History

Community Tampa Bay™ is a six year old agency carrying forward an 84-year strong mission. Formerly a regional office of the National Conference for Community and Justice the agency became independent in 2005. There is a proud and long history and solid reputation in working toward a community free from discrimination for all members in Tampa Bay, Florida.

The National Conference for Community and Justice was founded in 1927 as The National Conference of Jews and Christians for the Advancement of Justice, Amity and Peace, and then became known as The National Conference of Christians and Jews (NCCJ). In 1999, the organization's name changed to The National Conference for Community and Justice. Though the name changed, the mission remained the same, to fight bias, bigotry, and racism in America. In 1961 NCCJ was recognized by President John F. Kennedy for “doing more than perhaps any other factor in our national life to provide for harmonious living among our different religious groups.” In an effort to spread the message more widely a series of public service announcements were recorded by both baseball legend, Jackie Robinson and the music group, the Youngblood’s, whose song “Get Together” reached the Billboard Top Ten in 1969. In 1977, a series of nationwide Institutes on the Holocaust were held, culminating in an Act of Congress establishing the National Holocaust Remembrance Week.

The mission of Community Tampa Bay today is to promote dialogue and respect for all cultures, religions and races by cultivating leaders to change communities.

Launched in 1991, the original Tampa Bay ANYTOWN™ program continues to be one of the only youth leadership and diversity education programs in the country with an open door to youth of all socio-economic backgrounds. The 20th anniversary of the original ANTYOWN™ program will be celebrated in 2011. As a cornerstone, this program is complemented by our other youth-centric programs: Hillsborough Youth Collaborative (HYC), Facilitating the Leadership of Youth (FLY), and Youth Conferences reaching over 2500 individuals each year.