The formal Coalition for the National Museum of the American People was created in January 2009 to build support for a national commission to study the establishment of the Museum. As of , organizations have joined the Coalition representing a broad range of national ethnic/minority and other groups in the United States. Other organizations are expected to join in the coming weeks and months.

In addition, a coalition of eminent scholars from around the world was established in February 2009. These scholars, most of whom specialize in the study of the migration and immigration of people, back the creation of the study commission and will provide the intellectual bedrock from which this institution would be built.