DFW Chapter of Community NETwork

In 1969, six African American male managers of Pacific Bell came together in Los Angeles for the sole
purpose of establishing an organization, Community Involvement Team In Every Sector (C.I.T.I.E.S.),
that would provide development to its members, employment opportunities, and assist the disadvantaged
in the minority community.

In 1971, C.I.T.I.E.S. obtained its 501c3 Non-profit status. The organization was comprised of employees
from the Bell System. C.I.T.I.E.S. consisted of a National Chapter and six local chapters. Bay Area, Fresno,
Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, and San Jose.

In 1973 and 1974 The EEOC, Departments of Labor and Justice and the AT&T (Bell System) agreed to a
consent decree. This consent decree acknowledged that AT&T and it's operating companies, the Bell System,
had exhibited a pattern of discrimination in its hiring practice against women and minorities. To rectify this
situation AT&T agreed to compensation changes and penalties and agreed to exercise for five years
affirmative action in its hiring and promoting of women and minorities.

The NETWORK was officially established in St. Louis in January 1988. The charter members worked with
similar groups in Texas to establish a Regional NETWORK in January 1989. Members of the St. Louis NETWORK
Chapter joined with other red RBOC organizations to establish the National Association of Black
Telecommunications Professionals, Inc. (NABTP), which was established in 1991 (http://www.nabtp.org).
C.I.T.I.E.S. and The NETWORK employee organizations merged June 1998 and became Community Network
African American Telecommunication Professionals of SBC.

OUR HISTORY ~ OUR STORY

Community NETwork, the African American Employee Resource Group of AT&T, was formed as a result of the Southwestern Bell (SBC)/Pacific Bell merger.  In 1998, The NETWORK of Black Telecommunications Professionals of Southwestern Bell and C.I.T.I.E.S., Community Involvement Teams In Every Sector, united to become one national organization.

Since that time, our organization has grown tremendously due to recent mergers with the following organizations:

·         ABAP (Ameritech’s African American organization);

·         The Alliance of AT&T (AT&T’s African American organization);

·         BNAT (BellSouth’s African American organization); and

·         CAAP (Cingular’s African American organization).

We now have 28 chapters located throughout the United States.  There are six (6) active chapters in Texas: Austin, Beaumont/Golden Triangle, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Lubbock (our newest chapter) and San Antonio.

Our chapters come together to form a National Executive Board with officers elected by the members.  The Board, which now includes Regional Directors, is responsible for providing direction and leadership to all chapters. 

Our Dallas chapter was organized in 1986 as the result of seven (7) dedicated employees coming together to address the concerns of many African American employees at Southwestern Bell Telephone Company.  Because of their tenacity, dedication and commitment, we continue to flourish and our membership has grown to more than 130 members during recent years!  In August 2006, our current Dallas-Fort Worth chapter was formed when we welcomed members from the former Tarrant County chapter.

Our focus is two-fold: our members and our communities.  We pride ourselves in providing training opportunities for our members, such as “Tools of the Trade” Workshops, financial seminars, and mentoring circles.  For more than twelve (12) years, our chapter was the only chapter that collaborated with Eastfield College professors, to provide Technical Knowledge Test Orientations and classes for our members as well as non-members. 

Additionally, we have been and are active participants in community service projects, which include the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Parade and Walk, the United Negro College Fund fundraising events, the African American Museum co-sponsors of the George Washing Carver Exhibition, our partnership with Junior Achievement and their Job Shadowing  program, Feeding the Homeless Project at The Bridge Homeless Shelter, and numerous community service project partnerships with the AT&T Pioneers, just to name a few.

We look forward to providing financial support in the form of scholarships to African American seniors at our premiere high schools that offer a telecommunications curriculum: Duncanville, James Madison and Lincoln.  Since the inception of our Scholarship Program in 1998, more than $10,000.00 has been awarded to very deserving high school students.  We now have two (2) scholarship opportunities for them: the Granville T. Woods Scholarship and the Curtis Neal Scholarship, which was an annual accomplishment and mainstay of our former Tarrant County chapter.  We will soon implement our latest scholarship program, which is BELTS – Binding Education and Leadership for Teens Scholarship.  Stay tuned for the details.



This site was made possible by the generous donation of LD Lowe Sr. Financial Advisory.