About

Our History

Over 40 Years of Service

The National Policy Alliance (NPA) is composed of the major organizations representing black public officials from federal, state and local levels of government throughout the country, as well as the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, the nation’s preeminent think tank focused on issues of particular concern to the African American community.

Originally organized under leadership of the Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies as the National Policy Institute, the organizations has convened every four years, at the beginning of each presidential election year. These sessions, in which we discuss public policies and issues that affect the African American community, are ultimately intended to benefit the nation as a whole.

More recently, the NPA convened in 2005, as a more structured and permanent successor to the National Policy Institute. Its purpose is to give voice to the nearly 10,000 African American elected officials and the more than 3 million African American government employees who serve the nation. Together, these public servants represent not only the interests of the 35 million African Americans, but the interests of all Americans. For example, the 43 members of the Congressional Black Caucus represent approximately 40 million people of every racial and ethnic group.