Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. (ΖΦΒ) was founded on January 16, 1920, on the campus of Howard University in Washington D.C. by five visionary women, Arizona Cleaver Stemons, Pearl Anna Neal, Myrtle Tyler Faithful, Viola Tyler Goings, and Fannie Pettie Watts. The founders of Zeta Phi Beta possessed the strength of character, pride in academic achievement, emphasized a commitment to sisterhood and demonstrated a true passion for service, a legacy that is still held by the women of Zeta today.

The founding principles of Zeta Phi Beta are Scholarship, Service, Sisterhood, and the noble concept of Finer Womanhood. Zeta is “A Community-Conscious, Action-Oriented Organization” and is the foremost network of socially and politically conscious women and activists. We care. We act. We help change lives.

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated has many trailblazing national programs focused on empowering the disenfranchised, supporting pregnant women of color, providing education on relevant topics, and promoting awareness of social injustices. Z-HOPE or Zetas Helping Other People Excel is an interactive and holistic multidimensional outreach program designed to enhance, cultivate and empower participants to develop healthy lifestyle choices. Stork’s Nest is a national partnership with the March of Dimes and is a community-based prenatal and health promotion program focused on assisting pregnant women who live in low-income areas. Get Engaged is a social action program mobilized to find new ways to solve old problems that plague the communities we serve.

Since its inception, Zeta has continued its steady climb into the national spotlight with programs designed to demonstrate concern for the human condition both nationally and internationally. The organization has been innovative in that it has chronicled a number of firsts. Zeta was the first National Pan-Hellenic Council organization to centralize its operations in a national headquarters, the first to charter a chapter on the continent of Africa (1948), the first to form national youth and auxiliary groups, and the first to be constitutionally bound to a fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated, making Zeta Phi Beta and Phi Beta Sigma true brother and sister organizations. Zeta takes pride in its continued participation in transforming communities through volunteerism from members and its auxiliaries. Zeta women are achievers and leaders in every field, with hundreds of chapters chartered worldwide and a membership of 120,000+ strong and growing.