The DC-based organization was started as a project of the Hetrick-Martin Institute and was fiscally sponsored by HMI for the first several years of its existence. NYAC was incorporated as a Minnesota non-profit corporation in 1998. NYAC's Board of Directors includes: Aaron Chandler (of Amherst, MA); Jesus Chapa-Malacara (of Brooklyn, NY); Laura Hart (of College Park, VA); and Maya Marcel-Keyes (of Boston, MA).