YOUTH LEAD NC

In 2019, a group of five young people with various disabilities came together to restart a program called the North Carolina Youth Leadership Forum (YLF). The program ended in 2017 after being active in our state for seven years. We were all either program alumni or staff and deeply felt that it had changed our lives as well as the lives of the 150+ youth who also attended the event. We saw that many youth needed additional support and training to continue the skill building that was started at the event. Youth LEAD NC (YLNC) was founded as a nonprofit organization to reactivate YLF and build year round programs that support young people with disabilities beyond YLF. YLNC began a monthly virtual youth group, called the LEADing On Series, in October 2020 to continue the work started at YLF. Here, young people can socialize and we discuss pertinent topics for youth with disabilities such as goal-setting and mental health awareness. During the 2023 YLF, 19 young people with disabilities came from across the state to experience independence first hand, learn about the Disability Rights Movement, gain leadership and self-advocacy skills, and form lifelong bonds with others who they met at the event. The disability community is naturally diverse, so many of the youth and young adults we serve belong to additional marginalized communities, such as people of color and the LGBTQIA+ community. Disability affects individuals across socio-economic statuses, our programs are free of charge.