Our Vision

“As an entity, we believe the IMANI Network exists to equitably nourish communities of color. We envision that every such community will have the resources to grow in sustainable and self-sufficient ways, ultimately to impact and transform the World.” 

Our History 

Established in 1999, the IMANI Network is a family-operated Not-For-Profit 501(c)(3) organization that was formed in response to the 1998 Congressional Black Caucus' declaration of a State of Emergency regarding the overwhelming epidemic of HIV/AIDS in minority communities. Originally, the Integrated Minority AIDS Network Incorporated (IMANI Network or IMANI), educated physicians and organizations on the latest research, statistics and treatments needed for minority populations living with HIV/AIDS.

Today, IMANI’s mission has expanded to providing the “backbone” infrastructure support to a network of minority-serving community-based organizations and faith-based organizations across the country. We achieve this by offering a range of impactful programs, including Capacity Building, Grant Procurement and Compliance, Education and Workforce Training, Data Collection and Evaluation, Legal Consultation, and Technical Assistance initiatives. These programs aim to provide essential infrastructure and access to resources needed to ensure that stakeholders can thrive and continue making a meaningful impact in their respective communities. Over the years, IMANI has evolved into a national enterprise with its headquarters based in Texas and branch offices strategically located in Georgia, Illinois, and Maryland. During this time, IMANI has successfully secured millions in federal grants, a testament to its unwavering commitment to eliminating disparities within minority communities.

Our Legacy

Although the IMANI Network in its current form was established in 1999, it sprung from a deep family legacy of serving the community through nonprofit programs starting with Mr. Vernon Roy Sheffey. During his childhood in an impoverished area of Baltimore, Mr. Sheffey witnessed the devastating impact of the city’s decision to pave over the local basketball court and park (one of the few communal gathering spaces) to build a police station. This degradation of his community’s needs spurred him on to a MSW from Howard University. 

His life-long passion for community advocacy culminated in 1965 when he was named the Director of the Lafayette Square Multi-Service Center (The Center) located in his original, underserved neighborhood of Sandtown-Winchester in Baltimore, MD. When he came to the helm, it was a small church-related recreation center with a $35,000 budget in 1965. Based on his belief that the people in the community deserved better and were capable of helping themselves, he led a massive fundraising campaign, procuring contributions for local community members and HUD funding. By 1974, he had transformed The Center into a $1.5 million facility housing 30,000 sq ft of space. It became a completely new, clean, well-lighted space where people would turn to for vital services that they themselves outlined as needs. 

Under his leadership, The Center’s programming offered a space for older citizens to eat together and enjoy lively and enlightening programs; toddlers in a daycare, older children and adults reading together in a branch library located on the lower level, a lead paint poison prevention unit, a teenage pregnancy prevention program, medical transportation for the aged, an indigent telephone reassurance program for the aged housebound, health fairs, as well as summer camps and dance camps for children. In short, he provided a group of essential services in an inner-city community where the ills that beset the poor abound. 

Vernon Sheffey served his community for over 40 years in a tangible and meaningful way. He left this nonprofit philosophy for his IMANI family to follow:

 “The Community should be empowered and should be given first-rate services, a sense of value, self-worth, and self-determination.”