Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated ® (AKA), an international service organization, was founded Jan. 15, 1908, on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. It is the oldest Greek-letter organization established by African-American, college-educated women. Nine juniors and seniors constituted the founding members. In 1913, AKA was incorporated as a perpetual entity in the District of Columbia. The sorority's motto is “By merit and by culture.” The official colors are salmon pink and apple green.

The sorority principles are sisterhood, scholarship, and service to All Humankind. The organization historically has been at the forefront of social justice advocacy.

The Ivy Leaf, a quarterly and “the official journal” of AKA, was first published in 1921, archiving records through the years. That same year, the sorority sent a telegram to President Warren G. Harding urging the present administration use its influence for the passage of the Dyer Anti-lynching Bill. In 1934, Alpha Kappa Alpha sponsored the Mississippi Health Project (MHP), a Great Depression era public health initiative. The project aimed to provide proper health care to African-Americans in the Mississippi Delta who often lacked access to proper health care.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. attended the sorority's 1964 National Convention in Philadelphia where he received the first Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Medallion of Honor from the 16th International President Julia B. Purnell and 15th International President Marjorie H. Parker. Later, Mrs. Coretta Scott King was made an Honorary Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Currently, AKA is comprised of more than 355,000 initiated members in graduate and undergraduate chapters located in 12 countries, including the United States, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Dubai, Germany, Japan, Liberia, Nigeria, South Korea, South Africa and the U.S. Virgin Islands.