No single group of institutions is more responsible for the economic, social and legal progress of our nation’s Black families than those institutions of higher education serving primarily Black students.

The legacy of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs) is one of remarkable progress, providing the nation with unparalleled organizations who advance equity while contending with marginalization and injustice.

UNCF founded the Institute for Capacity Building in 2006 to build upon its heritage of supporting Black colleges and their outsized impact on student success and community progress.

Recent News and Events

UNCF Institute for Capacity Building Launches New Podcast, “HBCU Voices: Executive Leaders’ Unfiltered”

UNCF Institute for Capacity Building Launches New Podcast, “HBCU Voices: Executive Leaders’ Unfiltered”

HBCU Voices: Executive Leaders’ Unfiltered is a new podcast that explores the innovations, transformations and advancements happening at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with…

Active Minds and UNCF Release Recommendations for Supporting Mental Health in HBCUs

Active Minds and UNCF Release Recommendations for Supporting Mental Health in HBCUs

WASHINGTON — Active Minds, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization promoting mental health awareness and education for youth and young adults, and UNCF (United Negro College…

CFO Financial Roundtable

CFO Financial Roundtable

Date: November 1, 2023
Time: 2:00 PM

Our CFO Financial Roundtables are designed to facilitate greater CFO collaboration, knowledge sharing, and idea generation. Our Financial Sustainability Team uses these opportunities to refine our approach to assting CFOs in their roles.

Unprecedented Initiative UNAPOLOGETICALLY FREE Centers Mental Health at HBCUs and other Black colleges

Unprecedented Initiative UNAPOLOGETICALLY FREE Centers Mental Health at HBCUs and other Black colleges

UNCF (United Negro College Fund), The Steve Fund and Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) launched an unprecedented national effort, Unapologetically Free: Centering Mental Health on Black College Campuses.

UNCF Institute for Capacity Building’s Career Pathways Initiative honored in two categories in 2nd Annual Anthem Awards

UNCF Institute for Capacity Building’s Career Pathways Initiative honored in two categories in 2nd Annual Anthem Awards

UNCF Institute for Capacity Building announced today that it has been named Best Business Strategy in the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion and Education, Art, &…

About

About

The State of HBCUs: A Webinar Series to Advance Institutional Transformation

The State of HBCUs: A Webinar Series to Advance Institutional Transformation

Join our director of Transformation Support, Rev. Dr. Darryl Ann Lai Fang and Program Manager, Deshon Burgess as they host a monthly virtual webinar series: The State of HBCUs and discuss student success, enrollment trends and transformation happening at Black colleges. Register now for our next webinar.

Growing Capacity to Leverage Big Data is Advancing Equity in Higher Education; UNCF and Excelencia in Education Continue to Lead the Way 

Growing Capacity to Leverage Big Data is Advancing Equity in Higher Education; UNCF and Excelencia in Education Continue to Lead the Way 

Today, we announced the successful conclusion of Leveraging Big Data to Achieve Equity, an initiative designed to enhance research capabilities at HBCUs and HSIs.

About

About

Expanding Networks for Climate Action in Front Line Communities

Expanding Networks for Climate Action in Front Line Communities

With support from the Waverley Street Foundation, UNCF ICB is exploring how HBCUs can support a new generation of Black leaders in the fights against climate change and environmental racism.

UNCF ICB Joins Call for Support for Returning Learners as a National Priority During UPCEA MEMS Conference

UNCF ICB Joins Call for Support for Returning Learners as a National Priority During UPCEA MEMS Conference

UNCF ICB joined national student success professionals at the UPCEA MEMS Conference to discuss a new initiative that enables institutional networks to use coaching to support returning learners.

About

About

Coming Together for HBCU Student Success Excellence

Coming Together for HBCU Student Success Excellence

UNCF and InsideTrack partners to help students return to school in the midst of the pandemic. A new case study reveals lessons learned.

“The strategic, deliberate and collaborative advocacy of UNCF led to historic funding levels, making the difference between our surviving and thriving.”

INSTITUTE FOR CAPACITY BUILDING

Mission Statement

We partner with Black colleges and universities to propel our shared pursuit of student success, community advancement and the fight for racial-justice equity.

A RACIAL-JUSTICE APPROACH

to institutional transformation and educational equity.

How we define racial justice

The fair and just empowerment of all racial identities, resulting in equal opportunities, equitable outcomes and liberation for all people. Racial justice is achieved through responsive systems, structures and processes, as well as deliberate, dynamic, proactive and preventative supports—all consciously designed to right historic and social wrongs.

We partner with institutions to:

Build Capacity

Prioritize development of the people, processes and technologies required to provide high-quality educational experiences.

Ensure Sustainability

Identify sponsored, grant-funded or revenue-generating activities to fuel continued momentum toward transformation.

Advance Collective Learning

Insist on network-wide sharing of knowledge and best practices to achieve scale.

Our Background

UNCF: An unceasing champion for Black higher education

UNCF was born out of exclusion—founded in 1944 to safeguard, through joint institutional fundraising, the only means for most Black citizens to attain a higher education. We soon became the nation’s largest college scholarship provider for Black and other marginalized students, further establishing ourselves as an engine of the Black middle class.

In 2006, UNCF doubled down on supporting and expediting the transformation of our partner colleges and universities to become more sustainable and more impactful. Out of this effort grew the Institute for Capacity Building.

UNCF President/CEO

UNCF: An unceasing champion for Black students and institutes of Black higher education.

Black Colleges and Universities

Black and other marginalized students

The Institute for Capacity Building celebrates the existence and resilience of HBCUs by leading transformation strategies.

Chanel L. Fort
Director of Academic Innovation
Stillman College