National Black Worker Center
National Black Worker Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2011 that organizes, educates, and trains Black workers to combat workplace discrimination and economic injustice through a network of 11 Local Black Worker Centers, free training programs, legal aid, policy advocacy, and the Working While Black campaign.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersRaleigh, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What National Black Worker Center does
National Black Worker Center (NBWC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2011, headquartered in Washington, DC, that organizes, educates, and trains Black workers to challenge workplace discrimination and economic injustice. Its primary constituency is Black workers across employment statuses — employed, underemployed, and unemployed — served through a distributed network of 11 Local Black Worker Centers and 9 Incubation Centers spanning Baltimore, the Bay Area, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Washington DC, and additional cities in development. The organization delivers free programs including the Working While Black campaign (storytelling video series, annual Expo with 500+ attendees, 24/7 SMS hotline text BLACK to 628292, and a published handbook), B.L.A.C.K. legal aid services, Know Your Rights training, salary negotiation, organizing 101/102, and a 10-month Policy & Advocacy Institute fellowship with stipends and travel-covered field visits.
NBWC does not develop proprietary technology platforms; its infrastructure consists of a website, YouTube video content, an SMS hotline, and community-organizing tools. The organization funds itself through three documented revenue streams: individual donations via the Sustainer Circle (monthly recurring) and one-time gifts, institutional grants and foundation funding, and non-cash contributions of vehicles and real estate. All services are provided free of charge to participants, with stipends, childcare, and accommodations covered for fellowship cohorts. Strategic positioning centers on building collective Black worker power through community-led organizing, policy advocacy, and narrative-shifting storytelling rather than conventional service delivery.
Quantifiable impact includes contributions to the OSHA walkaround practice reinstatement (2014) and the FTC noncompete ban (April 2024), $150M in Child Tax Credits secured in Illinois, elimination of Chicago's tipped subminimum wage, $1.2M raised by ONE DC for a Black Worker and Wellness Center, and the Working While Black Warrant Clinic lifting 250 warrants and 1,050 attachments (saving approximately $2M). The Black Worker Policy Coalition, launched October 2021, convenes 14+ named partner organizations including labor, academic, and movement-justice entities to advance the Black Worker Bill of Rights affecting over 20 million Black workers in the U.S. labor force.
National Black Worker Center firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- National Black Worker Center
- Legal name
- National Black Worker Center
- Website
- https://nationalblackworkercenters.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- National Black Worker Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2011 that organizes, educates, and trains Black workers to combat workplace discrimination and economic injustice through a network of 11 Local Black Worker Centers, free training programs, legal aid, policy advocacy, and the Working While Black campaign.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
National Black Worker Center industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Worker Advocacy Services
- NAICS
- Human Rights Organizations (813311), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Organizations (BPAGAFAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Racial & Ethnic Justice Organizations (BPAGAFAC), Labor, Worker Rights & Employment Policy Advocacy (BPAGAFAH)
Keywords
Where National Black Worker Center is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Raleigh
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
National Black Worker Center business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Individual Donations: Individual donors contribute through the Sustainer Giving Circle (monthly recurring gifts) or one-time donations. These contributions support NBWC's programs, campaigns, and ongoing operations to fight for Black worker power, protection, and economic justice.
- Grants and Foundation Funding: NBWC receives funding from institutional grantors and sponsors who invest in liberating and advancing Black workers. The organization describes funding partners as 'the soil in which we plant our seeds of change.'
- Vehicle and Real Estate Donations: NBWC accepts donations of vehicles (cars, trucks, motorcycles, RVs, boats) and real estate property (houses, land, commercial property) as non-cash contributions to support their mission.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Annual | Policy & Advocacy Institute (Free Fellowship Program) |
| Freemium | Monthly | Worker Training Programs (Free) |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
National Black Worker Center product offering
Product offeringCore offering
National Black Worker Center is a nonprofit worker advocacy and organizing organization that educates, trains, and mobilizes Black workers to challenge workplace discrimination and economic injustice. It delivers this through free training programs, Know Your Rights and salary negotiation education, a 24/7 texting hotline, the B.L.A.C.K. legal action program, the Policy & Advocacy Institute leadership fellowship, the Working While Black storytelling campaign and annual expo, and a national network of Local Black Worker Centers and Incubation Centers.
Product overview
National Black Worker Center is a nonprofit worker advocacy and organizing organization, not a software product company. It offers a portfolio of programs and services including the Working While Black campaign (with stories hotline, expo, and handbook), Policy and Advocacy Institute (10-month leadership fellowship), B.L.A.C.K. (legal action program), training programs (Know Your Rights, Salary Negotiation, Organizing), the Black Worker Policy Coalition, and a network of 11 local Black Worker Centers plus 9 incubation centers across the country.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- B.L.A.C.K. (Black Legal Action & Community Knowledge): A program providing educational resources, legal services, and support for Black people working in low-wage industries to build power and scale policy change.
- Working While Black (WWB)
Products and services
- Black Legal Action & Community Knowledge (B.L.A.C.K.) Program providing educational resources, legal services, and case evaluation for Black people working in low-wage industries, helping them understand discrimination and pursue appropriate legal action with NBWC staff and legal partners.
- Training Programs Free training programs for Black workers including Working While Black Tell Your Story, How to Clap Back and Not Lose Your Job, Salary Negotiation, Organizing 101/102, Know Your Rights, and Artificial Intelligence Training, delivered to individuals and partner organizations.
- Policy and Advocacy Institute A 10-month leadership fellowship program (February–November) equipping Black worker leaders with skills, strategies, and networks to advance racial and economic justice through policy advocacy, including stipends, childcare, and travel-covered field visits.
Quantifiable outcome
- Secured OSHA's 2014 reinstatement of its longstanding practice allowing employee representatives such as Black Worker Centers to accompany OSHA Compliance Officers during walkaround inspections.
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use National Black Worker Center
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
National Black Worker Center technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
National Black Worker Center partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Liberation in a GenerationcorePartner organization supporting the Black Worker Bill of Rights and the Black Worker Policy Coalition, dedicated to racial, gender, disability, and economic justice through organizing, power building, advocacy, and policy work.
- Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)corePartner organization in the Black Worker Policy Coalition working to advance policy changes benefiting Black workers through advocacy and coalition efforts.
- Coalition of Black Trade UnionistscoreCoalition partner bringing labor movement expertise and connections to support Black worker organizing and advocacy efforts.
- Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor & the Working Poor, Georgetown UniversitycoreAcademic partner providing research support and policy expertise to the Black Worker Policy Coalition's advocacy efforts.
- One Fair WagecorePartner organization advocating to end subminimum wages and improve pay equity for tipped and service workers, addressing issues critical to Black workers.
- National Employment Law ProjectcorePartner providing policy expertise and advocacy support for employment rights and labor protections benefiting Black workers.
- Economic Policy InstitutecoreResearch partner providing economic data and analysis on racial disparities and Black worker issues to support policy advocacy.
- Movement for Black LivescoreCoalition partner connecting NBWC's worker advocacy to broader racial justice and liberation movements.
- Girls LeadershipminorResearch partner whose study on Black and Latinx girls and women informed NBWC's understanding of leadership development among Black workers.
- Building Movement ProjectminorResearch partner whose 'Race to Lead' study found that people of color aspired to leadership positions more than white colleagues but were routinely undermined, informing NBWC's leadership development focus.
- Jobs With JusticecoreCoalition partner supporting Black worker grassroots organizing and power building through labor-community alliances.
- PowerSwitch Action (formerly Partnership for Working Families)corePartner organization supporting economic justice and worker-centered policies through capacity building and coalition work.
- UCLA Center for the Advancement of Racial Equity (CARE) at WorkcoreAcademic partner providing research on racial equity in employment and supporting evidence-based advocacy for Black workers.
- Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIOcoreLabor alliance partner supporting intersectional advocacy and coalition building across racial and ethnic worker communities.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
National Black Worker Center competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- National Urban League: The National Urban League is a large, established civil rights and workforce development organization serving African Americans. Overlaps with NBWC on Black economic empowerment and employment advocacy but operates at significantly larger scale and scope.
- NAACP: The NAACP is a legacy civil rights organization with broad advocacy across economic justice, education, and employment. Shares NBWC's anti-discrimination mission but at a much larger scale and broader civil-rights portfolio.
- AFL-CIO: AFL-CIO is the largest federation of U.S. labor unions and a coalition partner of NBWC via the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. Comparable as a national worker-voice organization but operates primarily through unionized labor structures.
Direct peers
- National Employment Law Project: NELP is a worker-rights policy and advocacy organization focused on employment law, wage protections, and anti-discrimination. It is a core NBWC coalition partner and directly comparable in mission on worker-side labor policy.
- Movement for Black Lives: M4BL is a coalition of Black-led organizations advancing racial justice through policy and organizing. Shares NBWC's Black-led coalition model and overlapping policy priorities, including economic justice and worker protections.
- National Domestic Workers Alliance: NDWA is a national worker-center network organizing domestic and care workers for labor protections and policy advocacy. It shares NBWC's grassroots, narrative-driven, worker-power organizing model and coalition structure.
- Jobs With Justice: Jobs With Justice is a labor-community coalition network building worker power through local coalitions and national campaigns. Highly comparable to NBWC's network-based organizing approach and target beneficiary populations.
- Center for Popular Democracy: CPD is a network of 50+ state and local affiliate organizations advancing racial, economic, and immigrant justice. Comparable as a federation/network model with affiliated local chapters pursuing shared policy agendas.
Emerging players
- A Better Balance: A Better Balance is a legal and policy advocacy organization advancing worker protections for marginalized communities. Comparable to NBWC's B.L.A.C.K. legal program and policy institute work, though focused more narrowly on caregiver and family-supportive workplace policies.
- Economic Policy Institute: EPI is a think tank producing research on wages, racial disparities, and labor markets. Functions as a research partner to NBWC and is comparable in targeting economic policy outcomes for Black workers, though via research rather than organizing.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
National Black Worker Center social profiles
Digital presenceNational Black Worker Center financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
National Black Worker Center leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
National Black Worker Center funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
National Black Worker Center M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about National Black Worker Center
What does National Black Worker Center do?
National Black Worker Center is a nonprofit worker advocacy and organizing organization that educates, trains, and mobilizes Black workers to challenge workplace discrimination and economic injustice. It delivers this through free training programs, Know Your Rights and salary negotiation education, a 24/7 texting hotline, the B.L.A.C.K. legal action program, the Policy & Advocacy Institute leadership fellowship, the Working While Black storytelling campaign and annual expo, and a national network of Local Black Worker Centers and Incubation Centers.
Is National Black Worker Center a public or private company?
National Black Worker Center is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was National Black Worker Center founded?
National Black Worker Center was founded in 2011. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is National Black Worker Center based?
National Black Worker Center is headquartered in Raleigh, United States, in the North America region.
How does National Black Worker Center make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Individual Donations are the primary driver. The others are grants and Foundation Funding and vehicle and Real Estate Donations.
Who are National Black Worker Center's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are National Urban League, NAACP and AFL-CIO. Direct peers are National Employment Law Project, Movement for Black Lives, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Jobs With Justice and Center for Popular Democracy. Emerging players are A Better Balance and Economic Policy Institute.
Does National Black Worker Center have an API?
No public API is recorded for National Black Worker Center.
What industry is National Black Worker Center in?
National Black Worker Center's product category is Worker Advocacy Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAFAB, Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Organizations, with a secondary code of BPAGAFAC, Racial & Ethnic Justice Organizations. Its NAICS code is 813311 and its SIC code is 8600.