; Whereas when youth are empowered to lead throughout their formative years, they develop a strong sense of identity and become engaged civic participants that take pride and ownership in their work and those that they lead; Whereas these benefits are especially potent for youth from communities that have been historically excluded from leadership roles, including youth of color, Native youth, LGBTQ+ youth, youth from religious minorities, poor youth, and the estimated 391,000 youth in foster care on a given day; Whereas, in the context of child welfare, authentic youth engagement is an approach that prioritizes elevating youth to be leaders in shaping their lives and directing their futures alongside the adults in their communities and the child welfare workforce and is recognized as best practice within the child welfare system; Whereas child welfare experts agree that implementing authentic youth engagement for the purposes of case planning, court processes, and the implementation of youth advisory boards leads to better outcomes for youth within the child welfare system as well as positive systems changes overall; Whereas youth development experts agree that despite the benefits of youth leadership, the subject is critically understudied; Whereas conducting further empirical research on youth leadership would yield immediate application for policymakers, educators, parents, and employers, and youths themselves; and Whereas we support designating February 2023 as National Youth Leadership Month to uplift current youth leaders and those doing the important work of supporting youth leadership: Now, therefore, be it