About American Mensa
Mensa was founded in England in 1946 by Roland Berrill and Lancelot Lionel Ware — two smart men who wanted to socialize with other smart people.
Because they didn't have the Internet or email or MySpace®, they decided to form a club that became the Mensa society — which now has more than 100,000 members worldwide.
American Mensa became the first local chapter outside of England in 1960 when Brooklyn resident Peter A. Sturgeon wanted to meet the other 22 members in the U.S.
Over time, we became the largest Mensa chapter in the world with more than 53,000 members.
Almost 2,000 of those members are kids like you.
We know it can be tough to be the smartest kid in class.
Sometimes people expect more of you because you’re smart, but sometimes you don’t get the same kind of help as other kids because people don’t think you need it.
Sometimes you stand out when all you really want is to blend in, and sometimes it seems like no one understands what you’re talking about.
But at Mensa, we do.
Most of us were the smartest kid in class, or the kid with the most “unfulfilled potential” (uuugggh!).
So when you get together with other Mensans, no one is the smartest anymore, and everyone has plenty of interesting things to talk about.
Depending on where you live, we probably have fun things to do every month, too — from local events up to international gatherings, many of which have events just for kids.
We bet you like to read, and we bet you like to play games, but maybe no one wants to play with you anymore because you usually win.
That was us, too.
So now we have local games nights and even a national event where games manufacturers send us their latest creations, called Mind Games®, and we judge which ones are best; how cool is that?!
Some well-known games have made the grade, like Taboo™ and Trivial Pursuit-Genus Ed.™, and there are probably other games you might like, too!
Now let’s talk about your parents.
(You think it’s tough being a gifted kid? Try being the parent of one!)
We’ve got a national email list for parents called BrightKids where they can get advice and talk with other parents like them.
And the American Mensa Web site has a lot more resources for parents, too.
Sound interesting? Find out how to join!