Sista II Sista launched its first program during the summer of 1996. Sista II Sista was created as a response to the lack of community spaces that focused on the experience of young women of color. It was also seen as a proactive space where young women of color could tap into their collective power to fight against injustice.

Sista II Sista is a collective of women of color of different ages. As a collective we believe that it is important to create structures that model our vision of a society based on justice. For this reason, we have decided to work in a way where everyone is part of making decisions. We have developed an organizational structure based on the idea of a flower that has various petals, which are all equally important.

The Freedom School Petal is committed to creating and doing workshops focused on the personal and political development of young women of color. Most new members come to the organization through the Freedom School, so this is how we build our base.

The Outreach and Organizing Petal recruits young women for program and leads our community organizing work. The Financial Administration Petal is focused on maintaining the economic health of our organization. The work of the Fundraising Petal is centered on raising funds to sustain our organization. In addition to grant writing, Sista II Sista strives to create economic justice through independent grassroots fundraising efforts. The Organizational Development Petal works to ensure the efficiency of our workspace. We also have Sista Cyphers, which focus on the personal development and relationship building of our young and adult members.

Sista II Sista has a youth leadership group, called the Sistas Squad. Currently, Sista II Sista's main decision-making bodies are the Collective, the Sista Squad, and the Advisory Board. The Collective is responsible for most of the administrative work of the organization. Right now the Sista Squad is responsible for recruiting young women, creating and doing the programs, and leading the organizing work. The Advisory Board offers guidance in our programmatic and financial decision-making.