The Youth Action Board (YAB) is an organized group of young individuals who have experienced housing instability or homelessness. Originally started in 2017 with funds from the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program grant (YHDP) the YAB, at the time called Anchorage Youth Task Force (AYTF) was at the forefront of youth engagement and voice in conversations concerning disadvantaged youth. Initially met with hesitation, ignorance, and in some cases hostility the youth pushed forward into conversations and insisted on being heard leading to more involvement and opportunity to make positive change in the states homeless response system. In 2019 the Youth Alaskan Action Board for Housing and Homelessness (YAABHH) was formed as a statewide board by the Alaskan Coalition on Housing and Homelessness (AKCH2). From that point similar groups took hold in rural and urban areas around the state including Matanuska-Susitna (MatSu), Homer, and Juneau. Due to the Pandemic there was a drop in new members but the already active members continued to work hard and partook in many different meetings with political officials and non-profit groups around the state and the country. In 2024 the YAABHH was awarded the Youth Homelessness Systems Improvement (YHSI) to work on achieving the goals of the original YAB and AYTF which include more ability to work in rural areas off the road system as well as more assistance to existing YAB work.

The YABs organize to ensure that young people with lived experience are valued voices and leaders. We advocate for Alaskan communities, homeless services, and housing to be safe, stable, and equitable, and to create pathways for young people to have accessible resources and affordable housing.