Through our shared learning practices, we strive to build an ecosystem of partners to advance higher education for all.
Historic partnerships. Historic change.
For more than 80 years, UNCF has served as a beacon for those ready to invest in—and act on—the belief that no mind should be wasted nor any dream deferred.
UNCF’s Institute for Capacity Building partners with HBCUs, their supporters and champions to advance the idea that higher education should be available to all who strive for it.
Higher education is one of the surest paths to progress and achieving the American dream, offering a remarkable return-on-investment for families and communities across the country.
Our role is to support those institutions who invest in the success of every student and uplifting all communities.
UNCF Celebrates 20th Anniversary of its Institute for Capacity Building, Invites National Leaders to Define the Next Era of HBCU Transformation at UNITE 2026
Founding Executive Director Dr. Elfred Anthony Pinkard named UNCF President-in-Residence and Chair of the Institute’s 20th Anniversary Campaign ATLANTA, GA (May 4, 2026)—Today, UNCF announced…
UNITE 2026 Workshops and Special Meetings
UNITE is the premier summit delivering on the promise of HBCUs. Held Sunday, July 19 through Thursday, July 23 in Atlanta, Georgia, UNITE features plenary sessions, breakout sessions, workshops and special meetings organized around our five guiding pillars – Institutional Excellence,…
Power to Promise: Advancing Wealth Building at HBCUs
HBCUs are among the most powerful engines of economic mobility in the nation. But mobility alone is not enough. Power to Promise shifts the focus—from…
UNCF Announces Winners of the Sixth Annual HBCU Stock Pitch Competition
Boston, MA — April 13, 2026, UNCF today announced the winners of the 2026 HBCU Stock Pitch Competition, a national competition that challenges student teams…
UNCF’s Institute for Capacity Building Launching the HBCU Future Leaders Institute
A select group of HBCU students will convene during UNITE 2026 Summit to accelerate their ability to support the transformation of their respective campuses ATLANTA,…
HBCU GO and UNCF Announce Groundbreaking Strategic Partnership with Launch of Video Content Series “HBCUVoices: Executive Leaders Unfiltered”
In a powerful alignment of media, mission and movement, the Allen Media Group free-streaming digital platform and premier destination for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) sports…
UNCF Expands Strategic Partnerships to Strengthen HBCU Leadership Stability and Executive Preparedness
ATLANTA, GA (March 11, 2026) — Today UNCF’s Institute for Capacity Building (ICB) announced a new partnership with the Higher Education Leadership Foundation (HELF) at Wiley University in Marshall, TX, and the HBCU Executive Leadership…
Project ACCLAIM in Boston: Advancing Structured Pathways into Asset Management
Project ACCLAIM’s recent visit to Boston, coordinated by UNCF’s Institute for Capacity Building (ICB), reflected a deliberate, multi-campus effort to strengthen durable pathways into asset…
UNCF Expands Project ACCLAIM, Welcoming Morgan State and Florida A&M Universities
UNCF is proud to announce the expansion of Project ACCLAIM (Accelerating Learning in Asset Investment Management) to include Morgan State University and Florida A&M University.…
Stable Leadership: The Foundation of HBCU Success
Stable Leadership: The Foundation of HBCU Success explores one of the most urgent and underexamined challenges facing Historically Black Colleges and Universities today: presidential turnover.…
UNITE 2026 Registration Now Open: Dr. Harold L. Martin Sr. Announced as Commencement Speaker, Complimentary Tickets for Every HBCU
ATLANTA, GA (Jan. 12, 2026)—Today, UNCF announced the official launch of registration for UNITE 2026, its flagship national convening focused on advancing leadership, innovation and long-term capacity across historically…
Phill Gross of Adage Capital Management Inspires Project ACCLAIM Students at Howard University
Last week, Phill Gross, Co-Founder of Adage Capital Management, visited Howard University’s School of Business as a guest lecturer for students participating in Project ACCLAIM…
INSTITUTIONAL NETWORK
HBCUs are economic engines for self-sustaining futures, making it possible for everyone to live the American Dream.
Dr. Michael L. Lomax
President & CEO
UNCF
Funders & Partners
ICB Structure
HBCUv: Shaping the online future – by HBCUs, for HBCUs
UNCF is designing an online platform for lifelong learners to flourish together and celebrate the power of an HBCU education—from anywhere.
WE ASPIRE TO SERVE OUR NATION’S HBCUs AND MISSION-ALIGNED COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.
IF NOT FOR HBCUs…
One small step could have been too big a leap.
When Apollo 11 touched down in the Sea of Tranquility that July night in 1969, it was made possible by the invaluable calculations of NASA mathematicians Dorothy Vaughan (Wilberforce University) and Katherine Johnson (West Virginia State University).
With your support, this legacy of shaping the future will continue.
DONATE TODAY
IF NOT FOR HBCUs..
The Civil Rights Movement wouldn’t have gone as far.
Many of the champions of the 1950s and 60s movement were HBCU graduates, including: Kwame Ture (Howard University), Medgar Evers (Alcorn State), Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Morehouse College) and Rosa Parks (Alabama State).
With your support, this legacy of shaping the future will continue.
DONATE TODAY
IF NOT FOR HBCUs…
Head Start would have been a non-starter.
Spelman College graduate Marian Wright Edelman founded the Children’s Defense Fund, which fights for significant policies like the national Head Start program that has helped lift generations of kids out of poverty.
With your support, this legacy of shaping the future will continue.
DONATE TODAY
IF NOT FOR HBCUs…
There would be no rising Black middle class.
Within 10 years of graduation, HBCU diploma-holders typically earn more than $71,000 a year, earning $1 million more over their lifetimes than peers who did not go to college. HBCU students who are the first in their families to graduate from college will not be the last, transforming entire communities.
With your support, this legacy of shaping the future will continue.
DONATE TODAY
How many of the 102 HBCUs
can you name?
JULY 19-23, 2026
Signia by Hilton | Atlanta, GA