When the X-Men received Presidential Pardons on 17 March 1991, they did not immediately change their organisational structure and goals. However, the cumulative effect of the "outing" of Professor Xavier and the X-Men's new status as sanctioned heroes led to a significant transition in the operating practices of the organisation. The X-Men's bases of operation were increasingly public; they collaborated more and more with the F.B.I. and its new Department of Paranormal Resources; X-Men toured schools and talked to teens about mutants and mutation.
All in all, the new operating environment was much friendlier and less hostile than it had been in the latter part of the 1980s, which had seen expanded Sentinal programs and the abortive Mutant Registration Act of 1985 (struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court). However, some of the X-Men remembered was it had been like during those years, and noted how quickly public opinion had changed in 1991. Accordingly, the X-Men began to explore ways of ensuring their mutant rights activities wouldn't stop if there was a change of policy or public opinion.
What follows is an extract from a presentation at the New York base by Strike, then deputy leader of the San Francisco X-Men team, to the members of the San Francisco and New York X-Men team on 25 May 1992.
Using the opportunities available to a legal operation, the X-Men have now begun the job of building bridges between mutants and non-mutants. The resources of the previous X-Men teams have been re-organised to tackle the job on two separate fronts. While the X-Men themselves confront an ever-growing super powered violence problem that threatens society, fighting fire with fire where necessary, it is proposed that X-Works seek to promote the issues of mutant rights through more public channels.
As such, there will be two legally separate corporate identities, X-Works Inc. and X-Men Inc. While they are legally separate from each other, they will no doubt operate in close association with each other. The advantage with doing it this way is that if the X-Men are forced to go underground at some time then X-Works assets can't be frozen by any government organisation.
In general, the X-Works organisation will be responsible for the pursuit of the Xavier vision through forwarding issues of mutant rights and mutant equality. The X-Works structure will be strictly a corporate one and only employees and volunteer workers shall come under its name.
The X-Men organisation will also follow a strictly corporate structure. Once again, this is in line with streamlining X-Men operations and limiting the risk to people not directly involved in the X-Men in the future. In essence, the X-Men will consist of several franchises and a board of directors to oversee operations at a strategic level. The X-Men organisation is primarily responsible for the pursuit of the Xavier Vision through opposing terrorism inspired by genetic differences and to uphold the public good. Employees of the X-Men organisation may also take an active part in X-Works activities if they so wish and are requested by X-Works.
Strike's proposal was supported by both X-Men teams, and took effect that day (25 May 1992). Magik lost her full membership of the X-Men and became a provisional member because she was less than 18 years old, while Black Lightning, Psylocke, Rogue and Strike were elected as the first Board of Directors. The former X-Man Flame (I) was recruited as the Director of X-Works, which formally opened its office in Washington D.C. on 6 November 1992.