Libertarian Youth Caucus

Libertarian Youth Caucus (LYC)
Established:	2016

The Libertarian Youth Caucus (LYC) is the only partisan Libertarian student organization in the country and acts to represent the interests of youth within the LP. The primary purpose of the LYC is to support chapters of young Libertarians at high schools and colleges across the United States, which are organized to get their members involved in official party activism. In contrast to other youth liberty organizations like Young Americans for Liberty or Students For Liberty, the LYC is a partisan organization the supports members of the Libertarian Party instead of "liberty" Republicans or Democrats.

The caucus was founded at the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania State Convention in 2016 by Trent Somes and was relaunched in 2022 by Theodore Gercken of California (the current Chair).

Organizational Structure

The LYC is governed by a National Board that engages in large scale activism, planning, and resource creation. The Board is made up of a Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and At-Large Members who are responsible for coordinating with affiliates. Additionally, the Board has created various committees. A description of the full structure of the LYC and members of various bodies can be found at operations.lycaucus.org.

In addition, many states also have their own State Affiliate that guides the organization's operation in their jurisdiction. While the structure of State Affiliates are up to their members, they generally work similarly to the national organization.

Local Affiliates act as their own organizations with a unique bylaws, Executive Board, and organizational structure. However, Local Affiliates generally operate similarly to their State Affiliate.

Relaunch

At the end of the summer of 2022, Theodore Gercken was elected the Chair of the LYC and took over the operations of an only partially-active caucus. So far, he has created a Strategic Plan, Operations Manual, new Bylaws, and new branding to refresh the organization. He is currently planning on relaunching the caucus, with a greater focus on Local Affiliates, at the end of 2022 or beginning of 2023.