The idea of 100 Black Men was born in New York City in 1963 when a body of successful men from the fields of business, industry, public affairs, government and the professions decided to pool their skills, experiences and resources to improve the quality of life for Blacks and other minorities. Among those early founders were David Dinkins, Livingston Wingate, and Andrew Hatcher.

In the 1970s, the concept of developing individual, independent chapters in other cities took hold and in 1973, the 100 Black Men of New Jersey was formed by Dr. William Hayling and others.

After New Jersey came Los Angeles, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, the San Francisco / Oakland Bay Area, Nassau/Suffolk, and Sacramento. In 1986 these nine successful chapters resolved to create "100 Black Men of America, Inc." as a national confederation with Dr. Hayling as the founding president.

The first national conference was held in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 27, 1987 where the alliance was introduced to the nation. This year the national conference was held back in New York, NY (its city of origin).

Today, there are over 10,000 members of the national organization in over 105 chapters  and 4 international chapters (United Kingdom, Jamaica, Goree Island, and Senegal).

The 100 Black Men of Central Ohio was formed in 1999 by a group of men concerned about the need of African American men to be more visible in the Columbus Public Schools and to take a more proactive role in the development of each other.  This year we are celebrating our 10 year anniversary and we are honoring our founders by continuing our partnership with the Columbus Public School and entering into additional mentoring-related alliances with the Columbus Urban League and the OSU Todd Bell Resource Center on the African American Male.