Young Thomas Hughley, Jr. was born in 1946 to Young Thomas Hughley, Sr. and Mamie Lee Hughley, the second of eleven children. The family lived in Carver Homes, in Atlanta Georgia until 1964. At that time, the parents bought a house for $2,000 in Reynoldstown, a community on the east side of Atlanta. Young Hughley, Jr. also graduated from Luther Judson Price High School in 1964.

Young Hughley, Jr. attended Morehouse College from 1964-1968. He was part of the cast and crew of various plays produced at Morehouse College during his years in college. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1968.

After college, Young moved to Chicago, Illinois where he met and married Stephanie Smith. While in Chicago, he worked for Sears Roebuck Company in middle management for 9 years.

The couple left Chicago when Stephanie got an offer to work on the show "Ain't Misbehavin", the Fats Waller musical revue. Young left his job and joined her on the road as her assistant. They were on the road for about 2 years, then moved to New York where they worked with Negro Ensemble Company (NEC). During his involvement with the NEC, Young compiled and coordinated a book for the 20th Anniversary of the NEC. He also worked in theatrical management.

When the couple moved to Atlanta, Young continued to work in theatre and entertainment which included events for the National Black Arts Festival. He created Hughley Productions which was a management and production company. He also volunteered at the Reynoldstown Civic Improvement Leaugue, where his father was President.

In 1989, at the urging of his father, Young became the Executive Director of the Reynoldstown Revitalization Corporation, later renamed Resources for Residents and Communities (RRC) whose focus was to revitalize the Reynoldstown community without displacing residents. At the time he didn't know anything about community organizing, but it was community he was conneted to.

In 1990, Young purchased a property and opened Hughley Gallery and Objects in Reynoldstown. At the time, it was the only commercial gallery in Atlanta devoted to African-American art. The gallery operated for 4 years.

In order to get more information on community development, Young read books and traveled to other cities to get information from longtime community organizers. He attended conferences and reached out to similar orgnizations. He talked to the Reynoldstown residents to find out what they wanted the RRC to do.

In order to accomplish the goals of the RRC, the organization had to call on the public and nonprofit sectors for funding. The RRC formed partnerships with experts from local universities to address problems in the community. Under Young's leadership, the RRC leveraged more than $25 million in investments.

In 2011, after 22 years, Young Hughley, Jr. retired as the only CEO the RRC had known.