69. World Council of Churches
1948


The World Council of Churches (WCC) is an inter-church organization founded in 1948. Its members today include most mainstream Christian churches, but not the Catholic Church, which sends accredited observers to meetings.

It arose out of the ecumenical movement and has as its basis the following statement: "The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Savior according to the scriptures, and therefore seek to fulfill together their common calling to the glory of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit."

The WCC describes itself as "a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service."[3] It is based at the Ecumenical Center in Geneva, Switzerland.[4] The organization members include denominations, which claim to collectively represent some 590 million people, across the world in ca. 150 countries, including 520,000 local congregations served by 493,000 pastors and priests, in addition to elders, teachers, members of parish councils and others.


70. Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
1915


The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) developed out of an International Women's Congress against World War I that took place in The Hague, the Netherlands,in 1915, although the name WILPF was not chosen until 1919.





The first WILPF president, Jane Addams, had previously founded the Woman's Peace Party in the United States, in January 1915, which later became the US section of WILPF. It is a non-profit non-governmental organization working "to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious backgrounds determined to study and make known the causes of war and work for a permanent peace" and to unite women worldwide who oppose oppression and exploitation. WILPF has national sections in 37 countries.


71. National Organisation for Women
1966


The National Organization for Women (NOW) is a feminist organization founded in 1966. It has a membership of 550,000. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

NOW was founded on June 30, 1966, in Washington, D.C., by 28 people attending the Third National Conference of State Commissions on the Status of Women, the successor to the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women. These women’s rights activists were frustrated with the way in which the federal government was not enforcing the new anti-discrimination laws. Even after measures like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers were still discriminating against women in terms of hiring women and unequal pay with men.

72. Southern Christian Leadership Council
1957


The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The SCLC had a large role in the American Civil Rights Movement.

On January 10, 1957, following the Montgomery Bus Boycott victory and consultations with Bayard Rustin, Ella Baker, and others, Dr. King invited about 60 black ministers and leaders to Ebenezer Church in Atlanta.

Prior to this, however, Bayard Rustin (in New York City), having conceived the idea of initiating such effort, first sought Rev. C. K. Steele to make the call and take the lead role. C. K. Steele declined, but told him he would be glad to work right beside him if he sought Dr. King in Montgomery, for the role. Their goal was to form an organization to coordinate and support nonviolent direct action as a method of desegregating bus systems across the South.

In addition to Rustin and Baker, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth of Birmingham, Rev Joseph Lowery of Mobile, Rev Ralph Abernathy of Montgomery, Rev C.K. Steele of Tallahassee, all played key roles in this meeting.



73. Committee for Economic Development
1942



The Committee for Economic Development (CED) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, business-led, public policy organization based in Washington, DC. Its membership consists of senior corporate executives and university leaders. CED's research falls under 4 pillars: fiscal health, education, global competitiveness, and democratic institutions.

CED was founded in 1942 by a group of business leaders led by Paul G. Hoffman, President of the Studebaker Corporation; William Benton, co-founder of Benton & Bowles advertising firm; and Marion B. Folsom, treasurer of Eastman Kodak Company. CED's first mission was to help the U.S. economy transition from war to peace-time prosperity. At the end of World War II, CED played a key role in garnering support among the American business community for the Marshall Plan.

Since its inception in 1942, CED has addressed national priorities that promote sustained economic growth and development to benefit all Americans. These activities have helped shape the future on issues ranging from the Marshall Plan in the late 1940s, to education reform in the past three decades, and campaign finance reform since 2000. CED's research findings are coupled with multi-pronged outreach efforts throughout the country and abroad, achieving tangible impact at the local, state, and national levels.

CED has made significant contributions to landmark past policies, including The Bretton Woods Agreement.

74. Ford Foundation
1936


The Ford Foundation is a New York headquartered, globally oriented private foundation with the mission of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford.





By 1947, after the death of the two founders, the foundation owned 90 percent of the non-voting shares of the Ford Motor Company. (The Ford family retained the voting shares.) Between 1955 and 1974, the foundation sold its Ford Motor Company holdings and now plays no role in the automobile company. For years, the foundation was the largest, and one of the most influential foundations in the world, with global reach and special interests in economic empowerment, education, human rights, democracy, the creative arts, and Third World development.

The foundation makes grants through its headquarters and ten international field offices. For fiscal year 2011, it reported assets of US$10.0 billion and approved US$413 million in grants. The grants support projects that focus on reducing poverty and injustice; promoting democratic values; and advancing human knowledge, creativity and achievement.

The foundation was established January 15, 1936, in Michigan by Edsel Ford (president of the Ford Motor Company) and two other executives "to receive and administer funds for scientific, educational and charitable purposes, all for the public welfare." During its early years, the foundation operated in Michigan under the leadership of Ford family members and their associates and supported the Henry Ford Hospital and the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, among other organizations.

75. Fund for the Republic
~1959

Fund for the Republic is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit grantmaking organization committed to putting everyday citizens back in control of our democracy by reducing the influence of well-financed special interests over American politics and policy-making.

Our objective is to create the political strength, strategic coherence, critical mass, public engagement, and funding levels necessary to achieve and defend substantive money-in-politics reforms at state and national levels. Our goals are to build awareness and invest in solutions. Fund for the Republic magnifies the voices of everyday citizens.

76. National Urban League
1910

The National Urban League (NUL), formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of African Americans and against racial discrimination in the United States. It is the oldest and largest community-based organization of its kind in the nation. Its current President is Marc Morial.

The Committee on Urban Conditions Among Negroes was founded in New York City on September 29, 1910 by Ruth Standish Baldwin and Dr. George Edmund Haynes, among others. It merged with the Committee for the Improvement of Industrial Conditions Among Negroes in New York (founded in New York in 1906) and the National League for the Protection of Colored Women (founded in 1905), and was renamed the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes.

77. NEA
1870


The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest professional organization and largest labor union in the United States, representing public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become teachers.

The NEA has 3.2 million members and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. With affiliate organizations in every state and in more than 14,000 communities across the nation, it employs over 550 staff and had a budget of more than $307 million for the 2006–2007 fiscal year. Dennis Van Roekel is the NEA's current president. NEA, which describes itself as a professional employee organization, is incorporated as a professional association in a few states and as a labor union in most.

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