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]

Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Formation1950
HeadquartersWashington, DC
Websitecivilrights.org

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 Maya Wiley who took the helm in 2022 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) 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, 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[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

See also

References
  1. Holmes, Steven A. (1996-10-20). "POLITICS - On Civil Rights, Clinton Steers Bumpy Course Between Right and Left - Series". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
  2. Grossmann, Matt (2013). New Directions in Interest Group Politics. Routledge. p. 27. ISBN 978-1134068951.
  3. Michael Pertschuk, Giant Killers (New York: W.W. Norton, 1986), p. 149.
  4. Boyle, Kevin (1995). The UAW and the Heyday of American Liberalism, 1945-1968. Cornell University Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-8014-8538-1.
  5. "- THE LAW OF THE LAND: U.S. IMPLEMENTATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS TREATIES". www.govinfo.gov. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  6. "Our History". The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  7. "Our Work". The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  8. "The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Voting Record" (PDF). Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. October 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
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