The CFE Fund’s experience has shown that to best support Positive Youth Development, local programs should include financial empowerment strategies: access to, and education about, financial systems combined with opportunities and support to set goals and make good financial decisions. New focus group research conducted by Public Works Partners (PWP) for the CFE Fund’s Summer Jobs Connect initiative demonstrates that adolescents and young adults are financial actors who recognize that financial capability is critical to their personal development. In addition, the research suggests more effective ways to design and execute financial empowerment strategies to youth interests and circumstances. Summer Jobs Connect represents a flexible model for integrating financial empowerment into municipal youth programs to support PYD efforts of local government leaders.