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SCA-NCNW HistorySouthern 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. |
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Branches of SCA-NCNW are located in various areas throughout Southern California. There were almost twenty-one 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, Riverside, 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. |
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President's Message
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Happy Spring Southern California Members, NCNW has done a lot during the last twelve months, and you have been a big part of it all. Thank all of you who have stepped up to become section or national officers. Thank you to all who are stepping up and stepping out on behalf of NCNW. A new National Board was elected during our recent convention. Our new President, Shavone Arline-Bradley is a wife, mother, pastor as well as a prolific, dynamic individual who started working for NCNW before her first day of employment. She is getting everyone prepared to set the world on fire. She is a Delta and has been active in various campaigns as an officer for the NAACP. Most of you are acquainted with our Chair, Dr. A. Lois Keith, who has been a part of NCNW for many years. She has always been someone that others wanted to emulate. Not only for her knowledge and demeanor but mainly for her fashion sense. We are glad to have someone like Dr. Keith as our leader. You will be able to meet with her later this year
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We are looking forward to wonderful things from both these dynamic leaders. As you will find out, in the upcoming months many changes will be forthcoming. Hopefully, SoCal NCNW is ready for change, not just in your sections but those that will come nationally, and statewide. NCNW was created to be inclusive, and we are looking forward to all of us working together. SoCal Events We are moving forward and organizing our annual Bethune Height Recognition Program, to be held September 30, 2023. I am confident you all look forward to raising funds for this national program that will compare with monies given by others throughout the nation. This year we are partnering with Northern California to ensure this program is successful. We don’t look for all of you to become Life or Legacy Life members, but we do encourage everyone to endeavor to reach Achiever ($300) membership status. Sell cans, cookies, have a raffle, open a lemonade stand or anything within your vision where you can raise money (Dr. Height said “As long as it is legal”). Share ideas with others and enjoy yourself. In addition, this year we are adding a Leadership Conference. The Leadership Conference will be held on September 29, 2023 MOTHER’S DAY Some Southern California Area sections are planning to collect toiletries, clothing, and other personal items they can distribute as MOTHERS DAY gifts for women in those communities. You will receive further general information as well as specifics from the sections who are collecting these items so that we can all support this project. HEALTH We will hold one more COVID-19 vaccine clinic before the shots are no longer free. L.A. FAIR SCA-NCNW will have a booth at the Los Angeles Fair Grounds on May 5 and 6, 2023. We are requesting (and need) members from all sections to staff the booth for an hour or two and promote NCNW and their sections to those in attendance from throughout the southland. With such highly motivating events and projects, SCA-NCNW will rise to and exceed every expectation. We thank you and are thankful for your commitment, focus, and readiness to lead SCA-NCNW to success.
Thank you in Advance,
Dr. Helena Johnson
Thank you in Advance,
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
NCNW HistoryThe 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. |
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NCNW PledgeIt 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."
-Mary McLeod Bethune |
"Faith is the first factor in a life devoted to service. Without it, nothing is possible.
With it, nothing is impossible."
Mary McLeod Bethune
SoCal NCNW Executive Board
DR. HELENA JOHNSON
President |
Stephanie Haynes
Vice President-Programs |
Milele Robertson
Second Vice President-Membership |
Vacant
Third Vice President- Young Adults |
Dr. DeVera Heard
Recording Secretary |
Rev. Melaine Mays
Treasurer |
Toi Quick
Financial Secretary |
Marnisha Mintlow
Corresponding Secretary |
Doris Gray
Chaplain |
"Invest in the human soul. Who knows, it might be a diamond in the rough."
Mary McLeod Bethune
John Lewis -Good Trouble
