The idea of an Alabama Youth Summit originated from the need for young citizens of Alabama to have a collective voice for youth and to take a more active role in the shaping of public policy in the state.

Pettus Randall campaigned for Governor of the 1999 Alabama Boys State on that platform, and the Boys State delegates shared the concern that Alabama's young citizens were not being heard in the State Capitol. Katie Boyd, 1999 Governor of Alabama Girls State and Kenya Lee, 1998-99 Governor of Alabama Youth in Government joined the effort to organize the first Alabama Youth Summit.

The University of Alabama extended an invitation to host the Summit where delegates of the three government education youth programs could meet to discuss new and progressive ideas that would help move Alabama into a position of leadership in the nation and the world. The Summit was held in March, 2000 on the UA campus with 130 delegates. Basing their deliberations on the legislation passed at Boys State, Girls State, and Youth Legislature, a Youth Agenda for the State of Alabama was chosen.

At the end of the Summit, Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, invited the three youth governors to present the 2000 Youth Agenda to him at the State Capitol.

Since then, the Alabama Youth Summit has continued and expanded to address policy needs in education, health care, environment, tax and election reform, and reform of Alabama’s State Constitution. Each year, the Alabama Youth Summit delegates deliberate to form innovative policy solutions. Those solutions become the formal Youth Agenda, sent to every state legislator in Montgomery.