Universities across the nation are expected to contribute to their neighboring communities. Responses to this charge come in many forms: college students volunteering in neighborhood schools, faculty conducting research activities to support local evaluation efforts, and university centers and civic leaders launching major community-development initiatives. In many cases, these initiatives result in powerful new knowledge for the academic field and transformative experiences for community members. This article discusses community-university partnerships initiated by John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University with two San Francisco Bay-area communities namely, Redwood City and West Oakland. The purpose of the partnerships is to improve the lives of youths. Although the partnerships in the two communities evolved differently, they both were based on a model youth-leadership program called Youth Engaged in Leadership and Learning. This article also presents activities and lessons learned from case studies of partnerships between the Gardner Center and Redwood City and West Oakland over a six-year period. (Contains 5 resources.)