Twenty-six young people represent Alabama well at the YMCA Youth Conference on National Affairs

Earlier this summer, 26 Alabama young people (25 governmental and one media delegate) were among almost 650 teenagers nationwide who attended the 59th Annual YMCA Youth Conference on National Affairs (CONA) at the Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, N.C.

Six rising college sophomores, who were chosen for their leadership positions following the 2025 conference, presided over the 2026 student-led conference, including Alabama’s Harleigh Walker, a public policy major at the University of Maryland. Walker is a 2025 graduate of Auburn High School.

More than 620 high school-age governmental delegates from 31 states, the District of Columbia and Model UN each wrote and presented a proposal of national or international importance at CONA. Seven of Alabama’s 25 proposals advanced to one of six Committee Cs, while two Alabama proposals were among the 30 proposals debated in one of the three General Assemblies.

Both Alabama-authored proposals that made it to a General Assembly were approved:

• Spain Park High School senior Elijah Blair proposed prohibiting members of Congress, their spouses and dependent children from trading. Under Blair’s approved proposal, members of Congress would only be permitted to trade diversified index funds, U.S. treasury securities and federally approved retirement funds while in office. Blair served the Alabama Mock Trial and Youth Legislature conferences as Supreme Court Chief Justice.
• William Tabb, a graduate of Mountain Brook High School and University of Alabama freshman, proposed restructuring the Title I grant system to allocate more funds for schools that teach the Science of Learning.

Among the 120 proposals to make it to Committee C were five others authored by Alabama delegates. Those proposals would:

• Reform prescription drug advertising by Hampton Doobrow, a junior at Mountain Brook High School. Doobrow is the 2027 Alabama Youth Legislature House Floor Leader.
• Strengthen the War Powers Resolution of 1973 by Lulu Espy, a graduate of The Montgomery Academy and a freshman at the University of Virginia. Alabama Youth Legislature’s House Speaker Pro Tempore is also the 2026 recipient of the state program’s Sunshine Award.
• Withdraw from the conflict in Iran by Veronica Zhang, a senior at Vestavia Hills High School.
• Set a federal standard for artificial intelligence use in clinical healthcare settings by Arnav Aggarwal, a senior at LAMP High School in Montgomery.
• Require the U.S. House Ethics Committee and the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics to complete the preliminary review period for sexual assault allegations against congressional members within 30 days by Bethany Yin, a graduate of Mountain Brook High School and a freshman at Georgetown University.

Yin represented Alabama on the Conference Life Committee. The CLC serves as the governing body of the national conference. Yin, who presided as the Alabama Youth Legislature’s Speaker of the House, was named an Outstanding Statesman for the 2026 National Affairs Conference.

Youth Legislature Lt. Gov. Addison Pledger, a graduate of Spain Park High School in Hoover and freshman at the University of Alabama, served as a committee chair and as a clerk at the national conference. Pledger also was recognized July 2 as the Distinguished Delegate from Alabama for the 2026 YMCA Youth Conference on National Affairs.

2027 Youth Gov. Maggie Parker, a senior at Spain Park High School in Hoover, also served as a committee chair and clerk at the national conference. Parker served as the 2026 Youth Legislature First Year Presiding Officer.

Alabama Youth Legislature Media Chief Precious Clanton, a graduate of Sand Rock High School in Leesburg and a freshman at the University of Alabama at Huntsville, served as the Alabama delegation leader and Editor-in-Chief for the media program at the national conference.

James Puckett, a graduate of Mountain Brook High School and an Auburn University freshman, served as roundtable leader for the Alabama delegation at the national conference, facilitating nightly discussions that put the debate of the day and bonds made within the delegation and with the greater conference into perspective.

Other members of the Alabama delegation to the Youth Conference on National Affairs were:

• Rep. Joy Ahn, a senior at Auburn High School.
• House Jere Hardy Statesman Heesoo Cho, a senior at St. James School in Montgomery.
• Senate Jere Hardy Statesman Sam Eagan, a graduate of Mountain Brook High School and a freshman at William & Mary.
• Attorney General Ansley Gilbert, a graduate of Spain Park High School in Hoover and freshman at Boston College.
• 2026 Gov. Carter Holloway, a graduate of Spain Park High School and a freshman at Hampton University.
• Sen. MaryEllis Killough, a graduate of St. James School in Montgomery and a freshman at Sewanee, The University of the South.
• Lobbyist Mary Evelyn Kimbrough, a senior at Mountain Brook High School.
• Sen. Kaitlyn Kinney, a Spain Park High School graduate and freshman at the University of Alabama.
• Sen. Lily Landers, a Spain Park High School graduate and a freshman at Troy University.
• Sen. Khii Moore, a graduate of A.H. Parker High School in Birmingham and freshman at the University of South Alabama.
• Rep. Betsy Pringle, a senior at Mountain Brook High School.
• Rep. Olivia Self, a senior at Mountain Brook High School.
• Senate Best Bill Award Winner Carson Washington, a graduate of LAMP High School in Montgomery and a freshman at Perdue University.
• Senate President Pro Temp Campbell Webb, a graduate of Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School and a freshman at Belmont University. Webb was the 2026 recipient of the Betty Carr Award.
• Supreme Court Justice Kendall Wise, a graduate of Northside Methodist Academy in Dothan and a freshman at the University of Alabama. At Alabama Youth Legislature, Wise was the recipient of the Bill Barringer Scholarship Award.

The Alabama delegates to the Youth Conference on National Affairs are chosen based on statesmanship shown during Alabama’s Youth Legislature. The YMCA Youth Conference on National Affairs, which was held June 27 to July 3, is administered by the Britton branch of the YMCA of Greater Montgomery.