History of The Links, Incorporated and The San Bernardino Valley Chapter
The Links, Incorporated is an international, non-profit corporation, established in 1946 in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Presently, the membership consists of 16,000 professional women of color in 292 chapters located in 41 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 co-founders of the chapter were Mrs. Betty Dean Anderson and Mrs.Princie Smith. The first formed an interest group in 1977 consisting of nineteen service-minded women, looking for ways to improve the communities of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. For more than 42 years, the members of the San Bernardino Valley Chapter of the Links, Incorporated have served the surrounding cities by offering resources to empower adults and children both nationally and internationally, providing tutoring and mentoring programs for our youth, encouraging civic involvement, providing scholarships, promoting cultural enrichment, and offering free health and wellness workshops to the public. It is through continued commitment that the members of the San Bernardino Valley Chapter will seek to improve our communities through friendship and service.
