YPA North Carolina
The North Carolina Young People's Alliance is a bipartisan, youth-led nonprofit that organizes young people across the state to advocate for solutions to the most pressing challenges facing our generation.
North Carolina by the Numbers
30,000
Students mobilized to vote
An estimated 30,000 North Carolina students, reached in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election.
2,500
Student members
Young North Carolinians organizing with YPA.
1,000+
Declaration signatures
On the Declaration for the American Dream, including:
- U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee (NC-04)
- State Sen. Bobby Hanig (NC-01)
- State Rep. Renee Price (NC-50)
Plus 8 candidates for North Carolina office.
30
Campus chapters
15 universities, 2 community colleges and 13 high schools.
Our North Carolina Chapters
Every YPA chapter in North Carolina.
Universities (15)
- Appalachian State
- Davidson College
- Duke University
- East Carolina University
- Fayetteville State University
- Greensboro College
- Livingstone College
- North Carolina Central University
- North Carolina State University
- UNC-Chapel Hill
- UNC-Charlotte
- UNC-Greensboro
- UNC-Pembroke
- UNC-Wilmington
- Wake Forest University
Community Colleges (2)
- Catawba Valley Community College
- Wake Tech Community College - South Campus
High Schools (13)
- Ardrey Kell High School
- Cape Fear HS
- Cary HS
- Challenger High School
- Franklin Academy
- Green Hope High School
- Green Level High School
- Heritage High School
- NC School of Science and Mathematics - Durham
- Panther Creek High School
- Research Triangle High School
- Wake Forest HS
- West Forsyth High School
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.
Read the bill →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.
Read the bill →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.
Read the bill →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.
Read the bill →Campaigns & Lobby Days
How members in North Carolina have shown up.
North Carolina Lobby Day
Spring 2026, Raleigh, NC
40 students from chapters across the state met with legislators at the NC General Assembly as part of our American Dream campaign, pushing for HB 860 to protect kids' data from social media algorithms, bills to allow more homes, from middle housing and ADUs to housing near jobs, and occupational licensing relief.
Youth Opportunity Lobby Day
Spring 2025, Raleigh, NC
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.
NC Social Media Advocacy Campaign
Spring 2023, Raleigh, NC
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.
Hosting Elected Officials
Our chapters bring North Carolina's elected officials to campus to hear directly from young people.
U.S. Rep. Don Davis
YPA North Carolina, May 2024
Members hosted Rep. Davis, who represents North Carolina's 1st District, for an evening of conversation about the issues facing young people.
State Rep. Gloristine Brown & Councilwoman Portia Willis
East Carolina University, November 2025
The ECU chapter hosted Rep. Brown and Greenville Councilwoman Willis for a conversation with members.
State Rep. Lindsey Prather
Appalachian State, February 2026
Rep. Prather spoke with students about education and North Carolina's budget, then took their questions.
Greenville Mayor PJ Connelly
East Carolina University, February 2026
Students presented the Declaration for the American Dream, shared their own experiences, and put their questions to the mayor.
State Sen. Sophia Chitlik
UNC Chapel Hill, April 2026
Sen. Chitlik talked with members about the issues facing young people and the bills before the legislature.
Op-Eds
Members and staff making the case in North Carolina outlets and about North Carolina policy.
In the News
ABC11 Raleigh-Durham, September 9, 2026
North Carolina Supreme Court hears arguments in TikTok lawsuit
NC Newsline, August 19, 2026
As Meta Faces Trial for Hooking Kids on Social Media, NC's Attorney General Offers Parents Advice
Raleigh News & Observer, April 10, 2026
YPA Lobby Day at NC General Assembly on Social Media Privacy
Podcast, NC Newsline, April 6, 2026
Sam Hiner on Holding Big Social Media Corporations Accountable
Podcast, WUNC Due South, December 3, 2025
Kids and Phones: A Call for Social Media Regulations
Podcast, NC Newsline, September 1, 2025
Sam on Efforts to Protect Young People from Evolving Technology
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 →North Carolina Contact
Connor Hines
Southeast Regional Manager, Lead of NCYPA
connor@youngpeoplesalliance.orgJoin 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.