YPA North Carolina
Young people are done being left behind. Our generation is caught between high prices, barriers to building a career, and eroded communities. In North Carolina, where YPA was founded, we're coming together across party lines to fight for our own North Carolina Dream.
Our North Carolina Chapters
Every YPA chapter in North Carolina.
Universities · 15
Appalachian State
Boone
Davidson College
Davidson
Duke University
Durham
East Carolina University
Greenville
Fayetteville State University
Fayetteville
Greensboro College
Greensboro
Livingstone College
Salisbury
North Carolina Central University
Durham
North Carolina State University
Raleigh
UNC-Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill
UNC-Charlotte
Charlotte
UNC-Greensboro
Greensboro
UNC-Pembroke
Pembroke
UNC-Wilmington
Wilmington
Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem
Community Colleges · 2
Catawba Valley Community College
Hickory
Wake Tech Community College - South Campus
Raleigh
High Schools · 13
Ardrey Kell High School
Charlotte
Cape Fear HS
Fayetteville
Cary HS
Cary
Challenger High School
Charlotte
Franklin Academy
Wake Forest
Green Hope High School
Cary
Green Level High School
Cary
Heritage High School
Wake Forest
NC School of Science and Mathematics - Durham
Durham
Panther Creek High School
Cary
Research Triangle High School
Durham
Wake Forest HS
Wake Forest
West Forsyth High School
Clemmons
Our Platform
Young people are facing shrinking economic opportunity, an affordability crisis, and mass erosion of communities. Neither political party is prioritizing these pressing issues affecting our generation. Here is what we're fighting for in North Carolina.
OPPORTUNITY
Despite America's status as the land of opportunity, many young people are struggling to find fulfilling and stable careers.
Higher education is more expensive than ever and is no longer a promise of success. Meanwhile, those in alternative career paths are on track to make less than their parents. AI has already automated millions of entry-level jobs, spiking youth unemployment, and is on track to automate vast swaths of industry, cutting off access to meaningful careers.
We work to:
- →Advocate for the creation of millions of apprenticeships and training programs in both blue-collar and white-collar fields to give our generation an AI-resilient entry point into careers.
- →Make 4-year colleges more cost effective, ending legacy admissions, and reform occupational licensing requirements to make employment more accessible.
- →Explore how we can retain purpose in a mass-automation scenario, for instance by better supporting families and community institutions through policy.
AFFORDABILITY
From housing to basics, it is getting too expensive to live a fulfilling and dignified life.
The North Carolina Dream promises us the ability to buy a home, but that feels like a fantasy to many of us. While 42% of young people are barely getting by financially, we pay a disproportionate amount of taxes and benefit significantly less from government spending than other generations.
We work to:
- →Make housing more affordable by reforming zoning laws that artificially increase the price of housing and create incentives to encourage more housing construction.
- →Stop manipulative corporate practices that raise prices, like AI price fixing and dark patterns.
- →Explore reforming the tax system to be more fair for our generation.
COMMUNITY
Our generation has been gutted by loneliness and a lack of strong communities, and 83% of young people are not deeply connected to any community.
Emerging technology like social media and AI companions are designed to steal our attention away from the things that truly matter to us, while eroding our ability to build relationships. Our civic communities have also crumbled, and while our generation believes in the potential of America, only 41% are proud of our country.
We work to:
- →Eliminate the manipulative effects of attention-based technology like social media and AI companions, while encouraging innovation for tech that is truly pro-social.
- →Through our work, we create community and purpose for our generation, bound by a shared mission to make the North Carolina Dream our reality.
Legislation
Bills we've written, endorsed, or advocated on in North Carolina.
SB 199
Advocated forLimiting Institutional Home Buying
Limits institutional investors from buying up housing stock.
YPA members advocated for this bill at our Spring 2025 Youth Opportunity Lobby Day in Raleigh, as one of a set of 10 bills.
SB 259
Advocated forMental Health Resources in Schools
Expands mental health resources in schools.
YPA members advocated for this bill at our Spring 2025 Youth Opportunity Lobby Day in Raleigh, as one of a set of 10 bills.
SB 147
Advocated forTeachers Working in NC
Makes it easier for young teachers to work in NC.
YPA members advocated for this bill at our Spring 2025 Youth Opportunity Lobby Day in Raleigh, as one of a set of 10 bills.
H644
Passed Judiciary 3 unanimouslySocial Media Manipulative Design
The first legislation on social media manipulative design features in North Carolina, which we wrote. It was never given a hearing in the House Appropriations Committee.
We got 12 NC organizations to endorse and 62 state representatives to cosponsor the bill through months of visits to the legislature.
Campaigns & Lobby Days
How members in North Carolina have shown up.
Spring 2023 · Raleigh, NC
NC Social Media Advocacy Campaign
After seeing firsthand how manipulative social media algorithms were affecting our generation, we wrote the first legislation on social media manipulative design features in North Carolina, H644. Through months of visits to the legislature culminating in our Spring 2023 lobby day, we got 12 NC organizations to endorse and 62 state representatives to cosponsor the bill.
Spring 2025 · Raleigh, NC
Youth Opportunity Lobby Day
YPA members met with legislators to push for comprehensive solutions to our lack of economic mobility opportunities, the affordability crisis, and the erosion of our communities. We advocated for a set of 10 bills including SB 199 to limit institutional investors from buying up housing stock, SB 259 to expand mental health resources in schools, and SB 147 to make it easier for young teachers to work in NC.
Spring 2026 · Nationwide
American Dream Lobby Days
Students in NC, CA, and MI all lobbied on behalf of protections to ensure opportunity, affordability, and community for our generation. This coordinated nationwide effort brought young advocates to state capitols across the country to push for our American Dream Platform priorities.
Op-Eds
Members and staff making the case in North Carolina outlets and about North Carolina policy.
Indy Week · July 25, 2025
The hidden hunger crisis on UNC campus
By Sarah Maness
Sarah Maness from UNC Chapel Hill sheds light on the often-overlooked food insecurity affecting college students.
Carolina Journal · November 4, 2025
How housing policy is failing NC's young people
By Mick Tobin & Iha Pemmaraju
Mick Tobin and Iha Pemmaraju examine how current housing policies are leaving young North Carolinians behind and what can be done to fix it.
In the News
Press Release · April 2, 2024
Youth Organization Champions 'Pro-Human' Legislation in North Carolina
YPA supports SB514 and SB624, two critical bills written by students to preserve young people's humanity in the age of social media and AI.
Press Release · March 19, 2026
New Report Reveals Gen Z's Complicated Relationship with AI: Embrace It for Tasks, Reject It for Human Connection
YPA released 'The Need for a New American Dream: How Young People Are Navigating a System That Wasn't Built for Them,' based on listening sessions with ~210 students across 22 campuses.
Media Coverage · NC Newsline · August 19, 2026
NC Newsline: As Meta Faces Trial for Hooking Kids on Social Media, NC's Attorney General Offers Parents Advice
Mick Tobin, Co-Founder and Advocacy Director of Young People's Alliance, is quoted on the social ramifications of manipulating young people online as North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson's case against Meta goes to trial, and on YPA's push for legislation restricting addictive design features like infinite scroll and autoplay.
Podcast · NC Newsline · September 1, 2025
Sam on Efforts to Protect Young People from Evolving Technology
Sam Hiner discusses YPA's work protecting young people from harmful technology and AI.
Podcast · WUNC Due South · December 3, 2025
Kids and Phones: A Call for Social Media Regulations
Ava Smithing joins WUNC's Due South to discuss kids, phones, and social media regulation.
Podcast · NC Newsline · April 6, 2026
Sam Hiner on Holding Big Social Media Corporations Accountable
Sam Hiner discusses recent court rulings in California and New Mexico holding corporations liable for damages to children, as well as other challenges facing young people in the modern world.
Listening to North Carolina Students
The Need for a New American Dream
How Young People Are Navigating a System That Wasn't Built for Them
Our report is based on listening sessions with ~210 students across 22 campuses in Michigan, North Carolina, and California, and was covered in Politico's Morning Tech newsletter. It found young people embrace AI for basic tasks but reject it in human-centered roles, ranked home affordability and stable livelihood as top priorities, and applied to an average of 25 jobs or internships before landing a role.
Read the findings →Join YPA North Carolina
Whether there is already a chapter on your campus or you want to start one, there is a place for you in this movement.