Held April 19–21, 1991, in Leesburg, Virginia, the first retreat Xerox Corporation set in motion a process of analysis, dialogue and action related to the life cycle of NCBW. Task groups addressed such issues as regionalization and institutionalization processes, training and leadership development, and long-range strategic planning. Results from an instrument used to obtain data from participants revealed their perceptions of organizational culture and values.

Subsequent retreats have been supported by Mobil Oil, Philip Morris, Spelman College and NCBW members. The second meeting, held August 21–23, 1992, in Washington, DC, focused on technical aspects of fund development and evaluation, parliamentary procedures, chapter leadership and development, and resource strategies. The next retreat was held at Spelman College in Atlanta, June 25–27, 1993. Discussions and break-out sessions were devoted to political action and advocacy, long-range planning, intragender bias and conflict, and fund development.

In 1994, the retreat, July 29–31, in Baltimore, Maryland, addressed such issues as team building; approaches to chapter development, including the development of student chapters; effective communications systems; implementation of the national agenda; succession planning; and black feminism.

The 1995 retreat, held October 5 in Tuskegee, Alabama, during the NCBW 7th Biennial Conference, was devoted to the expected outcomes of the conference’s plenary sessions and political action and advocacy.

NCBW held its 1996 retreat at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami, Florida. The purpose of this meeting was to establish a blueprint for moving forward and making a difference. Break-out groups focused on chapter development, program, resource development and succession planning.

On June 21–22, 1997, in Tampa, Florida, the national program committee, which consists of six subcommittees, met to discuss NCBW program priorities. At the retreat it presented to the board of directors three areas to be adopted as the national agenda by the membership at the Eighth Biennial Conference. The areas are health, education, and economic development, with the threads of advocacy, political action and leadership development being included in all aspects of program implementation. And the 1998 retreat, funded in part by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation ($25,000) and held in Miami, enabled chapter presidents and board members to examine community leadership models to be used in the development of programs related to economic development, education and health.

The theme of the 1999 retreat was "Building Internally to Be Effective Externally." Again funded in part by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation ($40,000), the retreat, held in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, used open space technology to focus on chapter effectiveness and provided workshops on leadership, advocacy, organizational structure and gender equity.