Libertarian Youth Caucus: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Organization
{{Infobox State
|name=Libertarian Youth Caucus (LYC)|logo=lyclogo.JPG|logo-size=150px|established=2016}}
|name = The Libertarian Youth Caucus (LYC)
|logo = LycLogo.png
|chair = [[Theodore Gercken]]
|secretary = [[Pietro Geraci]]
|treasurer = [[Zach LeMaire]]
|facebook = https://www.facebook.com/lycaucus/
|twitter = https://twitter.com/lycaucus
|instagram = https://www.instagram.com/lyccaucus/
|website = https://www.lycaucus.org/
}}
The '''Libertarian Youth Caucus (LYC)''' is the youth wing of the Libertarian Party and operates chapters at High Schools and Colleges across the United States.


The '''Libertarian Youth Caucus''' is a caucus of the [[Libertarian Party]] founded at the [[Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania]] State Convention in 2016 by [[Trent Somes]] and is currently chaired by Aaron Sobczak of [[Libertarian Party of Virginia|Virginia]].
While America has many organizations that exist to spread the ideals of Libertarianism to the next generation, because all but the LYC operate as non-partisan organizations, mostly even eschewing the Libertarian Party entirely, in favor of Republicans or Democrats, large-scale political activism is inefficient and, because of that, in many cases nonexistent. Students in these organizations may enjoy learning about Libertarianism and debating their friends, but they are not being equipped to make change in the broader world.
 
That is where the Libertarian Youth Caucus steps in. The LYC seeks not just to spread the message of liberty to America’s youth but to cultivate future leaders and candidates for the Libertarian Party as their youth wing. They are organized to set their members out into the world with party connections, knowledge of actual campaigns, and the toolset to start channeling their ideals into real-world action.


The Libertarian Youth Caucus is engaged in two main goals: policy promotion and chapter creation. Its central policy focuses include recruiting and utilizing Millennial and Generation Z Libertarians, advocating for youth's rights issues to be added into the Libertarian Platform, and building influential youth voting blocs in local and state party affiliates. It's second goal entails running affiliate Libertarian Youth Caucus chapters across the county on Middle School, High School, and College Campuses.
== Organizational Structure ==
== Organizational Structure ==
Members of the Libertarian Youth Caucus vote at each Libertarian Convention for a leadership team, including a Chair, a Vice-Chair, a Secretary, a Treasurer, two At-Large Positions, and six Regional Representatives. This leadership team makes up the Executive Board which manages the national operations of the caucus. In addition, the Executive Board can create other committees (for example, dedicated to membership, the bylaws, or communication) on which Executive Board members and State Leadership are expected to serve. Each committee elects a chair and a secretary. Committees may also create subcommittees for specific purposes. After a policy put into place by then Vice-Chair Theodore Gercken in 2021, subcommittees are the primary drivers of action on committees given their nimbleness and smaller size. Now, general committee meetings serve more as check-ins.
The heart of the LYC are Local Affiliates, that work to spread the message of liberty and get students involved in the Libertarian Party. Their ultimate goal is to serve as a funnel, recruiting students and getting them to work advancing liberty. Young Americans can join the LYC at [https://www.lycaucus.org/join www.lycaucus.org/join] and a leader from their area will help them get involved.
 
Local Affiliates are supported by State Affiliates that work to create resources and partner with the corresponding State Libertarian Party to create opportunities. The National LYC functions similarly but it coordinates with LPNational and supports State Affiliates directly.
 
While the LYC is organized as the youth wing of the Libertarian Party and works closely with the party, it is a separate organization where young Americans can lead the way. A description of the full structure of the LYC and members of various bodies can be found at [https://operations.lycaucus.org operations.lycaucus.org].
 
==History==
[[File:Lyclogo.JPG|right|thumb|Former logo (2016-2022)]]
The LYC was founded at the [[Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania]] State Convention in 2016 by [[Trent Somes]] as a collection of young Americans in the Libertarian Party. Initially the caucus focused on lobbying for and supporting candidates inside the party to draw a greater focus on issues that affect younger voters. Shortly after it's founding, the LYC started to set up chapters at High Schools and Colleges around the country, which slowly became the primary focus of the organization.


The role of Regional Representatives is to manage and support State Affiliates. State Affiliates act as their own organizations with a unique bylaws, Executive Board, and organizational structure. However, State Affiliates generally operate similarly to the national caucus. State Affiliates aim to create, support, and direct local chapters on Middle School, High School, and College Campuses across their state.
Because of a lack of institutional support and focus, the LYC grew and shrank over the years until the summer of 2022, when Theodore Gercken was elected Chair and instituted a relaunch. He partnered with the Libertarian Party to become their youth wing and changed the focus to be only on Local Affiliates that could get young Americans excited about Libertarianism and then help them work within the party. As a whole, the relaunch saw an abandonment of internal party politics and a commitment to building the future of the Libertarian Party.  


Local Affiliates (affiliates of their State Affiliate) act as their own organizations with a unique bylaws, Executive Board, and organizational structure. However, Local Affiliates generally operate similarly to their State Affiliate.
==Leadership==
==National Leadership==
 
=== Chairs ===
===Chairs===
*Aaron Sobzak (VA) (2018-present)
*[[Trent Somes]] ([[Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania|PA]]) (2016—2018)
*[[J.P. Wilson]] ([[South Carolina Libertarian Party|SC]]) (2018)
*[[J.P. Wilson]] ([[South Carolina Libertarian Party|SC]]) (2018)
*[[Trent Somes]] ([[Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania|PA]]) (2016—2018)
*[[Aaron Sobzak]] (2018)
=== Vice-Chairs ===
*[[Theodore Gercken]] (2022—present)
*Theodore Gercken (2021-present)
 
*Grant Deltz (2018-2021)
===Vice-Chairs===
*Aaron Sobzak (VA) (2018)
*[[Matt Geiger]] (MD) (2016—2018)
*Matt Geiger (MD) (2016—2018)
*[[Olivia Clark]] (CA) (2017)
=== '''Secretaries''' ===
*[[Aaron Sobzak]] (VA) (2018)
* Pietro S. Geraci (unknown-present)
*[[Grant Deltz]] (2018-2021)
=== '''Treasurers''' ===
*[[Theodore Gercken]] (2021-2022)
* Zach Lemaire (unknown-present)
 
== Local Activities ==
===Secretaries===
The Libertarian Youth Caucus exists primarily to create and support chapters located on Middle School, High School, and College campuses around the country. These chapters are directed to also work with their local and state Libertarian Parties, and in many ways, the Libertarian Youth Caucus works as a managing organization for the youth wing of the Libertarian Party, although unofficially. The Libertarian Youth Caucus seeks to involve its members deeply in making action through official Libertarian Party Organs, setting it apart from organizations such as Students for Liberty or Young Americans for Liberty.
*[[Pietro S. Geraci]] (2021—present)
 
===Treasurers===
*[[Zach Lemaire]] (2021—present)
 
===Other===
*[[Eli Bowman]] (OH) Voting Advisor (2018)
*[[John Harper Sharp]] (SC)-Campaign/Recruitment Director (2018)
*[[James Sweet III]] (SC)-Chairman-At-Large (2018)
 
[[Category:Libertarian Party Caucuses]]
[[Category:Libertarian Party Caucuses]]

Latest revision as of 12:20, 18 December 2023

The Libertarian Youth Caucus (LYC)
LycLogo.png
Officers
Chair: Theodore Gercken
Secretary: Pietro Geraci
Treasurer: Zach LeMaire
Contact
Website: Website
Social Media
Facebook: Facebook
Twitter: Twitter
Instagram: Instagram

The Libertarian Youth Caucus (LYC) is the youth wing of the Libertarian Party and operates chapters at High Schools and Colleges across the United States.

While America has many organizations that exist to spread the ideals of Libertarianism to the next generation, because all but the LYC operate as non-partisan organizations, mostly even eschewing the Libertarian Party entirely, in favor of Republicans or Democrats, large-scale political activism is inefficient and, because of that, in many cases nonexistent. Students in these organizations may enjoy learning about Libertarianism and debating their friends, but they are not being equipped to make change in the broader world.

That is where the Libertarian Youth Caucus steps in. The LYC seeks not just to spread the message of liberty to America’s youth but to cultivate future leaders and candidates for the Libertarian Party as their youth wing. They are organized to set their members out into the world with party connections, knowledge of actual campaigns, and the toolset to start channeling their ideals into real-world action.

Organizational Structure

The heart of the LYC are Local Affiliates, that work to spread the message of liberty and get students involved in the Libertarian Party. Their ultimate goal is to serve as a funnel, recruiting students and getting them to work advancing liberty. Young Americans can join the LYC at www.lycaucus.org/join and a leader from their area will help them get involved.

Local Affiliates are supported by State Affiliates that work to create resources and partner with the corresponding State Libertarian Party to create opportunities. The National LYC functions similarly but it coordinates with LPNational and supports State Affiliates directly.

While the LYC is organized as the youth wing of the Libertarian Party and works closely with the party, it is a separate organization where young Americans can lead the way. A description of the full structure of the LYC and members of various bodies can be found at operations.lycaucus.org.

History

Former logo (2016-2022)

The LYC was founded at the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania State Convention in 2016 by Trent Somes as a collection of young Americans in the Libertarian Party. Initially the caucus focused on lobbying for and supporting candidates inside the party to draw a greater focus on issues that affect younger voters. Shortly after it's founding, the LYC started to set up chapters at High Schools and Colleges around the country, which slowly became the primary focus of the organization.

Because of a lack of institutional support and focus, the LYC grew and shrank over the years until the summer of 2022, when Theodore Gercken was elected Chair and instituted a relaunch. He partnered with the Libertarian Party to become their youth wing and changed the focus to be only on Local Affiliates that could get young Americans excited about Libertarianism and then help them work within the party. As a whole, the relaunch saw an abandonment of internal party politics and a commitment to building the future of the Libertarian Party.

Leadership

Chairs

Vice-Chairs

Secretaries

Treasurers

Other

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