5 Point Programmatic Thrust

Economic Development

National economic trends, such as unstable employment, the threat to Social Security as we know it, and the widening gap between wealth and poverty are the basis for the development of Financial Fortitude, the current Economic Development program initiative of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. Financial Fortitude is a process that will help program participants set and define goals, develop a plan to achieve them, and put the plan into action. The process serves as a blueprint to address all aspects of personal finances.

The Financial Fortitude initiative is comprised of ten components and provides a collaboration of information from major economic corporations and other well-known financial institutions. The ten components include Goal Setting, Financial Planning, Budgeting, Debt Management, Savings & Investments, Retirement Planning, Homeownership, Insurance, Estate Planning, and Entrepreneurship.

The initiative helps members of the Sorority spread financial education throughout their local communities.

Educational Development

Delta Sigma Theta offers mentoring programs for young girls (Delta GEMS, Delta Academy, and programs for young men (EMBODi).

Delta Academy activities implemented most often include computer training, self-esteem and etiquette workshops, field trips for science experiences and for college exposure, and special outings to cultural events, fancy dinners, museums, plays, and concerts.

The Delta GEMS program offers a road map for college and career planning through activities that provide opportunities for self-reflection and individual growth. Delta GEMS, like Delta Academy, is implemented by chapters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. Delta GEMS participants have the opportunity to define and “Discover their individual Brilliance.”

International Awareness and Involvement

Through the International Awareness and Involvement (IAI) programmatic thrust, Delta Sigma Theta harnesses its vast potential to impact strategically the plight of people living across the diaspora. International Awareness and Involvement will continue to move forward in this 21st Century by strengthening our Awareness and Involvement in Africa and Haiti. Throughout the years, the Sorority has continued to use its NGO status to impact the lives of women and girls across the globe. The five (5) primary focus areas include:

IAI Sustainability Plan
IAI Webinars
World AIDS Day
IAI Newsletter
IAI Mission Trips

Physical and Mental Health

As an organization of predominantly African American women, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. is uniquely positioned to impact not only the well-being of its membership but also the families and communities we serve. The DeltaCare initiative is an internal wellness initiative under the programmatic thrust of Physical and Mental Health. It was created to promote self-care through physical wellness, emotional wellness, and awareness/advocacy. Specifically, the Red S.H.O.E. (Self-care, Healthy Options, and Exercise) challenge is the physical health component of DeltaCare that encourages members to engage in healthy behaviors.

Political Awareness and Involvement

March of 1913, nearly six weeks after its founding, several Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Founders marched in the historic Suffragist March under the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. banner, the Sorority's first public act. Today, low voter turnout statistics highlight the need to continue to identify ways to include opportunities for all citizens to exercise their voting power. Each of Delta’s programmatic initiatives has an advocacy component that is implemented under the auspices of social action when it is appropriate or necessary to do so.

Under the auspices of the National Social Action Commission, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. continues to institute activities that foster:

Sponsoring Voter Registration and voter education programs
Combating Voter Suppression
The full restoration of voting rights for individuals who have paid their debt to society (ex-offenders)
Affordable Health Care and access to quality health care
Financial Literacy and Economic Empowerment
Support for HBCU
Political Awareness and Involvement
Gender Equality
Racial Profiling