President and CEO since the departure of Vanita Gupta in 2021. Previously, Karen McGill Lawson was Executive Vice President and COO of both organizations; and Nancy M. Zirkin was Executive Vice President for Policy of both organizations.
Dorothy Height
Dorothy Irene Height (March 24, 1912 – April 20, 2010) was an African American civil rights and women's rights activist. She focused on the issues of African American women, including unemployment, illiteracy, and voter awareness. Height is c ...
, who had been Chairperson of the Leadership Conference's Executive Committee, died on April 20, 2010.
As of December 2022, the Leadership Conference website reported that the organization had "more than 30" member organizations. The site described the organization's mission as "promot ngand protect ngthe civil and human rights of all persons in the United States . . . rough advocacy and outreach to targeted constituencies . . . ."
According to the organization's website, "The Leadership Conference is a 501(c)(4) organization that engages in legislative advocacy. It ... has coordinated national lobbying efforts on behalf of every major civil rights law since 1957."
The Leadership Conference Education Fund, described by the Leadership Conference website as "the education and research arm of The Leadership Conference," was founded in 1969. It was previously known as the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund.
According to the Leadership Conference website, the Education Fund "builds public will for federal policies that promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. The Education Fund's campaigns empower and mobilize advocates around the country to push for progressive change in the United States."
The Education Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization, which means that contributions are tax-deductible.
Issues
The Leadership Conference focuses on democracy, justice, inclusion and opportunity. The organization scores members of Congress based on their votes for civil rights issues.
Member organizations
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A. Philip Randolph Institute
The A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) is an organization for African-American trade unionists. APRI advocates social, labor, and economic change at the state and federal level, using legal and legislative means.
History
In response to the 1963 ...
AAUW
The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide network of 170,00 ...
Alpha Kappa Alpha
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen s ...
*
Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved in ...
*
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) states that it is "the largest Arab American grassroots civil rights organization in the United States." According to its webpage it is open to people of all backgrounds, faiths and ethnicities ...
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) is a Non-profit organization, nonprofit national alliance of education programs, which is dedicated to professional development of Pre-K–12 (education), K-12 teachers and school l ...
*
American Association of People with Disabilities
The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which advocates for the legal rights of people with disabilities.Imparato, Andrew J. 2005. "AAPD In Its Second Decade," ''AAPDnews'' (Spring 2005), p ...
*
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
*
American Council of the Blind
The American Council of the Blind (ACB) is a nationwide organization in the United States. It is an organization mainly made up of blind and visually impaired people who want to achieve independence and equality (although there are many sighted ...
*
American Ethical Union
The Ethical movement, also referred to as the Ethical Culture movement, Ethical Humanism or simply Ethical Culture, is an ethical, educational, and religious movement that is usually traced back to Felix Adler (1851–1933).
American Islamic Congress
Founded late in 2001, the American Islamic Congress (AIC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in the United States. AIC is a non-religious, civil rights organization whose stated goal is to build interfaith and inter-ethnic understandin ...
*
American Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish o ...
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
*
Americans for Democratic Action
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) is a liberal American political organization advocating progressive policies. ADA views itself as supporting social and economic justice through lobbying, grassroots organizing, research, and supporting pr ...
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance
The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) is a nonprofit organization of Asian-Pacific American trade union members affiliated with the AFL–CIO. It was the "first and only national organization for Asian Pacific American union members ...
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit advocacy organization run by and for individuals on the autism spectrum. ASAN advocates for the inclusion of autistic people in decisions that affect them, including: ...
New York University School of Law
New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in ...
Center for Law and Social Policy
The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) is an American organization, based in Washington, D.C., that advocates for policies aimed at improving the lives of low-income people.
History
The Center for Law and Social Policy was founded ...
Center for Popular Democracy
The Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) is an American advocacy group that promotes progressive politics. CPD is a federation of groups that includes some of the old chapters of ACORN. The group's stated goal is to "envision and win an innovative p ...
Center for Responsible Lending
The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) is a nonprofit organization research and policy group based in Durham, North Carolina. Its stated purpose is to educate the public about financial products and to push for policies that curb predatory lend ...
Coalition on Human Needs
A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces.
Formation
According to ''A Gui ...
Communications Workers of America
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is the largest communications and media labor union in the United States, representing about 700,000 members in both the private and public sectors (also in Canada and Puerto Rico). The union has 27 ...
Compassion & Choices
Compassion & Choices is a nonprofit organization in the United States working to improve patient autonomy and individual choice at the end of life, including access to medical aid in dying. Its primary function is advocating for and ensuring acce ...
Delta Sigma Theta
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emph ...
Drug Policy Alliance
The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) is a New York City–based nonprofit organization that seeks to advance policies that “reduce the harms of both drug use and drug prohibition, and to promote the sovereignty of individuals over their minds and ...
*
Equal Justice Society
Equal(s) may refer to:
Mathematics
* Equality (mathematics).
* Equals sign (=), a mathematical symbol used to indicate equality.
Arts and entertainment
* Equals (film), ''Equals'' (film), a 2015 American science fiction film
* Equals (game), ''Eq ...
Families USA
Families USA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan consumer health advocacy and policy organization.
Co-founded founded in 1981 by Ronald Pollack, the first executive director, and Philippe Villers, the organization's current president, Families USA's advo ...
Friends Committee on National Legislation
The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan Quaker organization. As a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization, FCNL and its network lobby Congress and the administration to promote peace, justice, and environm ...
*
Girls Inc.
Girls Inc. (established in 1864) is a United States 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which encourages girls to be "Strong, Smart, and Bold" through direct service and advocacy. The organization prioritizes equipping girls with the skills to n ...
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...
Juvenile Law Center
Juvenile Law Center, founded in 1975, is a non-profit public interest law firm for children in the United States.
History
Juvenile Law Center was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1975 by four Temple University Beasley School of Law
...
*
Kappa Alpha Psi
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, cree ...
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, or simply the Lawyers' Committee, is a civil rights organization founded in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy. At the time, Alabama Governor George Wallace had vowed to resist cou ...
League of Women Voters of the United States
The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...
Legal Momentum
Legal Momentum, founded in 1970, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and the nation's first and longest-serving legal advocacy group for women in the United States. Betty Friedan and Muriel Fox were its co-founders and Muriel Fox is an ongoing leader of the ...
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.& ...
National Association of Neighborhoods
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
*
National Association of Social Workers
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is a professional organization of social workers in the United States. NASW has about 120,000 members. The NASW provides guidance, research, up to date information, advocacy, and other resources ...
National Black Caucus of State Legislators
The National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) is an American political organization composed of African Americans elected to state legislatures in the United States and its territories.
Background
NBCSL was founded in 1977 after a gro ...
National Center for Learning Disabilities
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
National Center for Transgender Equality
The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) is a nonprofit social equality organization founded in 2003 by transgender activist Mara Keisling in Washington, D.C. The organization works primarily in the areas of policy advocacy and med ...
National College Access Network
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ...
National Disability Rights Network
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ...
*
National Down Syndrome Congress
The National Down Syndrome Congress (NDSC) is a national not-for-profit organization that provides individuals, families, and health care providers information and support about Down syndrome, as well as advocating with and on behalf of individu ...
National Immigration Forum
The National Immigration Forum is an immigrant advocacy non-profit group, based in Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the Na ...
National Korean American Service and Education Consortium
The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC, and 미주한인봉사교육단체협의회 or 미교협 in Korean) is a national service, advocacy and education organization for two non-profit multi-issue grassroots l ...
National Legal Aid and Defender Association
The National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) is the oldest and largest national, nonprofit membership organization devoted to advocating equal justice for all Americans and was established in 1911.
History
The Fourteenth Amendment to ...
Newspaper Guild
The NewsGuild-CWA is a labor union founded by newspaper journalists in 1933. In addition to improving wages and working conditions, its constitution says its purpose is to fight for honesty in journalism and the news industry's business practic ...
*
9to5, National Association of Working Women
9to5, National Association of Working Women is an organization established in 1973 that is dedicated to improving working conditions and ensuring the rights of women and families in the United States.
The group has its origins in ''9to5 News'', ...
*
OCA
OCA or Oca may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions
* The ancient town and bishopric Oca in Asia Minor (present Asia Turkey), now a Latin Catholic titular see
* The former Spanish Oca, modern Villafranca Montes de Oca, also see of a medieval bis ...
(formerly known as
Organization of Chinese Americans
OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates (previously known as the Organization of Chinese Americans) is a non-profit organization founded in 1973, whose stated mission is to advance the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Americans a ...
)
*Office of Communication of the
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximatel ...
*
Omega Psi Phi
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African-American fraternity. The fraternity was founded on November 17, 1911, by three Howard University juniors Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman, and their faculty a ...
Paralyzed Veterans of America
The Paralyzed Veterans of America is a veterans' service organization in the United States of America, founded in 1946. The organization holds 33 chapters and 70 National Service Offices in the United States and Puerto Rico. It is based in Washi ...
Phi Beta Sigma
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young Afr ...
Secular Coalition for America
The Secular Coalition for America is an advocacy group located in Washington D.C. It describes itself as "representing the interests of atheists, humanists, freethinkers, agnostics, and other nontheistic Americans."
The Secular Coalition has chap ...
Sigma Gamma Rho
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority, international collegiate, and non-profit community service organization that was founded on November 12, 1922, by seven educators on the Irvington campus (1875– ...
Sikh Coalition The Sikh Coalition is a Sikh-American advocacy group that defends Sikh civil rights founded in 2001 with offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Fremont, California.
The Sikh Coalition, was originally named the Coalition of Sikh Organi ...
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., who had a large role in the American civ ...
*
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...
Union for Reform Judaism
The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) until 2003, founded in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the congregational arm of Reform Judaism in North America. The other two arms establishe ...
United Farm Workers of America
The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the Agricultural Workers Organizing ...
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelica ...
-
General Board of Church and Society
The General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) is a general agency of the United Methodist Church. It is one of four international general program boards of The United Methodist Church as set out the ''UMC Book of Discipline''. The General Board h ...
United States International Council on Disabilities
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
Voices for Progress
Voices or The Voices may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Voices'' (1920 film), by Chester M. De Vonde, with Diana Allen
* ''Voices'' (1973 film), a British horror film
* ''Voices'' (1979 film), a film by Robert Markowitz
* ''Voices'' (1 ...
Voto Latino
Voto Latino is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization in the United States, founded in 2004. The organization's primary aim is to encourage young Hispanic and Latino voters to register to vote and become more politically involved. The organization ...
YWCA USA : ''For other uses, including specific buildings and chapters, see Young Women's Christian Association (disambiguation).''
YWCA USA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedo ...