Most programs for struggling youth focus on them as problems, as people who must be transformed or “fixed” to be at all successful in post-secondary education and careers. Reboot Plus takes a different approach. We are as interested in how employers can adapt to and benefit from interacting with idiosyncratic young people as we are in preparing our youth participants for educational and career pathways. Our partnerships with Boards of Trade, Chambers of Commerce, and the business community in general open their eyes to a previously untapped talent source, encouraging them to be more open to a demographic they may previously have excluded from hiring consideration (to the detriment of their EDI objectives). Participants will learn how these partnerships work, how they might create similar ones to the benefit of their own youth programs and our preliminary results. Reboot Plus is a national youth education and career development program delivered in partnership by Douglas College and PEERs Employment and Education Resources and funded by the Future Skills Centre, designed to support youth struggling to finish high school who lack a plan for their future. This research project explores the impact of the program on both youth and professionals’ perceptions of this group as potential members of the workforce. Reboot Plus is running in BC, Alberta, Ontario, and Newfoundland in urban, rural, and ex-urban communities. the panel includes representatives from local and national post-secondary partners, the business community, and youth participants.