Alex Koroknay-Palicz (born July 2, 1981) is an American activist in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

He is the former executive director of the National Youth Rights Association serving in that post from 2000 till 2012.

Biography

Koroknay-Palicz was born in

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropoli ...

, and grew up in Holland, Michigan. By high school, he began to articulate that inequality in terms of

ageism Ageism, also spelled agism, is discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age. The term was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler to describe discrimination against seniors, and patterned on sexism and racism. Butler defi ...

and wrote articles for his school newspaper on the subject. Senior year at Holland High School, Koroknay-Palicz discovered several local businesses with policies limiting the number of students allowed inside at any one time. Recognizing these policies as ageism, he decided to do something about it. After much research he learned these policies were illegal under Michigan'
Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act
Koroknay-Palicz demanded the city to enforce this law at a speech before a Holland city council meeting. The matter was referred to Al Serrano in the city's Human Rights Department, who succeeded in overturning the policies at all the stores in question.Weeks, L. (2007

''The Washington Post''. November 27. Retrieved 9/7/08. In 1999 Koroknay-Palicz began attending

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was chart ...

He quickly became involved in the

youth rights The youth rights movement (also known as youth liberation) seeks to grant the rights to young people that are traditionally reserved for adults, due to having reached a specific age or sufficient maturity. This is closely akin to the notion o ...

movement, chiefly as the executive director of the National Youth Rights Association from 2000-2012. Koroknay-Palicz became a major figure in all aspects of the youth rights movement and made fighting

his chief purpose. Koroknay-Palicz serves on the board of advisors for the

Freechild Project The Freechild Institute for Youth Engagement is a nonprofit organization focused on creating connections between adults and young people through programs, technical assistance, publications, training, and curriculum. Adam Fletcher is the executiv ...

. His writing appears in several publications and websites. In 2006 Koroknay-Palicz joined the Board of Directors of CAFETY. Koroknay-Palicz and

Robert Epstein Robert Epstein (born June 19, 1953) is an American psychologist, professor, author, and journalist. He was awarded a Ph.D. in psychology by Harvard University in 1981, was editor in chief of ''Psychology Today'', and has held positions at sever ...

co-founded the First Annual National Youth Rights Day which occurred on April 14, 2010 Epstein wrote The Young Person's Bill of Rights for this event. Koroknay-Palicz currently lives in

Takoma Park Takoma Park is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Washington, D.C., Washington, and part of the Washington metropolitan area. Founded in 1883 and incorporated in 1890, Takoma Park, informally called "Azalea C ...

, Maryland and served on the city's voting rights taskforce after Takoma Park became the first city in the United States to lower its voting age to 16. Testified in support of successful 16-year-old voting age bills in Takoma Park and Hyattsville, Maryland. He currently works for the National Association of Counties and in October 2014 married Tricia Gonwa. In 2015 he resumed his involvement in the National Youth Rights Association after a three-year absence. He currently serves on NYRA's board of directors and is organizing the #16tovote Coalition in support of the 16-year-old voting age bill in

Publicity

As spokesman for the National Youth Rights Association, Koroknay-Palicz's first major media citation dates to 2000 when

Slate.com ''Slate'' is an online magazine that covers current affairs, politics, and culture in the United States. It was created in 1996 by former '' New Republic'' editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. In 20 ...

interviewed him. Since then he has appeared on several television and radio networks, including two appearances on

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by t ...

and Fox News Koroknay-Palicz has been quoted by several nationally recognized publications on a variety of topics related to youth rights. They include the subject of

student rights Student rights are those rights, such as civil, constitutional, contractual and consumer rights, which regulate student rights and freedoms and allow students to make use of their educational investment. These include such things as the right to ...

in '' The Christian Science Monitor'';

youth suffrage Youth suffrage, or children's suffrage, is the right of youth to vote and forms part of the broader youth rights movement. Until recently Iran had a voting age of 15; Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua have a voting age of 1 ...

in '' The Boston Globe'' and the '' Los Angeles Times''; the

legal drinking age The legal drinking age is the minimum age at which a person can legally consume alcoholic beverages. The minimum age alcohol can be legally consumed can be different from the age when it can be purchased in some countries. These laws vary between ...

in '' The New York Times'';

internet censorship Internet censorship is the legal control or suppression of what can be accessed, published, or viewed on the Internet. Censorship is most often applied to specific internet domains (such as Wikipedia.org) but exceptionally may extend to all Inte ...

in the '' Chicago Tribune'';

curfew A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...

s in the ''

Jackson Free Press The ''Jackson Free Press'', referred to often as simply "JFP", is a for-profit community magazine available free of charge at various retail establishments in Jackson, Mississippi founded in 2002 and owned by Mississippi native Donna Ladd and a ...

'', and; the minimum driving age in ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' and the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...

.Hill, M. (2008
"Driving limits are roadmap to teen frustration"
, Associated Press. August 6. Retrieved 9/7/08. He has also been cited in international publications such as ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

''. He has also been cited on the topics of

in the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

graduated driver licensing Graduated driver licensing systems (GDLS) are designed to provide new drivers of motor vehicles with driving experience and skills gradually over time in low-risk environments. There are typically three steps or stages through which new drivers p ...

civics education Civics is the study of the rights and obligations of citizens in society. The term derives from the Latin word ''civicus'', meaning "relating to a citizen". The term relates to behavior affecting other citizens, particularly in the context of ur ...

public schools, the Bong Hits 4 Jesus trial, youth criminalization, and several other issues. He has also been noted for his opposition to the drinking age limit policies of

Mothers Against Drunk Driving Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a non-profit organization in the United States, Canada and Brazil that seeks to stop drunk driving, support those affected by drunk driving, prevent underage drinking, and strive for stricter impaired drivin ...

who want to keep it at age 21.Rooney, K. (2004
"Students protest drinking age"
, ''GW Hatchet.'' March 1. Retrieved 9/7/08.

Bibliography

* Koroknay-Palicz, A. (2003
"Youth Demand a Voice and a Vote"
''Wiretap Magazine.'' * Koroknay-Palicz, A. "Youth Rights," in Beale, S. and Abdalla, A. (2003) ''Millennial Manifesto''. InstantPublisher.

References

External links

One and Four
Alex Koroknay-Palicz's blog
National Youth Rights Association
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Koroknay-Palicz, Alex 1981 births American nonprofit executives Living people American child activists Youth rights people Youth empowerment people Activists from Washington, D.C.

Biography

Publicity

Bibliography

See also

References

External links