Anchorage Youth Action Board
Youth with lived experience are helping shape a stronger future for Anchorage. Through leadership, advocacy and community action, Anchorage YAB ensures youth voices are heard where decisions are made.
by youth. for youth. representing youth.
by youth. for youth. representing youth.
What is YAB?
Youth Action Boards are groups of young people who use their voices, ideas and lived experience to create change.
YAB members help communities understand what young people actually need, what systems are missing and how programs can do better.
This isn’t about adults speaking for youth.
This is about youth leading the conversation.
Initial Research
Before improving Alaska's youth homelessness response system, we first needed to understand what currently exists. With guidance from youth who have experienced homelessness and housing instability, AKCH2 partnered with Agnew::Beck to complete the first statewide inventory of youth homelessness resources, providers, and service gaps. The findings establish a baseline for measuring progress and identifying where improvements are needed across Alaska.
Our Mission
YABs organize to ensure that young people with lived expertise are valued as leaders and that their voices are heard.
They create pathways for young people to obtain accessible resources and affordable housing, and advocate for Alaskan communities, youth homelessness services, and safe, stable, and equitable housing for youth.
YABs are composed of folks from all backgrounds and of all identities, including Indigenous, Black, and Queer folks, most of whom have lived expertise of homelessness and housing instability.
Each member has an array of hobbies, expertise, outlooks, and perspectives that are valued and shared.
Why join?
Because your experience matters.
Whether you have experienced housing instability, homelessness, foster care, couch surfing, disconnection from school or work, or just know what young people in your community are going through, your voice can help shape better support for youth across Alaska.
YAB is a space to be heard, build skills and make an impact.
Who can join?
YAB is for young people ages 16–24 in Alaska who want to make a difference in their community.
If you have lived experience with homelessness, housing instability, foster care, couch surfing, system involvement or other challenges impacting youth, your voice matters here.
YAB members help shape programs, influence decisions and create real change for young people across Alaska while building leadership skills, community connections and paid experience along the way.
Paid opportunity
Youth-led
Regional boards across Alaska
Real impact in your community
You do not need to have everything figured out to join.
You just need your perspective, your voice and a willingness to show up.
Ready to help shape the future for youth in Alaska?
How do we help?
YAB members:
Share ideas and lived experience
Give feedback on programs and services
Create youth-led projects
Build leadership and advocacy skills
Help organizations make better decisions
Represent youth voices in their communities
Support Youth-Led Change in Your Community
Youth Action Boards are creating real change across Alaska, and community support helps make that possible. Whether you're a community member, organization, business, funder or sponsor, you can help ensure youth voices are heard, valued and included in decisions that shape the future. Interested in partnering, sponsoring or supporting your local YAB? We'd love to connect.
Interested in partnering, sponsoring or supporting your local YAB?
Contact us to start the conversation →
How you can help:
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Invite YAB members to provide feedback, participate in planning efforts or help inform decisions that impact young people.
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Support stipends, training, travel, meetings and youth-led projects that help young people create change in their communities.
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Help connect more youth, organizations and community members to YAB opportunities.
Anchorage Members
Isis Allen
Mac Boden
(They/Them) Event Coordinator
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Mac serves as Event Coordinator for the Anchorage YAB. They enjoy writing, watching sitcoms, and doing theater, and psychology is their favorite subject. If Mac could make one big change for young people, their answer is simple: free housing for all. Mac is currently working toward a bachelor's degree in social work.
One of Mac's favorite things about Anchorage is the mix of old and new. They enjoy seeing newer towers and buildings alongside places that look like they have been part of the city since around the beginning of Alaska's statehood. Mac also has a black cat named Toothless.
Jayson Hunter
Zepherys Enderson
(He/They) Media Consultant
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Zepherys serves as Media Consultant for the Anchorage YAB. He enjoys reading comic books and novels, drawing, journaling, and exploring and foraging with his partner. Psychology, philosophy, and history are some of their favorite subjects. Zepherys would like Anchorage to be more walkable and less centered around cars, with more room for wildlife, affordable housing, and communal third spaces.
Safe and stable housing is also personally important to Zepherys. Living downtown, Zepherys appreciates being able to walk to many of Anchorage's free community events. They also have a tuxedo cat named Vivian.
Sheyna Jenkins
Amara Kagak-Grant
Coordinated Entry Lead
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Amara serves as Coordinated Entry Lead for the Anchorage YAB. Amara is Iñupiaq and grew up on the Slope. Interests include makeup, fashion, food, and games, with art and poetry as favorite subjects.
If Amara could make major changes for youth, secondary education would be free and both health care and housing would be more accessible. Amara also believes free or heavily discounted higher education and affordable housing would make it easier to reach personal goals.
One thing Amara appreciates about the Anchorage region is finding people who are eager to work together to help others.
Logan Lyons
(He/Him) Secretary/Policy Lead
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Logan serves as Secretary and Policy Lead for the Anchorage YAB. He enjoys reading, biking, cooking, and games, and his favorite subjects are science and English.
Logan would like to see affordable housing and stable income for young people, along with universal stipends that could help create more opportunities. When thinking about what would help youth reach their goals, he also points to community third spaces and regular events. Logan especially appreciates Alaska's natural beauty and the sense of community that can be found here.
Warren Mason
(He/Him) Education Lead
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Warren serves as Education Lead for the Anchorage YAB. He enjoys biking and swimming during the warmer months, along with streaming and playing games. Math has always been a favorite subject because of the satisfaction that comes with finally understanding a difficult problem.
If Warren could make a change in his community, he would want to find the least harmful way to provide constant support for people in need. His own goals include finding work that is both fulfilling and well-paying and one day living in a good-sized house with his friends. Although Warren has not lived in Anchorage for long, he says he has experienced love and support throughout his journey and wants to be that kind of person for others.
Chey Morrison
Gean Gudellia
(They/Them) Secretary
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Geane serves as Secretary of the Anchorage YAB. They enjoy drawing, wandering, gaming, making comics, and telling stories, with a particular interest in creativity and philosophy.
Geane sees a lot of potential in the Anchorage community. If they could make a major change for young people, they would like to see four acres freely given to anyone once they turn 16 and live in Anchorage. When thinking about their own dreams, Geane imagines a city made by their own hands.
Star Maier
(She/Her) Social Media Management/Community Outreach Lead
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Star leads social media management and community outreach for the Anchorage YAB. She enjoys playing video games, drawing, watching anime, and listening to music, and art is her favorite subject. Star would like to see more affordable and livable housing, especially for transition-age youth who may not have family or other supportive adults to rely on. She wants young people without those support systems to have the opportunity to transition into adulthood with greater stability.
For Star personally, having a support system and the right environment would make it easier to focus on moving forward instead of worrying about what might happen next. Having grown up in Anchorage, she values her connection to the environment and the sense of connectedness she feels in her community.
Apply to Join
Are you passionate about improving your community and helping prevent youth homelessness in Alaska? Apply today to become a Youth Action Board (YAB) Member!
This is a paid leadership opportunity for youth ages 16–24 living in Alaska.
Pay: $30.00 per hour
Commitment: Up to 10 hours per week
Location: Statewide (Regional Boards across Alaska)
Youth Action Board members work alongside local partners to strengthen Alaska’s homelessness response system, improve youth services, and elevate youth voice in community decision-making.
This opportunity is part of the Youth Homelessness System Improvement (YHSI) grant, funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and managed by the Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness (AKCH2). Through YHSI, Youth Action Boards ensure that youth with lived experience are central to shaping funding, policy, and system redesign across the state.
Each Regional YAB focuses on:
Local priorities and community advocacy
Developing YAB bylaws and governance structures
Leading youth-led projects and systems mapping
Contributing to statewide data and evaluation
The goal: Build a youth-driven, sustainable system that lasts beyond the grant period.
Stay Connected
Want updates on YAB projects, opportunities, events and ways to get involved? Sign up and stay connected with youth-led change happening across Alaska.
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Questions or comments?
Email: info@AlaskaYAB.com
Call: 907-720-1356
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