Descendants Forum Membership

What does the Descendants Forum currently offer member organizations?

During this early phase of development (before the Forum’s first formal convening), membership offers organizations an opportunity to help shape and strengthen a national network dedicated to remembrance, research, justice, and repair. While the Forum continues to build its structure and programming, member organizations benefit from participation in a collaborative community that amplifies descendant voices and supports collective action.

Here are four concrete benefits the Forum can offer member organizations during this initial phase:

Collective Visibility

The Forum helps elevate the work of member organizations by highlighting their missions, leadership, and initiatives through the Forum’s website, communications, and public announcements. By bringing descendant organizations together under a shared platform, the Forum strengthens the visibility and legitimacy of descendant leadership in shaping the interpretation and redress of slavery’s legacies.

Shared Communications Network

Member organizations gain access to a shared communications infrastructure that facilitates coordination and information sharing. This includes a member listserv, updates about descendant-related initiatives and events, and opportunities to participate in coordinated communications or calls to action when appropriate.

A Voice in Shaping the Forum

Because the Descendants Forum is still in formation, member organizations play an important role in helping shape its future. Members will have opportunities to contribute ideas, participate in planning discussions, and help develop the Forum’s governance, priorities, and programming.

Opportunities for Collaboration & Collective Action

The Forum provides a space for descendant organizations to connect with one another, exchange knowledge, and share resources. This may include best practices for community engagement, archival and genealogical research, memorialization initiatives, nonprofit governance, and public advocacy. Through the Forum, member organizations may also collaborate on joint initiatives, coordinated public statements, and shared advocacy efforts that amplify descendant perspectives in public conversations about history, memory, and repair.

What are the eligibility requirements for joining the Descendants Forum?

The Descendants Forum is a congress of organizations grounded in Descendant knowledge, leadership, and accountability. Membership is open to organizations that demonstrate a clear, sustained commitment to Descendant communities and Descendant-led governance. Tojoin the Descendants Forum, an organization must meet one of the two leadership pathways outlined below and satisfy the shared commitments that follow.

  • The organization is entirely Descendant led, meaning:

    • Descendants hold a majority of leadership positions (e.g., executive leadership, board of directors, or governing council).

    • Descendants exercise meaningful decision-making authority over strategy, priorities, resources, and public representation.

    • Descendant leadership is not symbolic, advisory-only, or informal.

  • Organizations that are not entirely Descendant led may qualify if they demonstrate a formal, implemented commitment to structural parity, meaning:

    • Descendant communities hold equal or proportional power within the organization’s governance structure.

    • This parity is codified in bylaws, MOUs, operating agreements, or other binding governance documents.

    • Descendant representatives have real authority over decisions that affect descendant histories, data, narratives, resources, and outcomes.

    • The organization can demonstrate that this structure is actively practiced, not merely aspirational.

Member Organization Commitments

Organizations that join the Descendants Forum agree to the following:

Designate a Point of Contact

Each member organization will designate a primary Point of Contact who will serve as the organization’s representative for communications and coordination with the Forum.

Participation in Virtual Meetings

The designated Point of Contact commits to participating in approximately four virtual meetings during the next twelve months. These meetings will provide opportunities to: share information among member organizations, identify common goals and priorities, discuss the Forum’s developing structure, and prepare for the inaugural convening.

Participation in the Inaugural Convening

Member organizations commit, if possible, to sending at least one representative to the Forum’s inaugural convening. During this convening, the Congress of member organizations will determine the Forum’s formal governance structure, ratify bylaws and guiding principles, and elect the Forum’s inaugural Board of Directors

Good-Faith Participation

Member organizations agree to participate in the Forum in a spirit of collaboration, mutual respect, and shared commitment to the Forum’s mission.