Chris J. Suggs is a homegrown community developer, organizer, and civic leader from Kinston, North Carolina. He is the Founder and CEO of Kinston Teens, a youth-led nonprofit he launched as a high school student that has grown into a nationally recognized model for youth leadership development and community revitalization.

Chris recently completed a four-year term as a Kinston City Councilmember, where he focused on improving City Hall operations, strengthening core services, and guiding the city through recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic—during which Kinston was named a 2025 All-America City. Elected at age 21, Chris became the youngest elected official in North Carolina at the time—bringing a fresh, yet systems-oriented approach to municipal governance.

Grounded in youth-led organizing, civic engagement, and place-based development, Chris now works to share lessons from his hometown with communities across the country and around the globe. He is a proud graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc..