Our History

The National Council of Women's Organizations (NCWO) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit umbrella organization of more than 200 groups, which collectively represent over 10 million women across the country. It is the only national coalition of its kind.

NCWO grew out of an informal group of women's organizational leaders after defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment in 1983. NCWO has grown steadily and become stronger each year. Capitalizing on the energy and inspiration following the 1995 Beijing Conference, NCWO has taken an active, powerful role in the policy arena, uniting women's groups across the country to work together to advance a progressive women's agenda.

NCWO member organizations work together to address a variety of issues, including workplace and economic equity, education and job training, affirmative action, Social Security, child care, political participation, health, reproductive freedom, and global progress for women's equality. The strength of NCWO is that it provides a coalescing force uniting member organizations around a common agenda and a commitment to advancing the issues that impact women's lives through both grassroots activism and substantive policy work. The NCWO agenda is dynamic and changes as issues become prominent in the national debate and priorities for women evolve.

NCWO membership is broad-based and diverse and includes organizations working on a wide spectrum of issues as well as the concerns of specific constituencies: mid-life and older women, girls and young women, women of color, religious women, business and professional women, lesbian women, homemakers and retired women.

Organizational members include nonprofit grassroots, research, service and legal advocacy groups. We invite individuals to join as Individual Supporting Members and international organizations to join as International Affiliate Organizations. Membership is not open to for-profit groups or those whose purpose is to elect candidates from a single party.