Founded in the Tampa Bay region in the 1940s, Community Tampa Bay was formerly a regional affiliate of the National Conference for Christians and Jews, which later became known as the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ). They became an independent 501(C)3 in 2005, adopting the name Community Tampa Bay and continuing to carry forward their values of diversity, inclusion and engagement.

Their mission is to teach people how to have hard conversations with people who don’t look like them so that they can work toward their ambitious vision of a community free from all forms of discrimination one relationship at a time. 

They offer leadership training and diversity education programs based on the proven prejudice-reduction strategies of dialogue and cross-cultural interactions. For us “culture” means the intersecting aspects of a person’s social identity: race, ethnicity, nationality, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, faith, class ability and age. 

Their programs have been presented at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, have been featured in The Atlantic online and have been recognized as a Best Practice in diversity education by the US Department of Education. 

They serve more than 1,000 individuals in the Tampa Bay region each year, empowering them with practical tools to help end discrimination in their schools, workplaces and their broader community.

Vision
They envision a community free from discrimination in which every individual is treated with dignity and respect. They include every individual, regardless of their race, faith, nationality, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, class, and physical or mental ability.

Mission
The mission of Community Tampa Bay today is to cultivate inclusive leaders to change communities through dialogue and cross-cultural interactions.