Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
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 civil rights interest groups.[1][2]
Formation | 1950 |
---|---|
Headquarters | Washington, DC |
Website | civilrights |
Organizational history
The Leadership Conference was founded in 1950 by leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement: Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters founder A. Philip Randolph, NAACP executive secretary Roy Wilkins, National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council leader Arnold Aronson, and United Auto Workers president, Walter Reuther.[3][4][5] Rather than staging sit-in protests or marches in the streets, the organization worked directly to pass laws with Congress protecting rights for everyone.[6]
Leadership and organizational structure
The Leadership Conference is currently led by Vanita Gupta who took the helm in 2017 upon the retirement of Wade Henderson who had served as President and CEO of both The Leadership Conference and The Leadership Conference Education Fund (see below) since 2010. 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, who had been Chairperson of the Leadership Conference's Executive Committee, died on April 20, 2010; as of June 25, 2010, her replacement as chair had not yet been named.
As of June 2010, the Leadership Conference website reported that the organization had "more than 200" member organizations. The site described the organization's mission as "promot[ing] and protect[ing] the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States . . . [t]hrough 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.[7] The organization scores members of Congress based on their votes for civil rights issues.[8]
Member organizations
- A. Philip Randolph Institute
- AARP
- AAUW (formerly known as the American Association of University Women)
- Advancement Project
- Alaska Federation of Natives
- Alpha Kappa Alpha
- Alpha Phi Alpha
- American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
- American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity
- American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
- American Association of People with Disabilities
- American Civil Liberties Union
- American Council of the Blind
- American Ethical Union
- American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO
- American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
- American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO
- American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
- American Humanist Association
- American Islamic Congress
- American Jewish Committee
- American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
- Americans for Democratic Action
- Americans United for Separation of Church and State
- Amnesty International USA
- The Andrew Goodman Foundation
- Anti-Defamation League
- Appleseed
- Arab American Institute Foundation
- The Arc
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice
- Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
- Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO
- The Association of Junior Leagues International Inc.
- Association of People Supporting Employment First
- Association of University Centers on Disabilities
- Autistic Self Advocacy Network
- Bend the Arc
- B'nai B'rith International
- Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law
- Campaign for Youth Justice
- Center for Constitutional Rights
- Center for Law and Social Policy
- Center for Media Justice
- Center for Popular Democracy
- Center for Reproductive Rights
- Center for Responsible Lending
- Children's Defense Fund
- Church of the Brethren - World Ministries Commission
- Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
- Coalition on Human Needs
- Common Cause
- Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO
- Community Action Partnership
- Community Change
- Compassion & Choices
- Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities
- Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc.
- DC Vote
- Defending Rights and Dissent
- Delta Sigma Theta
- DÄ“mos
- Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
- Drug Policy Alliance
- Equal Justice Society
- Equally American Legal Defense and Education Fund
- FairVote
- Families USA
- Federally Employed Women
- Feminist Majority
- Friends Committee on National Legislation
- Girls Inc.
- GLSEN
- Hadassah, The Women's Zionist Organization of America
- Hindu American Foundation
- Hip Hop Caucus
- Hispanic Federation
- Human Rights Campaign
- Human Rights First
- Human Rights Watch
- Impact Fund
- Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice
- International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
- International Association of Official Human Rights Agencies
- International Brotherhood of Teamsters
- International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America
- Iota Phi Lambda
- Japanese American Citizens League
- Jewish Council for Public Affairs
- Jewish Labor Committee
- Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
- Justice in Aging
- Juvenile Law Center
- Kappa Alpha Psi
- Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
- Laborers' International Union of North America
- Lambda Legal
- LatinoJustice PRLDEF
- Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
- League of United Latin American Citizens
- League of Women Voters of the United States
- Legal Aid At Work
- Legal Momentum
- Matthew Shepard Foundation
- Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- Muslim Advocates
- Muslim Public Affairs Council
- NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- NALEO Educational Fund
- National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity
- National Alliance Of Postal and Federal Employees
- National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
- National Association of Community Health Centers
- National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA)
- National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities
- National Association of Human Rights Workers
- National Association of Neighborhoods
- National Association of Social Workers
- National Bar Association
- National Black Caucus of State Legislators
- National Black Justice Coalition
- National Center for Learning Disabilities
- National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools
- National Center for Transgender Equality
- National Center for Youth Law
- National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development
- National Coalition for the Homeless
- National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
- National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
- National College Access Network
- National Congress of American Indians
- National Consumer Law Center
- National Council of Churches
- National Council of Jewish Women
- National Council of Negro Women
- National Council of Teachers of English
- National Council on Independent Living
- National Disability Rights Network
- National Down Syndrome Congress
- National Education Association
- National Employment Law Projects
- National Employment Lawyers Association
- National Fair Housing Alliance
- National Farmers Union
- National Indian Education Association
- National LGBTQ Task Force
- National Health Law Program
- National Hispanic Media Coalition
- National Immigration Forum
- National Immigration Law Center
- National Korean American Service and Education Consortium
- National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
- National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
- National Lawyers Guild
- National Legal Aid and Defender Association
- National Low Income Housing Coalition
- National Network for Arab American Communities
- National Organization for Women
- National Partnership for Women and Families
- National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa, Inc.
- National Urban League
- National Women's Law Center
- Native American Rights Fund
- New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
- Newspaper Guild
- 9to5, National Association of Working Women
- OCA (formerly known as Organization of Chinese Americans)
- Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ, Inc.
- Omega Psi Phi
- Open Society Policy Center
- Paralyzed Veterans of America
- PFLAG
- People For the American Way
- Phi Beta Sigma
- Planned Parenthood Federation of America
- PolicyLink
- Poverty & Race Research Action Council (PRRAC)
- Pride at Work
- Prison Policy Initiative
- Public Advocates Inc.
- Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
- Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, AFL-CIO
- Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
- Secular Coalition for America
- Service Employees International Union
- The Sierra Club
- Sigma Gamma Rho
- Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund
- Sikh Coalition
- South Asian Americans Leading Together
- Southeast Asia Resource Action Center
- Southern Christian Leadership Conference
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- TASH
- Teach For America
- Transportation Learning Center
- UnidosUS (formerly National Council of La Raza)
- Union for Reform Judaism
- United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
- United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO
- United Food and Commercial Workers International Union
- United Methodist Church - General Board of Church and Society
- United Mine Workers, AFL-CIO
- United States International Council on Disabilities
- United States Student Association
- United Steelworkers
- Voices for Progress
- The Voter Participation Center
- Voto Latino
- Workers Defense League
- YWCA USA
See also
- Voting Rights Act
References
- Holmes, Steven A. (1996-10-20). "POLITICS - On Civil Rights, Clinton Steers Bumpy Course Between Right and Left - Series". nytimes.com. A. G. Sulzberger. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
- Grossmann, Matt (2013). New Directions in Interest Group Politics. Routledge. p. 27. ISBN 1134068956.
- Michael Pertschuk, Giant Killers (New York: W.W. Norton, 1986), p. 149.
- Boyle, Kevin (1995). The UAW and the Heyday of American Liberalism, 1945-1968. Cornell University Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-8014-8538-1.
- "- THE LAW OF THE LAND: U.S. IMPLEMENTATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS TREATIES". www.govinfo.gov. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
- "Our History". The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- "Our Work". The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
- "The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Voting Record" (PDF). Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. October 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2019.