Please join us for an inspiring evening at The Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte Center City on May 21, 2026 at 5:30 PM to hear from outstanding high school student leaders and celebrate the incredible impact they’ve made this year.

Attend the event

This event offers a chance to connect, engage, and be inspired by young change makers who are transforming their schools and our Charlotte community for the better. Enjoy an uplifting program filled with youth leadership, bright ideas, and purpose. Following the program, which will conclude around 7:00 PM, we invite you to enjoy light refreshments with a new generation of leaders.

We look forward to celebrating with you!

Mecklenburg County students in grades 10-11: apply now to be a City of Hobbies Youth Fellow 2026-27!

Apply by May 3

If selected, you’ll join a team of 25 youth from across the community to investigate the hobbies Charlotte youth love (or lack) - and help adult leaders to better understand and support the neighborhood resources needed to turn YOUR passions into a citywide reality!

You’ll work approximately 200 hours between June 2026-March 2027, (most of those hours over the summer) earning $4,000 overall - that’s $20/hour! - meeting new friends, building skills for college and career, making a difference as a Charlotte civic leader, and more!

Apply by May 3

Questions? Attend an information session on April 21 or 23 at 6-7PM - access Zoom here. You can also contact GenerationNation with questions.

The City of Hobbies initiative is a collaboration of Charlotte-Mecklenburg nonprofit and public partners and is supported by The Gambrell Foundation

GenerationNation was honored to partner with our friends at Do Greater Charlotte, Time Out Youth, Communities in Schools Charlotte-Mecklenburg, and Knight Foundation to engage Charlotte high school youth in a powerful conversation about social connectedness, loneliness, and belonging during former US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy visit to our city.

So proud of Bee, Morgan, and all the students who showed up with vulnerability, insight, and courage. Your words inspired everyone in the room—and we learned so much from your wisdom.

Read WFAE article

Award categories

• Civic Leadership Award (high school student)

• K-12 Civic Literacy Educator of the Year

• Civic Leader of the Year (adult)

To nominate someone for the GenerationNation Civic Leadership award, complete the form. You may be contacted for additional information.

Award nominations

2025 award recipients included

• Civic Leadership Award - Ailen DeBonis, Katie Eilers, and Zahara Mushinge (joint award)

• K-12 Civic Literacy Educator of the Year - Latonda Mitchell

• Civic Leader of the Year - Charles Jeter

• 4-Year All Star Leader - Chase Howard

We are thrilled to announce that 8 Charlotte-Mecklenburg high school student councils and SGAs have been awarded GenerationNation grants to bring their innovative project ideas to life this spring!

• Cato Middle College

• Central Piedmont Early College

• East Mecklenburg

• Garinger

• Harding

• Hawthorne

• Independence

• Olympic

These student-led initiatives are designed to make a tangible impact across four critical areas:

• Increasing student voice connected to policy and decision-making at school (for example, a series of weekly student town halls discussing school issues with the principal)

• Improving or beautifying the school's campus, especially areas viewed or enjoyed by students, teachers, and the public (for example, planting flowers and shrubs or cleaning up the front of the school)

• Connecting the school with and/or benefiting the immediate neighborhoods/communities where the school is located (for example, teaching leadership to the younger kids in the neighborhoods near your school)

• Problem-solving an issue impacting the school and/or the nearby neighborhoods/community (for example, hosting a student food drive to expand the school's food pantry)

All high schools were invited to apply for the opportunity. We can’t wait to see these projects unfold over the next few weeks!

What’s your vision for the future of the Tar Heel State?

What changes would you like to see in your communities?

What kind of leadership inspires you — and what legacy do you want to help build?

Join us for a youth-led conversation focused on leadership, civic engagement, and your vision for North Carolina’s future. This is an opportunity to share your ideas, connect with peers, and be part of shaping meaningful change. The Zoom is on March 11 at 6-7PM.

Your voice matters. Your perspective is valuable. The future of North Carolina will be shaped by the next generation of leaders.

Participate

Many thanks to alum Maayan Eaves for speaking with our Youth Lead Charlotte students about city government, networking, career exploration, and civic leadership!

Your message was especially meaningful because just about 10 years ago, you were sitting in their seats — building leadership skills, civic awareness, and social capital through Youth Lead and as co-leader of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Youth Council.

Today, Maayan is putting that civic leadership into action in her professional role with City of Charlotte — and investing in the next leaders who will shape our city’s future. (They already are working on it!)

We’re grateful for leaders - like Maayan! - who come back to pour into the programs and students that helped shape them. The impact truly comes full circle.

Many thanks to City of Charlotte and their Office of Youth Opportunities for partnering with GenerationNation to develop a new generation of civic leaders!

K-12 educators are invited to join us for “Re-Engage 2026,” a free, experiential two-day deep-dive into North Carolina local government, that centers its relevance to our everyday lives!

This event is funded by the NC City & County Managers Association (NCCCMA), with support from Carolina K-12, GenerationNation, the City of Charlotte, and Mecklenburg County. NCCCMA, Carolina K-12, and GenerationNation are members of NC Civics Coalition.

In a time when our nation is increasingly plagued by political polarization and confidence in our civic institutions and governing bodies wanes, it is imperative to re-engage in preparing our youth (and ourselves) with the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and motivation to be responsible, informed and active citizens and community members. And while federal government and presidential elections are often the focus of our attention, it is our local government that tangibly impacts our daily lives – from water quality to trash collection to sports/recreation.

Learn more and sign up

Have an idea to transform your school for the better?

This semester, GenerationNation is awarding MINI-GRANTS to high school Student Councils/SGAs for project ideas that create real impact across Charlotte.

Projects can focus on:

• Student voice

• Campus improvement

• Neighborhood outreach

• School & community problem-solving

Last year’s grantees included Merancas, who hosted community-building lunches; CPCC Early’s student speaking competition; Harding fostered student-alumni connections; Levine’s Clean Up Crew made the campus shine; and West Charlotte engaged students from neighborhood schools.

Your school can a difference! Apply by February 13.

Learn more and apply

With Katie Eilers on home turf at Duke and Ailen De Bonis bravely stepping into “enemy territory” as a Tar Heel, this is a great reminder that real friendships can last well beyond high school—even across North Carolina’s biggest college rivalry. Different campuses, shared roots, and the same strong bond. We love seeing our alumni thrive and stay connected wherever their paths take them.

Many thanks to the Bojangles Foundation Fund for partnering with GenerationNation to improve civic literacy across Charlotte. Together, we are developing a new generation of civic leaders!

Meet Inchara, 2026 Student Advisor to the CMS Board of Education.

While NC law precludes the Student Advisor from officially voting on district policy and decisions, Inchara will engage in all board meeting discussions to represent CMS students in district governance. That’s powerful!

GenerationNation is proud to partner with the school board and CMS to elevate student leadership and voice through this position and other programs.

High school students in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area are invited to work with Inchara through Charlotte-Mecklenburg Youth Council, or CMYC.

Many thanks to James Farrell at WFAE for helping to introduce Inchara to the community!

Read about Inchara

In December, we had so much fun kicking off “Voices Across Borders”, a monthly virtual dialogue - hopefully one day in person! - between GenerationNation youth from schools across Charlotte and youth who attend Eastbury Community School in London!

Youth quickly shared about favorite foods and music, what’s happening in their cities and countries, politics, and more! Can’t wait for the next conversation in January!

This project is a partnership between youth, Eastbury Community School, City of Charlotte Office of Youth Opportunities, and GenerationNation. If you are interested in helping youth to visit each other, please contact Amy Farrell or Ryan Emmanuel.

Hear Lucy's remarks

High school senior Lucy Silverstein completed an amazing year as 2025 Student Advisor to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education. She did an incredible job representing over 140,000 students at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools school board meetings. All year, Lucy’s leadership and voice helped to further strengthen CMS. As Student Advisor, Lucy ensured that students were represented in important board discussions, strategies, and decisions. Thank you, Lucy!

Donate

Support GenerationNation to build civic literacy, social capital, and civic leadership among K-12 students.

Your gift to GenerationNation enables students build civic literacy, becoming civic leaders who:

• Know first-hand how their governments and communities work;

• Understand and play an active role in school and civic decision-making;

• Can find and use good sources of news and civic information; and,

• Build knowledge, experience, social capital, opportunity, and readiness for leadership now and into college, career, and civic life.

Give every student the opportunity to be a civic leader

By making a financial donation to GenerationNation, you can help to ensure that all students have the opportunity to gain the knowledge and experience to be civic leaders ready to transform our schools, cities, and nation for the better. GenerationNation programs include Charlotte-Mecklenburg Youth Council, Youth Lead Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Kids Lead, the annual student election (still known to many as “Kids Voting”), NC Civics Coalition, K-12 civic literacy curriculum, teacher support, and other initiatives that build civic literacy and leadership from an early age.

Contact us to about program sponsorship and underwriting opportunities.

Make a donation

Make a donation by credit card, Apple Pay, Google, Paypal, or bank draft. For Venmo or Cash App, use @generationnation or $generationnation on your app. If you would like to mail a check to GenerationNation, our address is PO Box 31365, Charlotte, NC 28231.

Thank you!

GenerationNation Alumni, we hope you can join us on December 17 for the annual alumni meeting with GenerationNation youth. It is a great time to mentor high school students, catch up with friends, and network with other alumni! The event is a Zoom and begins at 5:30PM.

Sign up here. We will send the Zoom link closer to the date to people who sign up. Hope to see you soon!

By the way, if you aren’t already connected, please follow @GenerationNation on Instagram and Linkedin!

Who can be a civic leader? YOU! Apply now to be part of the January-May 2026

YouthLEAD program for Charlotte-area youth in grades 9-11

• Build your civic leadership

• Explore and learn how Charlotte works

• Meet friends from different schools

• Engage with community leaders

• Find out about careers connected to government, civic leadership, community investing, public service, and more

• Become a civic difference maker across CMS and your city

Applications are open! Apply now at tinyurl.com/ylcmapply

Elections aren’t only for adults, thanks to GenerationNation! Between October 20 and November 4, 2025, thousands of Charlotte-area students learned about the government offices on the 2025 ballot, analyzed candidates for local office, used civic information to make decisions, and cast their own ballots on Election 2025 races.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) high school students voted to elect their own student representative to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, selecting North Mecklenburg junior Inchara Gopinath to serve as the school board’s 2026 Student Advisor. The program is a partnership between CMS, the school board, and GenerationNation.

In addition to electing a student representative, thousands of K-12 students participated in GenerationNation’s mock election, launched in 1992 and still known to many as “Kids Voting”. Over 1 million Charlotte-area students have participated since the program started here. Here are the results of the 2025 student vote!