National Urban Fellows (NUF) is a leadership development organization founded to counter the under-representation of people of color and women in leadership positions. NUF identifies, recruits, and develops the best and brightest multiethnic, multicultural mid-career women and men, who have the potential to make a significant impact in identifying issues, shaping solutions and developing policies.

Recent statistics show that the number of individuals of color who make up the U.S. population is steadily increasing. One-third, or 34%, of the country now comprises multiethnic, multicultural individuals. The African-American, Latino, Asian, and Native American consumer markets in the U.S., projected to generate $1.7 trillion in 2010, are larger than the entire economies of all but nine countries in the world. This increase in diversity calls for leadership that will more accurately represent the rapidly changing population.

The following gaps in diverse representation further inform the imperative to develop multiethnic, multicultural leaders:

Current Government Leadership

• Of the top elected government officials such as members of the U.S. Congress, only 15% are African American, Latino, Asian American or Native American; and only 24% are women.

Non-profit Organizations

• 84% of the country's non-profit organizations are led by whites, with 42% of these organizations serving only white communities
• The total multiethnic, multicultural leadership in nonprofit organizations is 18% (7% African American, 4% Latino, 4% Asian/Pacific Islander and 3% other)
• By 2010 57% of executive directors in nonprofit organizations will retire creating greater opportunity for diverse leadership

National Urban Fellows is committed to developing the leaders who represent our changing America with confidence and competence.

The longevity and success of National Urban Fellows is attributed to the three pillars of excellence that are the foundation of the organization:

1. Academic Program
2. Mentorship and Leadership Experience
3. Lifelong Network of Personal and Career Advancement

These pillars are the promise we make to the courageous, accomplished, mid-career women and men who strive to be leaders of our communities and our nation.

National Urban Fellows will endeavor to be one of the country's top leadership development organizations, offering a prestigious combination of an advanced degree and an in-depth, extended mentor leadership experience. As the U.S. population becomes increasingly diverse, National Urban Fellows will grow its program to meet the increasing need in our society for diverse leadership perspectives and skills. National Urban Fellows alumni will contribute to the organization's impact and sustainability while personally benefiting from their continued involvement. All who involve themselves with the organization will continue their passionate commitment to the National Urban Fellows mission and values.

At the height of the Civil Rights Movement in 1968, the country's urban centers were in crisis. Urban America struggled to cope with pervasive violence and social unrest, the outcomes of years of social injustice. Communities throughout the U.S. were being challenged by the results of discrimination, segregation, poverty, unemployment, poor housing, and police brutality.

The National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, confronted with the escalating civil disorder, began looking for solutions. In 1969, New Haven's Community Action Institute partnered with Yale University to design a program to bridge the gap between city governments and minority communities. With additional support through a major grant from the Ford Foundation, National Urban Fellows was established in 1969.

National Urban Fellows provided local minority leaders with both the education and the experience needed to manage city governments. This ground-breaking approach gave individuals who had been traditionally under-represented in the government sector the opportunity, visibility, and recognition necessary to manage programs intended to improve conditions in their communities while empowering leadership representative of their communities.

In 1970, National Urban Fellows organized a national effort to transform the program into a graduate degree fellowship, and Occidental College was selected to host the academic component. The National Urban Fellows' fellowship program strategically linked academia and the public sector, providing opportunities to people of color to broaden their range of thought through intensive study, and to deepen their life and career experiences through high-level, challenging, and demanding work with mentors.

In 1974, National Urban Fellows incorporated as a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization.

In 1979, with support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, foundations, and corporations, National Rural Fellows was established to ensure that rural communities were represented in National Urban Fellows' leadership development programs. Through this program a graduate degree was conferred by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and 51 fellowships were awarded through 1989.

In 1983 the Bernard M. Baruch College School of Public Affairs was selected as the academic host for the National Urban Fellows program. Also that year, the Corporate Executive Fellows program was founded, a program that continued until 1996. This two-year Master's degree program was offered at Columbia and Stanford University's Graduate Schools of Business. Thirty-five fellowships were awarded through this elite program.

In 1990, National Rural Fellows merged with National Urban Fellows. That year, the Environmental Science & Management Fellows program was founded with a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Two-year Master's degrees were awarded by Tufts University and Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment. Thirty-seven fellowships were awarded through the Environmental Science & Management Fellows program, which continued until 2000.

In 2007, nearly forty years later, National Urban Fellows is among the country's most effective leadership development institutions for recruiting and training professional, mid-career women and people of color who will be among the leaders in the nation's future communities.

The National Urban Fellows program has graduated over 1,000 professionals, providing both an academic curriculum and hands-on experience from prominent, distinguished mentors, to ensure that today's Fellows become effective senior managers and leaders in communities across the country.