Charlotte’s emerging leaders: Meet Jordan Lopez, a voice for Gen Z in Raleigh
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Charlotte’s Emerging Leaders of 2026
Who are the leaders of tomorrow in Charlotte? The Observer highlighted eight individuals working to make the city greater in 2026.
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At 27 years old, there are very few members of the General Assembly who are younger than Jordan Lopez.
In 2024, Lopez was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives, representing the east Charlotte community he has been a part of his entire life.
“People who have watched me grow up, who are a part of me growing up and becoming the person that I am, will be my constituents,” Lopez previously told The Charlotte Observer. “It’s a really, really humbling feeling … This is home.”
Prior to 2024, the average age of a North Carolina lawmaker was a little over 57, and the youngest member was 29. Lopez, who was 26 when he took office, is helping to change that — and knowing that he could inspire other young people was in part why he decided to run for office in the first place. He’s also the first Afro-Latino to ever serve in the General Assembly, and one of only two Latinos serving in the legislature currently. In his first term, he introduced legislation on issues like affordable housing and marijuana legalization.
Name: Jordan Lopez
Age: 27
Role: State representative for House District 112
What one thing about Charlotte do you most want to change?
One thing about Charlotte I would like to change the most is making upward economic mobility more accessible for every family across our city. In 2024, a report authored by Dr. Raj Chetty showed that Charlotte is improving in the area of economic mobility, but I envision a city that sits atop the list of places across this country where anybody can find and build success. From my perspective as a state representative, that looks like using our influence to ensure that everybody’s basic needs are met.
Does your family have reliable access to fresh foods? Do you have a safe place to call home? Is your child receiving a high quality education at their public school? Is there an educational program or class you can join to learn new, or refine current skills so you can access jobs through our corporate community, or through your own entrepreneurial pursuits?
Making smart investments at the state level to ensure any person can answer each question with a resounding “Yes!” is how we build stronger, safer, and more resilient communities.
What was the seed of your desire to accomplish what you want to accomplish? Where did this start?
The seed of my desire to accomplish this work is truly driven by my childhood. From my mother who, as a single mom of two, always did the absolute best she could to ensure my sister and I never went without the things we needed, to my school teachers who not only ensured I was learning the material, but also went the extra mile to help me develop as a student and as a young leader.
I often tell a story of getting to see President Obama speak during the 2012 DNC that was here in Charlotte, and that was also another pivotal moment for me as a young man to see our nation’s first Black president. That moment expanded my mind as to what I considered possible for me to accomplish, and from that point forward, I have been passionate about fighting for progress by standing up for, and with, my community.
What’s the biggest challenge to doing this work?
So far in this role, the biggest challenge has been finding balance. Between my legislative service, the need to work a full-time job to support myself, and also wanting to have a personal life, finding balance has been tough! Legislators in North Carolina have notoriously low salaries, meaning the only people who typically get to serve are those who are wealthy, retired, own their own businesses, or have very flexible jobs. Thankfully, I find myself in the flexible job category, but that doesn’t make it any less challenging to manage a plethora of different responsibilities while also showing up on behalf of my constituents to be their voice in Raleigh, or engaged throughout our entire district when I’m home.
What do you want people to know about you?
I want people to know how seriously I take this role. Sometimes it can feel like due to my younger age that I don’t get taken as seriously, but my dedication to this work comes from a deep sense of gratitude to this community, city, and the village of people who, whether directly or indirectly, poured into me; helping me become who I am today. I want to pay that forward, and am committed to building a city and state that is safe, healthy and creates pathways and opportunities for anybody to succeed here.
What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned from this experience so far, and what does it mean to you to represent a new generation of leadership in Raleigh?
The biggest lesson I’ve learned, or had to re-learn, from this experience so far has been patience. Almost as soon as I won this seat, I set some pretty impossibly high expectations for myself to just know everything — to understand every policy and procedure of the General Assembly, to know how I should maneuver to accomplish my legislative goals, to be able to explain every aspect of our budget or bills considered. While those are important expectations that I still hold for myself, I’ve appreciated the mentorship and guidance I’ve received from my colleagues who remind me to lean on them. They have shown me that nobody is an expert on day one, but we all can become experts over time so long as we’re engaged, intentional, and eager to learn.
To represent a new generation of leadership in Raleigh is an extreme honor, and gives me a great amount of pride knowing that I get to play a role in building this state’s future, while bringing a perspective of the very people whose future we’re building it for. I’ve also been encouraged by how many young leaders are continuing to step up to serve, from city councils to the state House. We’re ready to do the hard work of building communities and a state that works for us all.
