The Youth LEAD NC Team
Who We Are
Kay McMillan
Founding Board Chair
Kay McMillan describes herself as a “disability rights hippie” and is the founding board chair of Youth LEAD NC. As a young person with a physical disability, Kay first fell in love with disability rights and Youth Leadership Forums (YLF’s) when she first attended the North Carolina YLF at age 15 in 2010, and she hasn’t stopped since! The life-changing experience at NCYLF gave her the confidence that led her to graduate college from NC State University, advocate for the greater inclusion of people with disabilities in her community, and live life to the fullest as a person with a disability. Kay has worked in most (if not all) roles at NCYLF ranging from peer mentor to planning committee member, coordinator, and background staff.
In 2019, Kay and a couple of her friends, all who had disabilities and felt like NCYLF had greatly impacted their lives, founded Youth LEAD NC. Their vision for the organization was to bring back NCYLF, which had not been active since 2017. Additionally, they wanted to create more year-round programs to support youth with disabilities and build on the concepts taught at NCYLF. At Youth LEAD NC, Kay oversees all programming and activities of the organization, such as NCYLF and the LEADing On Series.
Kay is a native to Raleigh, North Carolina. She currently lives in Cary in a townhouse with two friends and with the help of a small army of personal care assistants. Kay also serves on the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities. In Kay’s free time (what is that?), she likes to hang out with friends, play Boccia ball, and watch Netflix. As always, LEAD On!
Meredith Huml
Program Coordinator
Meredith joined the YLNC team in March of 2023. Previously, she worked at Disability Rights NC and the Raleigh Center for Independent Living, Alliance of Disability Advocates. She is incredibly passionate about disability law and advocacy. Meredith enjoys serving people with disabilities and hearing their stories. Planning and working the NCYLF only ignited her adoration for advocacy, and she feels honored to be a part of Youth LEAD NC. She has FSH Muscular Dystrophy and Epilepsy, and also works in the rare disease space, writing articles, blogs, as well as chapters in two books on Muscular Dystrophy and Rare Disease Drug Development. She also served as the NC Chapter Director with the FSHD Society for 6 years. She is a voracious reader, and loves traveling, cooking, and spending time with her husband and their fur children!