National Society of Black Physicists
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1977
- HeadquartersUnited States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What National Society of Black Physicists does
National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional society founded in 1977 at Morgan State University and currently headquartered at 2010 Massachusetts Ave NW in Washington, DC (co-located with Optica). Its mission is to support African American physicists across career stages through community-building, technical exchange, and pipeline development. The society serves 900+ members organized across 17 technical sections and runs an annual conference (659 attendees in San Jose in 2025), the joint NSBP/NSHP conference partnership, the Physicists Inspiring the Next Generation (PING) outreach program, a Student Leadership Development Summit, the Innovate Seminar Series, NSBP Visions content programming, and a newly launched Mental Health First Aid Training program.
NSBP's core platform and product surface consists of a membership management system (YourMembership), a paid job board for physics employers, conference operations (Cvent, Zoom, YouTube), and educational programming. The technology stack is entirely off-the-shelf SaaS with no proprietary AI/ML or physics tooling. The society's substantive "product" is the convening and credentialing infrastructure it provides to the African American physics community, including mentorship pipelines into HBCUs, national laboratories (Fermilab, NRAO, FRIB at Michigan State), and quantum research centers (Kavli Institute, IBM-HBCU Quantum Center).
The business model is multi-revenue-stream nonprofit: individual membership dues ($25 student, $35 early-career, $95 professional, $1,500 lifetime), employer job board postings ($350-$600 per listing), conference sponsorships from major foundations (Sloan, Simons, HHMI, NSF, APS, Optica), donations, merchandise, and training fees. Revenue is diversified across transactional, philanthropic, and program income, with sponsorship from a small set of large foundations representing the most material concentration risk. The society is governed by an elected leadership team currently headed by President Thomas A. Searles (quantum engineer, University of Illinois Chicago).
National Society of Black Physicists firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- National Society of Black Physicists
- Legal name
- National Society of Black Physicists
- Website
- https://nsbp.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1977
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where National Society of Black Physicists is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
National Society of Black Physicists business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Membership Dues: Annual membership fees from professional, student, postdoctoral, and life members. Professional membership is $95/year, postdoctoral $45/year, undergraduate student $25/year, graduate student $35/year, with life membership at $1500.
- Job Board Postings: Organizations pay to post job listings on the NSBP job board. Pricing: $350 for 30 days, $600 for 90 days, $45 for REU postings. Annual subscriptions available for 5 postings.
- Merchandise Sales: Online store selling conference shirts, lapel pins, event tickets, and other merchandise.
- Donations and Sponsorships: Donations to general fund, Carl Rouse Fellowship, Physicists Inspiring the Next Generation, and student support campaigns. Corporate sponsors pay for conference sponsorship packages.
- Mental Health First Aid Training: NSBP offers Mental Health First Aid training for CEUs at $75 for student members, $125 for professional members, $150 for non-members.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Professional membership - $95/year |
| Subscription | Annual | Student membership - $25-35/year |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Life membership - $1500 one-time |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Job posting - $350-600 per posting |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Mental Health First Aid Training - $75-150 |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels10 records
National Society of Black Physicists product offering
Product offeringCore offering
NSBP is a nonprofit professional society that provides membership services, an annual conference, technical sections, student chapters, mentorship programs (PING), training (Mental Health First Aid), a job board, and publications for the African-American physics community. It sells individual memberships, corporate memberships, conference sponsorships, paid training registrations, and merchandise to fund its programs.
Product overview
The National Society of Black Physicists operates as a membership-based professional organization rather than a traditional software product. The organization offers a suite of programs and services including annual conferences, 17 technical section communities, student chapters, the NSBP Fellows program, career center/job board, and various training and seminar programs. The infrastructure is powered by YourMembership association management software providing member login, event management, and networking capabilities. Key programs include the annual conference, Physicists Inspiring the Next Generation (PING) mentorship program, Student Leadership Development Summit, Innovate Seminar Series, NSBP Visions fireside chats, and Mental Health First Aid training. Publications include newsletters and blog content distributed via YouTube and the website. Membership tiers range from student to professional and life memberships, with corporate membership options available.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- NSBP Annual Conference The flagship annual conference (jointly hosted with the National Society of Hispanic Physicists) bringing together African-American physicists, students, and professionals for scientific sessions, networking, and career development.
- NSBP Membership Tiered individual membership subscriptions (Professional $95/year, Postdoctoral $45/year, Graduate Student $35/year, Undergraduate Student $25/year, Life $1,500) plus corporate memberships for companies and institutions seeking recruiting access.
- Career Center / Job Board Online job board where employers pay to post openings ($350 for 30 days, $600 for 90 days, $45 for REU postings; annual subscriptions for multiple postings available), targeting NSBP's diverse physics membership.
- Mental Health First Aid Training Monthly virtual instructor-led skills-based course providing tools to identify, understand, and respond to mental health or substance use challenges, awarding 7.5 CEUs. Priced at $75 for student members, $125 for professional members, $150 for non-members.
- Student Leadership Development Summit (SLDS) Annual 3-day intensive in-person workshop jointly hosted with NSHP in Washington DC for underrepresented minority physics students, covering leadership, grantsmanship, project management, implicit bias, mentorship, and communication skills, with a $100 registration fee.
- Physicists Inspiring the Next Generation (PING) Pre-college and undergraduate mentorship and summer research program (launched 2014) run in collaboration with NRAO, Associated Universities Inc., and FRIB at Michigan State University; includes radio astronomy exposure at Green Bank Observatory and nuclear physics research experiences. NSF-funded since Fall 2020.
Quantifiable outcome
- 72% of conference attendees report they couldn't have attended without financial support
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use National Society of Black Physicists
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
National Society of Black Physicists technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
National Society of Black Physicists partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
14 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- HBCU Quantum Centerminor2025 conference sponsor focused on quantum physics education at HBCUs.
- UC Mercedminor2025 conference sponsor representing University of California system.
- Morgan State Universityminor2025 conference sponsor; founding institution of NSBP in 1977.
- American Physical Society (APS)minor2025 conference sponsor; major professional physics organization.
- Simons FoundationcorePartnership through the Simons-NSBP Scholars Program providing summer research opportunities for NSBP student members.
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)corePartnership for Physicists Inspiring the Next Generation (PING) program at Green Bank Observatory, providing two-week summer radio astronomy exposure for pre-college and undergraduate students.
- Associated Universities, Inc (AUI)minorPartner in PING program collaboration between NSBP and NRAO.
- Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State UniversitycoreHost for PING: Exploring Nuclear Matter program providing two-week summer research experience in nuclear physics, now NSF-funded since Fall 2020.
- MoNA CollaborationminorNSBP students in PING program work with the MoNA Collaboration for rare isotope research at FRIB.
- Kavli Institute of Theoretical PhysicsminorPartnership for the Innovate Seminar Series bringing physics content to members and the public.
- National Society of Hispanic Physicists (NSHP)coreJoint hosting of Student Leadership Development Summit and annual NSBP & NSHP Joint Conference, serving underrepresented minority physicists.
- Optica (formerly OSA)minorCo-location of NSBP headquarters with Optica at 2010 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC. Optica is a 2025 conference sponsor.
- FermilabminorProvides summer internship opportunities exclusively for NSBP undergraduate student members.
- Society of Physics Students (SPS)minorFree joint membership offered to NSBP undergraduate student members.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
National Society of Black Physicists competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE): The URM engineering analogue operating with a larger scale; competes for the same African-American STEM talent pipeline, corporate sponsors, and conference attendance from HBCU students.
- National Society of Hispanic Physicists (NSHP): The most direct peer — a parallel URM professional society for Hispanic physicists that already co-hosts the annual conference and Student Leadership Development Summit with NSBP, serving the same member personas with overlapping programming.
- American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES): URM STEM professional society addressing a different demographic but operating an analogous model — annual conference, student chapters, corporate sponsorship, scholarship pipelines — and competing for overlapping institutional partners.
- Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS): Larger URM-in-STEM professional society competing for the same sponsor dollars, student pipeline talent, and institutional partnerships; operates a comparable conference, student chapters, and diversity-in-science mandate.
- NOBCChE (National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers): URM professional society operating in chemistry rather than physics, but with the same member personas, HBCU pipeline, corporate sponsorship model, and annual conference format.
- Society of Physics Students (SPS): AIP-affiliated student physics society with which NSBP offers free joint membership to undergraduate student members — directly comparable in student-targeted benefits, networking, and chapter-based delivery.
Emerging players
- Association for Women in Science (AWIS): Diversity-in-STEM advocacy organization competing for similar institutional partners and sponsorship dollars, focused on women rather than African-American physicists; useful benchmark for diversity-org operating models.
Broad incumbents
- American Institute of Physics (AIP): Umbrella organization for physical-science societies that administers SPS and historically partnered with NSBP (AIP-NSBP Joseph A. Johnson Award); broader scope and scale, but the same federation membership and publishing ecosystem.
- American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT): Established physics-education professional society with comparable membership tiers, conferences, and educational programming; relevant overlap in physics-education research, teacher pipeline, and student engagement.
- American Physical Society (APS): The dominant general professional physics society serving the broader physics community; a 2025 NSBP conference sponsor and a strategic partner that dwarfs NSBP in scale but does not specialize in URM pipeline programming.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
National Society of Black Physicists social profiles
Digital presenceNational Society of Black Physicists financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
National Society of Black Physicists leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
National Society of Black Physicists funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
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National Society of Black Physicists M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
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Frequently asked questions about National Society of Black Physicists
What does National Society of Black Physicists do?
NSBP is a nonprofit professional society that provides membership services, an annual conference, technical sections, student chapters, mentorship programs (PING), training (Mental Health First Aid), a job board, and publications for the African-American physics community. It sells individual memberships, corporate memberships, conference sponsorships, paid training registrations, and merchandise to fund its programs.
Is National Society of Black Physicists a public or private company?
National Society of Black Physicists is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was National Society of Black Physicists founded?
National Society of Black Physicists was founded in 1977. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is National Society of Black Physicists based?
National Society of Black Physicists is headquartered in United States, in the North America region.
How does National Society of Black Physicists make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Membership Dues are the primary driver. The others are job Board Postings, merchandise Sales, donations and Sponsorships and mental Health First Aid Training.
Who are National Society of Black Physicists's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), National Society of Hispanic Physicists (NSHP), American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), NOBCChE (National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers) and Society of Physics Students (SPS). Association for Women in Science (AWIS) is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are American Institute of Physics (AIP), American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) and American Physical Society (APS).
Does National Society of Black Physicists have an API?
No public API is recorded for National Society of Black Physicists.