Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) is a nonprofit youth organization that seeks to advance the principles of liberty on college campuses and increase the number of pro-liberty state legislators across the U.S. ¹

Young Americans for Liberty is the advocacy arm of the Young Americans for Liberty Foundation. ²

Activities

Young Americans for Liberty seeks to advance pro-liberty principles by identifying, educating, training, and mobilizing young people on college campuses. YAL organizes chapters across the U.S. that provide resources and host events for students to learn about the philosophy of liberty. These students are trained as pro-liberty youth activists and encouraged to run campaigns and mobilize voters. ¹

Young Americans for Liberty launched Operation Win at the Door in 2018. With a goal of electing 250 pro-liberty state legislators, YAL mobilizes its youth activists to knock on doors in support of pro-liberty candidates that it has identified and endorsed. YAL claims to have supported electing 179 pro-liberty state legislators as of 2022. ³

Young Americans for Liberty’s Hazlitt Coalition intends to hold state legislators accountable to its pro-liberty principles and provides resources and training to assist these legislators in attaining higher office. ¹ The Hazlitt Coalition seeks to limit the scope of government and advance the ideals of free society, personal liberty, and free markets. ⁴

Funding

Young Americans for Liberty’s main source of funding is the Young Americans for Liberty Foundation, which donated $3.4 million in 2019. ⁵ While YAL does not disclose other donors, tax filings confirm donations from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation ($40,000 in 2017), ⁶ the Chase Foundation of Virginia ($10,000 in 2019), ⁷ and the Charles Koch Foundation ($9,907 in 2019). ⁸

Young Americans for Liberty is also funded by student memberships, which are $10 a year as of 2022. ⁹

People

Lauren Daugherty is the CEO of Young Americans for Liberty and the former director of development for the Libertarian National Committee. ¹⁰

Sean Themea is the chief of staff at YAL and a graduate of the Charles Koch Institute’s associate program. ¹¹

Board of Directors

Jeff Frazee is the chair of the board and treasurer of both Young Americans for Liberty and the Young Americans for Liberty Foundation. Frazee is the founder and former executive director of YAL, a former deputy campus services coordinator for the Leadership Institute, and the former national youth coordinator for then-U.S. Representative Ron Paul‘s 2008 Presidential Campaign Committee. ¹²

Cliff Maloney is the former president of both YAL and YALF. Maloney is CEO of Mobilize the Message and the former national youth coordinator for U.S. Senator Rand Paul‘s 2016 presidential campaign. ¹³

Kevin Martin also sits on the board. ¹⁴

1. “About.” Young Americans for Liberty, 2022. Accessed August 6, 2022. https://yaliberty.org/about/.
2. Young Americans for Liberty Inc, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2019, Schedule R, Part II.
3. “Operation Win at the Door.” Young Americans for Liberty, 2022. Accessed August 8, 2022. https://yaliberty.org/door/.
4. “Our Policy Priorities.” Young Americans for Liberty, 2022. Accessed August 8, 2022. https://yaliberty.org/hazlitt-coalition-policy-priorities/.
5. Young Americans for Liberty Foundation, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2019, Schedule I, Part II.
6. Americans for Prosperity Foundation, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2017, Schedule I, Part II.
7. Chase Foundation of Virginia, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2019, Part XV, Line 3.
8. Charles Koch Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2019, Part XV, Line 3.
9.  “Join.” Young Americans for Liberty, 2022. Accessed August 6, 2022. https://secure.anedot.com/yalc4/join.
10. “Lauren Daugherty.” LinkedIn, 2022. Accessed August 6, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-daugherty-texas/.
11. “Sean Themea.” LinkedIn, 2022. Accessed August 6, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanthemea/.
12. “Jeff Frazee.” Foundation for Economic Education. Accessed August 4, 2022. https://fee.org/people/jeff-frazee/.
13. “Cliff Maloney.” LinkedIn, 2022. Accessed August 6, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/cliff-maloney/.
14.  Young Americans for Liberty Inc, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2019, Part VII, Section A, Line 1a.