In a year of recognition for African American leadership and innovation, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF)’s 50th anniversary celebration salutes the institute advancing equity, leadership, and public policy nationwide.
The momentous occasion, themed: “Rooted. Ready. Rising.,” honors the transformative resilience of visionaries who built a lifeline for Black political influence, all the while asserting the organization as the keepers of the nation’s future.
“For 50 years, CBCF has helped transform representation into real power by developing leaders, advancing ideas, and driving policies that expand opportunity and protect our democracy,” said CBCF President Nicole Austin-Hillery in the Jan. 28 press release. “As we honor the legacy that brought us here, we are clear about the work ahead and committed to leading with courage, clarity, and conviction into the next generation.”
Be it the politicians who championed the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments in the Reconstruction Era, or the enslaved Africans who built the very Capitol building where legislators strive to affect policy, Black minds upholding America is a tale as old as time.
By the time the CBCF launched in 1976, with founders Nira Hardon Long, Albert L. Nellum and former Rep. Yvonne Brathwaite Burke (D-Calif), African American lawmakers had established their civic responsibility — and in the same token, the Congressional Black Caucus — to improve the lives and communities of Black people for all Americans.
Guided by the principles of historic freedom fighters, what now stands as the largest branch and caucus of Congress (with 62 representatives) is continuing the call of 13 founding members, all of whom saw a purpose beyond the post-Civil Rights Era.
“We come from a tradition of people who, against insurmountable odds, found creative ways to make a difference,” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker (D) told The Informer during CBCF’s 54th Annual Legislative Conference (ALC) in September 2025. “I’ve drawn inspiration all my career from people who have done bus boycotts, sit-ins and marches, hunger strikes and more— for the cause of justice. In many ways, that’s inspired my…tactics to either… try to elevate the voices of other people, or be the voice that people have.”
This year’s anniversary celebrations include:
- CBCF Honors: Legacy and Leadership Gala – a marquee event recognizing forward-thinkers and changemakers whose work reflects CBCF’s mission and impact;
- 50 Cities, 50 Acts of Service: Legacy in Motion – a nationwide initiative mobilizing communities through civic engagement and service, and;
- The 20th anniversary of AVOICE – CBCF’s digital archive and virtual chronicle of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and the leaders who helped pave American democracy.
Plus, CBCF’s regular programming, such as the Scholarship Classic in June and #ALC55 in September, is coupled with year-round mini Annual Legislative Conferences, including a health equity-focused event in New Jersey and a Policy Summit in Chicago, which will spotlight data-driven solutions to the nation’s, and particularly African Americans’, most pressing challenges –– TED Talk-style.
Much like the foundation itself, Austin-Hillery said the 50th milestone is more than a celebration of longevity, “but a declaration of purpose,” which Alabama Rep. Terri Sewell (D) defined during last year’s Day of Healing.
“The work of healing the soul of the nation is at the center of our mission at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and we envision a world unburdened by our past, a world in which every community has an equal voice,” said Sewell, chair of the CBCF Board, during the formerly known “Prayer Breakfast” on Sept. 27. “We are working every day to turn that power, use that power and to inform new policy…to create progress.”
CBCF Launches Partnership Investment in Black Businesses
The anniversary year has already kicked off with plans to instill economic values and opportunities for the next generation, including a new partnership with Zelle and Community Development Investors (CDI).
On Feb. 3, CBCF announced the trio’s launch of The Zelle Community Development & Entrepreneurship Scholarship, awarding $10,000 tuition grants to 10 MBA students at five historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
The selected HBCUs include: Howard University, Morgan State University, Virginia State University, Jackson State University, and Claflin University.
“We are standing at the edge of a once-in-a-generation economic transition, as millions of small business owners retire and ownership opportunities shift,” Sewell said in a statement part of the Feb. 3 announcement. “This partnership with Zelle is about ensuring Black students and aspiring entrepreneurs are not left behind, but instead are positioned to step into ownership, preserve jobs and build generational wealth in communities that have too often been excluded from these pathways.”
As retirement looms and thousands of Main Street businesses face closure, this project supports any MBA who aspires towards “entrepreneurship through acquisition” (ETA).
In addition to preserving communal resilience, it forges more pathways in a field where, as of 2022, only about 3% of U.S. businesses are Black-owned, and less than 10% of MBA enrollment is African American students.
“We are…equipping the next generation of Black business leaders to keep local businesses alive, thriving and rooted in their communities,” said Donna Fisher-Lewis, senior vice president of resource development at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. “At a moment when America’s small business landscape is changing rapidly, intentional investment in Black talent and education is essential.”
As a beneficiary of that vision, former CBCF intern Irvin “Pax” Fordham touted the importance of building the collective resilience he says is needed in the days ahead.
“It’s a team huddle. Especially in moments like this, when the opposition is strategizing,” the now 24-year-old told The Informer in September. “It’s one, networking…for the younger generation to [be able to] talk and learn from people that are much farther in their career. And then two, us coming up with [an] agenda and all becoming more enlightened.”
Wrapping up his own session of ALC54, Booker lauded the courageous leaders who continue to work towards a world that exceeds the demands of the 1970s.
“There are people from coast to coast, North to South, who come [to CBCF’s Annual Legislative Conference] to talk, learn, strategize, and leave more empowered to make a difference – not just in their communities, but for their country,” the New Jersey senator told The Informer. “From education to health care to helping people afford everyday costs mounting on their family…this is not just the agenda of Black Americans, it’s the agenda of America. And I’m proud to be here and to be one small part of a larger set of…people who are determined to lift every voice.”