About The Links, Incorporated
The Links, Incorporated is an international, not-for-profit corporation, established in 1946. The membership consists of more than 15,000 professional women of color in 288 chapters located in 42 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and the United Kingdom. It is one of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer service organizations of extraordinary women who are committed to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry.
The Winston-Salem (NC) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated is a chapter in the Southern Area of The Links, Incorporated. Thirteen women shared that vision and established the organization’s sixth club in eastern North Carolina on April 18, 1948. The Wilson-Rocky Mount-Tarboro Club was the first in what is now known as the Southern Area. Like their predecessors, the women focused their efforts on programs related to education and improving the lives of African Americans in their community.
Today, there are 80 chapters in the Southern Area: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. Our aim to enhance, sustain and preserve the culture, health and economic viability of African Americans and people of color continues.
Mission, Vision, Values
Our Mission
Friends transforming communities through service.
Our Vision
We envision The Links, Incorporated as an organization that is:
Empowered by its rich legacy and providing superior service through its circle of friendship that is a model of excellence and innovation.
Recognized throughout the world as a collective voice of talented and professional women committed to improving the quality of life of its global citizens
Our Core Values
Our core values are friendship, integrity, honesty, service, commitment, family relationships, courage, respect for self and others, legacy, confidentiality, responsibility, and accountability.
FRIENDSHIP, The Links, Incorporated is an organization of friends. Supportive, friendly relationships continue to be the ultimate core value of the organization. We interact as friends, value and nurture each other, and appreciate shared values.
SERVICE, The time, effort and resources expended by the members of The Links, Incorporated to develop and implement innovative programs designed to meet the ongoing challenges faced by the communities we serve. We are committed to the performance of service because service is the very heart of Linkdom.
LEGACY, Our rich history creates the foundation for our evolving organization. Through the celebration of history, we honor and pay respect to our Founders, the first “Links Club,” the pioneers and visionaries for our Organization.
RESPECT, in recognition that each member of The Links, Incorporated brings value to our organization, we uphold the value of respect. Each member has a background and varied life experiences that are unique. We shall respect our differences and opinions to further the mission of our organization.
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS, The Links, Incorporated not only recognizes the importance of family, but encourages and supports family relationships as reflected in the involvement of Connecting Links and Heir-o-Links.
HONESTY/TRUTH, Truth lies at the heart of friendship and creates the foundation upon which trust, and accountability are built.
CONFIDENTIALITY, The intricate ties that The Links, Incorporated has within the community, as well as the nonprofit status our organization enjoys, call for us to value confidentiality and the non-disclosure of privileged and confidential information to unauthorized individuals. We shall recognize the value of confidentiality in matters that rely upon it.
INTEGRITY, A person with integrity is principled and honorable. We will operate with integrity as we fulfill our commitment to the community and build mutual trust and respect.
COURAGE, A courageous person embraces new ideas, creates innovative approaches to perennial and emerging problems, and participates in exploring uncharted territories. We will be courageous in our service programming.
RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY, A responsible person fulfills commitments. An accountable person accepts responsibility for decisions. In our execution of programs dealing with the public, and in the development of our friendships, we shall exercise responsible stewardship, especially when public funds are being utilized.