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| NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers) | |
|---|---|
| Name | National Society of Black Engineers |
| Abbreviation | NSBE |
| Founded | 1975 |
| Founders | Owen L. Clyburn, Freeman Hrabowski III, James L. Moore III |
| Headquarters | Alexandria, Virginia |
| Membership | "students and professionals" |
| Website | "" |
NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers) is a nonprofit professional association that advocates for the academic and career advancement of Black students and professionals in engineering and technology fields. Founded in 1975, the organization links collegiate networks with corporate partners, government agencies, and philanthropic foundations to increase representation across sectors such as aerospace, automotive, telecommunications, and computing. NSBE operates through student chapters, professional chapters, and pre-college programs, collaborating with institutions and companies to influence hiring, retention, and policy.
The organization was established after discussions among engineering students at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pittsburgh, and University of Michigan campuses, inspired by leaders like Freeman Hrabowski III and Eugene Ferguson who engaged with figures from National Science Foundation and National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Early outreach connected with historically Black colleges and universities such as Howard University, Spelman College, Morehouse College, Tuskegee University, and North Carolina A&T State University. In its first decades NSBE expanded alongside initiatives from U.S. Department of Education, partnerships with corporations like IBM, General Electric, Boeing, and collaborations with professional bodies including Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and Society of Women Engineers. The group's growth mirrored broader diversity efforts at firms such as AT&T, Ford Motor Company, Lockheed Martin, and institutions like Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
NSBE's mission aligns with efforts by organizations like National Science Foundation, Gates Foundation, and Ford Foundation to broaden participation in engineering. Objectives include increasing the pipeline from pre-college programs at organizations such as Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America into university programs at University of California, Berkeley, Georgia Institute of Technology, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. NSBE engages employers including Microsoft, Google, Amazon (company), and Intel to create internship and hiring pathways, and works with accreditation and policy actors like ABET and U.S. Department of Labor to improve retention and advancement comparable to efforts by National Academy of Engineering.
Membership spans students and professionals connected through chapters at institutions like University of Michigan, Princeton University, Columbia University, Yale University, Cornell University, Duke University, Pennsylvania State University, Ohio State University, Texas A&M University, and University of Texas at Austin. Professional chapters are present in metropolitan areas such as New York City, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. NSBE’s pre-college outreach parallels programs by FIRST (organization), Girls Who Code, and Khan Academy and connects with scholarship funders like Elijah Cummings initiatives and corporate giving from Bank of America and Wells Fargo.
NSBE administers programs modeled after successful interventions at National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health such as summer bridge, mentorship, and leadership development. Signature initiatives include pre-college outreach similar to TRIO (educational programs), collegiate professional development reminiscent of McKinsey & Company training partnerships, and corporate internship pipelines like those run by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. NSBE collaborates with tech accelerators and research centers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, Carnegie Mellon University, California Institute of Technology, and Johns Hopkins University to offer research opportunities and entrepreneurship support comparable to programs at Y Combinator and Techstars.
NSBE’s annual convention draws participants from corporations such as Boeing, General Motors, Apple Inc., and Tesla, Inc. and academic exhibitors from Georgia Institute of Technology, Purdue University, and University of California, Los Angeles. Regional conferences and leadership institutes mirror formats used by ACM SIGGRAPH, SIGMOD, and IEEE Conference circuits, with career fairs similar to those organized by National Society of Professional Engineers and symposiums paralleling Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. NSBE also hosts hackathons and case competitions with sponsors like Accenture, Deloitte, and PwC.
NSBE has contributed to increases in graduation rates at institutions such as North Carolina A&T State University and Howard University, and its alumni network includes leaders who have worked at NASA, SpaceX, Oracle Corporation, Cisco Systems, and Siemens. The organization’s influence is recognized alongside efforts by Thurgood Marshall College Fund and United Negro College Fund in expanding STEM access; it has secured corporate commitments from Microsoft, Google, and Intel and influenced diversity metrics tracked by Bloomberg, Forbes, and Fortune. NSBE chapters have produced winners of competitions like International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition and entrepreneurship awards presented by National Science Foundation grants and Small Business Administration programs.
NSBE is governed by a board and executive leadership similar to nonprofit structures at American Red Cross and United Way organizations, with advisory councils that include representatives from IBM, Lockheed Martin, Chevron Corporation, and ExxonMobil. Funding sources include corporate sponsorships from Microsoft, Amazon (company), Google, foundation grants from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Ford Foundation, membership dues, and event revenues paralleling models used by ASME and IEEE Foundation. Partnerships with government agencies such as National Science Foundation and Department of Defense support research fellowships and scholarships.
Category:Professional societies in the United States