In 2016, there were nearly 300,000 people in Anchorage, with nearly 74,000 young people under the age of 18–that’s nearly 25% of all residents! These young people cannot vote, but civic decisions impact their lives directly. It’s time to foster meaningful engagement of youth to not only inform but improve local government and develop engaged citizens. In general, perspectives and input from young people are not often included in public decision making. Without a clear way to make young people’s views heard, they are not able to see how government works or gain political experience, and communities lose meaningful insight to form policy, including many policies and budget decisions that impact the lives of young people. But we can change that!