The History of the Black Affairs Advisory Council

The Black Affairs Advisory Council was started in 1979 by two separate groups of African American employees in the Office of Hearings & Appeals, Arlington, Virginia and the Social Security West Building in Baltimore, Maryland. BAAC was organized to promote employment opportunities for Black employees in the Social Security Administration and to improve services to the Black community.

In 1981, the two groups of employees in OHA, Arlington, Virginia and the Security West Building in Baltimore received official recognition from the Commissioner of Social Security. They later merged to form the Black Affairs Advisory Council’s National Coordinating Committee.

Initially, BAAC served as an advisory committee to the office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity. The Black Affairs Advisory Council now serves as an advisory group to the Commissioner of Social Security.

Today, the Black Affairs Advisory Council has local chapters in all of the Social Security Administration’s ten regions.