Immigrants in the United States

National Negro Council of Women

National Negro Council of Women   Overview Mary McLeod Bethune established the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) on December 5, 1935.   With the support of several African-American women’s organizations, the NCNW’s mission was to unify African-American women to improve race relations in the United States and abroad. Background Despite strides made by African-American artists and writers of the Harlem Renaissance, W.E.B. Du Bois’ vision of an end to racism was not during the 1920s. As Americans- especially African-Americanssuffered during the Great Depression, Bethune began to think that a unified group of organizations could lobby effectively for an end to segregation and discrimination. Activist Mary Church Terrell  suggested that Bethune form a council to help in these efforts. And the NCNW, â€Å"a national organization of national organizations† was established. With a vision of â€Å"Unity of Purpose and a Unity of Action,† Bethune efficiently organized a group of independent organizations to improve the lives of African-American women. The Great Depression: Finding Resources and Advocacy From the outset, NCNW officials focused on creating relationships with other organizations and federal agencies. NCNW began sponsoring educational programs. In 1938, the NCNW held the White House Conference on Governmental Cooperation in the Approach to the Problems of Negro Women and Children. Through this conference, the NCNW was able to lobby for more African-American women to hold upper-level government administrative positions. World War II: Desegregating the Military During World War II, the NCNW joined forces with other civil rights organizations such as the NAACP to lobby for the desegregation of the U.S. Army. The group also worked to help women internationally. In 1941, the NCNW became a member of the U.S. War Department’s Bureau of Public Relations. Working in the Women’s Interest Section, the organization campaigned for African-American to serve in the U.S. Army. The lobbying efforts paid off. Within one year, The Women’s Army Corps (WAC) began accepting African-American women where they were able to serve in the 688th Central Postal Battalion. During the 1940s, the NCNW also advocated for African-American workers to improve their skills for various employment opportunities. By launching several educational programs, NCNW helped African-Americans gain necessary skills for employment. The Civil Rights Movement In 1949, Dorothy Boulding Ferebee became the leader of the NCNW. Under Ferbee’s tutelage, the organization changed its focus to include promoting voter registration and education in the South. The NCNW also began using the legal system to help African-Americans overcome obstacles such as segregation. With a renewed focus on the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement, the NCNW allowed white women and other women of color to become members of the organization. By 1957, Dorothy Irene Height became the organization’s fourth president. Height used her power to support the Civil Rights Movement. Throughout the Civil Rights Movement, NCNW continued to lobby for women’s rights in the workplace, healthcare resources, prevention of racial discrimination in employment practices and providing federal aid for education. Post-Civil Rights Movement Following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, the NCNW once again changed its mission. The organization focused its efforts on helping African-American women overcome economic problems. In 1966, the NCNW became a tax-exempt organization that allowed them to mentor African-American women and promote the need for volunteers in communities across the country. The NCNW also focused on providing educational and employment opportunities for low-income African-American women. By the 1990s, the NCNW worked to end gang violence, teenage pregnancy and drug abuse in African-American communities.

Performance management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Performance management - Essay Example Impact of organizational culture however depends on its pervasiveness within an organization whether it is widespread, or shared among the members of the group. 2. Can the culture of an organization be changed to increase performance?   To better answer, culture must be first placed in proper perspective of what it is really all about and what it does so that any attempt to determine whether culture can be changed to increase performance will be properly grounded. Culture, is the shared philosophies, ideologies, values, assumptions, beliefs, expectations, attitude, and norms that knit a community together. All of these interrelated psychological qualities reveal a groups agreement, implicit or explicit, on how to approach decisions and problems: â€Å"the ways things are done around here.† (Kilmann, 1986). Culture is manifest in behavioral norms, hidden assumptions, and human nature, each occurring at a different level of depth. â€Å"At its deepest level, culture is the co llective manifestation of human nature – the collection of human dynamics, wants, motives and desires that make a group of people unique† (Kilmann, 1986). Culture is the behavior and mindset that animates the organization to stay in a competitive environment. ... And â€Å"whether a given culture can be changed depends on how deep-seated the culture is and whether multiple culture exist. The deeper the level at which culture change is required and the more cultures there are in the organization, the more difficult and time consuming the culture change process. When culture change involves changing surface-level behavioral norms, it can occur with relative ease because members can articulate what behaviors are required for success today in contrast to those required yesterday. In addition, closing the gap between actual and desire norm is easier if the desired norms are essentially the same throughout the organization – if the environment is homogenous. Even when multiple cultures exist, requiring different changes in each work group, change is still easier to effect when the focus of culture change is on behavioral norms rather than hidden assumptions or hidden nature (Kilmann, 1986). 3. As a senior leader in an organization what can you do to change the culture and in turn increase performance of the business?   As a senior leader in an organization, culture can be changed on a top down when â€Å"one single corporate culture exists (and those at the top thus could be accurate in their view of their desired culture) and if the focus is on changing norms and not assumptions. â€Å"This is however may be difficult to sustain, even though such changes may be easy to bring about; top-down approaches generally result in overt compliance to what is mandated, not covert acceptance† (Kilmann, 1986) So that, a participative approaches to changing underlying assumptions, although difficult and time-consuming to