This article explores the way one youth leadership development organization has used youth-adult partnerships (Y-APs) as a practice to support youth participation in community-change efforts in the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout California. The authors describe how Y-APs are used in two principal areas of the Youth Leadership Institute's work: training and philanthropy. The authors also present a set of lessons learned through over 12 years of Y-AP practice. Based on this experience, they highlight the importance of organizational pathways for leadership development, the necessity of advance preparation by youth and adults, the need to moderate program intensity, and the difficulty of sustaining Y-APs in a resource-scarce environment.