National Association for Multicultural Education

The National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) is a nonprofit educational organization that advances and advocates for equity and social justice through multicultural education. NAME members include teacher educators, higher education faculty, and graduate students from across a broad array of academic disciplines and research interests; pre- and in-service Pre-K-12 schoolteachers; Pre-K-12 and higher education administrators; college, school, and community-based psychologists, social workers, and mental health counselors; librarians, other scholars, professionals, and activists; and the parents of Pre-K-12 school students, high school students, and unaffiliated individuals.

NAME was informally established in 1990 in Las Vegas, Nevada, then formally founded in 1991 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and formally headquartered in 1995 in the District of Columbia. Over the course of its 22-year history, NAME has been almost entirely a volunteer organization, funded through membership fees from its 800 to 1,500 active members, as well as revenues from an annual international conference and periodic educational offerings. NAME was first informally organized and run by a core group of volunteers, including its 20 founders, and was later governed by a formally appointed and/or elected 24-member volunteer board of directors, operating in accordance with instituted bylaws. In 1995, NAME established a national office with a part-time paid staff that has included an executive director and formal (secretarial and technical) and/or informal (high school and college student) administrative support personnel.

NAME promotes respect and appreciation for cultural diversity, understanding of unique cultural and ethnic heritage, and development of culturally responsible and responsive curricula. NAME seeks to facilitate human acquisition of the attitudes, skills, and knowledge necessary to function effectively in various cultures; eliminate racism and discrimination in society; and bring about social, political, economic, and educational equity. NAME affirms that it is consciously and proactively inclusive of all areas of diversity, including race, ethnicity, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, socioeconomic status, marital status, language, disability, and immigration status.