About Institute for Capacity Building
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
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…
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.
Institutional Site Visit: Florida Memorial University
Our institutional site visit is a critical component of ICB’s support to transformation partners. Each site visit is a two-day opportunity for campus leaders to discuss significant accomplishments and/or challenges.
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, &…
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.
Institutional Site Visit: Spelman College
Our institutional site visit is a critical component of ICB’s support to transformation partners. Each site visit is a two-day opportunity for campus leaders to discuss significant accomplishments and/or challenges.
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.
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.
Institutional Site Visit: Clark Atlanta University
Our institutional site visit is a critical component of ICB’s support to transformation partners. Each site visit is a two-day opportunity for campus leaders to discuss significant accomplishments and/or challenges.
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.
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.
Institutional Site Visit: Jarvis Christian University
Our institutional site visit is a critical component of ICB’s support to transformation partners. Each site visit is a two-day opportunity for campus leaders to discuss significant accomplishments and/or challenges.
UNCF Institute for Capacity Building Expands Network Committed to Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
UNCF expands transformation partnerships to 42 with newly funded cohort of HBCUs, propelling higher enrollment and student success
CFO Financial Roundtable
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.
The Edge: Putting ‘Digital Equity’ Into the Equation on EdTech Deals
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on trends in the HBCU space from the annual EDUCAUSE conference.
Striving for the ‘Gold Standard’
Some historically Black colleges and universities experienced record research funding this fiscal year. It’s a hopeful sign to a group of HBCUs seeking R-1 status.
Institutional Site Visit: Fisk University
Our institutional site visit is a critical component of ICB’s support to transformation partners. Each site visit is a two-day opportunity for campus leaders to discuss significant accomplishments and/or challenges.
“The strategic, deliberate and collaborative advocacy of UNCF led to historic funding levels, making the difference between our surviving and thriving.”
—Dr. George T. French, Jr.
President, Clark Atlanta UniversityINSTITUTE 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:
Prioritize development of the people, processes and technologies required to provide high-quality educational experiences.
Identify sponsored, grant-funded or revenue-generating activities to fuel continued momentum toward transformation.
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: 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