Chris J. Suggs

Organizer, communicator, connector.

Chris J. Suggs is a homegrown community developer, organizer, and civic leader from Kinston, North Carolina, with a proven track record of building durable institutions, leading complex systems, and delivering results locally and nationally. He is the Founder & CEO of Kinston Teens, Inc., a youth-led nonprofit he launched in 2014 as a high school student, which has since grown into a nationally recognized model for youth leadership development, community revitalization, and neighborhood-based power building.

Under Chris’s leadership, Kinston Teens has transformed vacant and blighted properties into active community assets, coordinated large-scale voter registration and civic engagement efforts, and built programs that center young people as decision-makers in shaping the future of their neighborhoods.

In his neighborhood of East Kinston, Chris manages a growing portfolio of more than 30 properties and, in 2025, his organization acquired and began renovating an abandoned public school to serve as a multi-use community campus—demonstrating Chris’s belief that local ownership of land and infrastructure is essential to long-term community stability and self-determination.

Chris recently completed a four-year term on the Kinston City Council, where he focused on improving the efficiency and accountability of City Hall, strengthening core city services, and guiding the city through recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. During his tenure, Kinston made major investments in parks and public infrastructure, and in 2025 was named an All-America City, recognizing the city’s progress in civic engagement, environmental sustainability, and inclusive community development. Elected at age 21, Chris became the youngest elected official in North Carolina at the time—bringing a fresh, systems-oriented approach to municipal governance.

Politically savvy and movement-tested, Chris has worked across both political campaigns and nonpartisan civic efforts, supporting successful voter registration, engagement, and turnout initiatives at the local, regional, and statewide levels. His work sits at the intersection of policy, organizing, and culture—translating community energy into measurable civic outcomes.

Beyond Kinston, Chris is increasingly focused on sharing lessons learned from his hometown with communities across the country and around the globe. His work explores how youth-led organizing, strategic real estate acquisition, and values-driven governance can be leveraged to rebuild trust in public institutions, strengthen local economies, and create resilient, people-centered places.

A proud graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chris earned degrees in Political Science and Religious Studies and served as President of the Black Student Movement and Senior Class President. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and his leadership has been recognized nationally by platforms including Facebook, RocNation, Nickelodeon, National Geographic, CNN, and ABC 20/20. Because of both work and love, Chris splits his time between his beloved rural Eastern North Carolina and New York City with his fiancée, and together they are the proud parents of their toy poodle, Royce.

Interested in working together? Click here.
Please direct all other inquiries to chris@chrisjsuggs.com.
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 3355, Kinston, NC 28502