Youth: Empowering Leaders of Today Half-Day Workshop with the Boys & Girls Club of Southeast Louisiana. Planning is about enhancing the quality of life and creating a better future for the next generation, yet that next generation is often absent from the conversation. Young people make passionate leaders that can contribute greatly to building stronger communities and advocate for their peers, parents, and neighbors to deepen the engagement with issues on the ground. In order to plan for those who will be realizing the Plans of 2040 and beyond, planners have an opportunity to involve youth in their everyday planning work and to educate youth about planning. Together, YEP! Youth Engagement Planning, a non-profit organization, along with APA’s Community Planning Assistance Teams (CPAT) program hosted and facilitated this workshop. This session will be focused on teaching planners how to involve youth in the planning process and be an advocate for teaching young people about the planning profession. This highly energized, interactive, an enhanced participatory opportunity was a dynamic, one-of-a-kind session featuring a comprehensive in-depth youth engagement presentation to set the foundation, a collaborative workshop that incorporated hands-on learning to the participants, followed by using what they have learned to interact with students of the Boys & Girls Club of Southeastern Louisiana providing planning education and focused activities. YEP! taught over 100 students at the Boys & Girls Club of Southeastern Louisiana during this interactive workshop that emphasized the importance of youth engagement, provided hands-on activities, focused on involvement and education; and put these skills into action through volunteerism and an amazing opportunity that inspired young people of diverse New Orleans neighborhoods.