The Honorable Carlos J. Clanton has served as the NULYP president since 2015. Previously, he served as the group’s policies & procedures chair after spending three years as chapter president of the nationally award-winning Urban League of Hampton Roads Young Professionals. In 2018, Clanton was elected to the Norfolk City School Board and served as the body’s vice-chair.

Clanton has nearly two decades of non-profit, association leadership, and organization management experience. He recently served an eight-year term as the executive director of the Norfolk Education Foundation supporting the students and teachers of Norfolk Public Schools. He is currently the director of resource development & community relations for the Hampton Roads Community Action Program (HRCAP). He is also a member of the Governor's Commonwealth Commission on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

In 2005, at age 24, he became the youngest and the first African American to lead the Norfolk division of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce. Other honors include being named as a Top 40 under 40 by Hampton Roads Inside Business magazine and the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities’ Humanitarian Award.