AANL is an organization launched by Black Richmond civic leaders who, after achieving individual success, became acutely aware of the opportunity gaps that Black-led nonprofit organizations face. This unequal distribution of resources and opportunities often prevents other Black members in the community from accomplishing their missions of service and blocks their paths toward organizational advancement.

In response, these civic leaders started AANL as a powerful tool to address those inequities.

Today, we are run by like-minded, established leaders in the Black nonprofit world who have shared experiences, understand unique challenges, and are dedicated to helping their peers navigate through them.

As our nonprofits are strengthened and our numbers grow, we can respond more nimbly to challenges, increase Black leaders in nonprofit roles, and change the deficit-oriented narratives that serve to marginalize Black communities into ones of potential.

Further, by using equity as a tool and equality as a guidepost, we can provide dynamic solutions to address these, our most pressing difficulties, and help create a more just world. While we fully recognize that achieving social, economic, and cultural justice is not an easy goal, we also know that nothing worthwhile ever was.