Our Mission
NEXT is a 501(c)(3) non-profit comprised of community members and local leaders who are inspired by our community’s vibrancy and values and see opportunities to increase our quality of life in a variety of ways.
At NEXT, our mission is to work together to make Chapel Hill-Carrboro a diverse community where people of all walks of life and backgrounds can work and live and thrive, where the best transportation and transit infrastructure efficiently enhances personal mobility, where abundant housing choices are available, where education is embraced as a core target for our investments, and where equity, integrity, and inclusiveness are the foundations of our public policies.
We care about maintaining and enhancing an inclusive, thriving community that everyone can call home.
We believe that all voices are important contributions to community dialogues about our future.
We want actions taken by our local leaders that align with our stated values.
Our Priorities
- Promoting community diversity, inclusion, and social justice
- Increasing housing abundance and affordability
- Creating local economic opportunities and building a vibrant downtown
- Supporting bikeways, greenways, and transit
- Growing the resources available to our K-12 public school system
- Uplifting arts, music, and culture as a way to build community
What We Do
We host events that promote our values, educate the community, and give us the opportunity to reflect on what we want to see in Chapel Hill and Carrboro’s future. Past events have included a Downtown Walking Tour, a Conversation on Housing with Dr. Jenny Schuetz, and a Candidate Coming Out Party in advance of the 2021 municipal elections. We also host an informal happy hour on the first Thursday of every month. Join us!
We advocate for our values by organizing petitions, drafting letters, and lobbying our local elected officials. We wrote a letter in support of the Aura development at MLK Jr. Blvd. and Estes Drive, we joined with partner organizations to ask the NC Department of Transportation to step up their efforts to combat pedestrian and bicycle deaths, and we published an op-ed in Chapelboro questioning the necessity of a massive new parking deck in downtown Chapel Hill.
We track the votes of the Chapel Hill and Carrboro Town Councils, identifying important upcoming decisions, tracking which elected officials vote in line with our values, and explaining our stance on the matter at hand. You can find our up-to-date scorecards here: https://nextnc.org/vote-tracker/.
Our 501(c)(4) Action Fund supports political candidates that align with our values by making endorsements in municipal and countywide elections: 2022 Endorsements | 2021 Endorsements
