WoCA was founded in the spring of 2016 as Women of Color Academics of Social Work. It started of as a group led by Dr. Annie Isabel Fukushima and 15 other WoCAs that comprised of graduate students and faculty in social work. Recognizing the wider campus need for a broader WoCA community, in the fall of 2016, WoCA was renamed to Women of Color Academics Collective.

The Fall of 2021, WoCA restructured to create an advisory board and committees.

WoCA has been supported by multiple campus entities through years including: School for Cultural & Social Transformation, English Department, College of Social Work, and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion. In 2022, Office of Faculty has taken a leadership in sponsoring WoCA.

WoCA Collective activities are driven by collective members. As of Fall 2022, the WoCA list-serv comprises of approximately 250 individuals.