As a new addition to its 2025 Summer Youth Program, the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities hosted its first-ever Future Leaders Day on July 18.
Since 1998, the Kansas-based public power utility has operated a Summer Youth Program aimed at creating meaningful employment, mentorship, and learning opportunities for young people in Wyandotte County, Kansas.
What began as a traditional youth jobs initiative has grown into a broader community partnership model that supports local non-profits and revitalization groups in delivering summer enrichment experiences focused on leadership development, life skills, and workforce readiness.
Each summer, BPU provides funding to a select group of community-based organizations to run youth programs that serve local children and teens -- many from underserved or at-risk populations.
While most programs are geared toward high school students, others serve younger youth through creative arts camps, peer mentorship, and skill-building activities.
The initiative is built on collaboration, with the goal of helping young people build confidence, develop professional habits, and see themselves as valuable contributors to their community, the utility noted.
As a new addition to the 2025 Summer Youth Program, BPU hosted its first-ever Future Leaders Day on July 18 at its Administration Building.
The event was designed specifically for high school-aged participants, and invitations were extended to youth programs serving this age group. Most of those groups were able to attend, bringing together approximately 50 teens from across Wyandotte County for a day of career exploration, leadership development, and hands-on learning.
Future Leaders Day featured:
• Hands-on breakout sessions led by BPU departments, including water distribution, engineering, HR, IT security, and customer care. (The electric line crew had to step away to respond to storm recovery efforts, and the Customer Care team graciously stepped in to fill the gap.)
• A keynote panel discussion with local civic leaders and public officials focused on personal growth and public service.
• A team-based problem-solving challenge designed to encourage creativity, collaboration, and community-minded thinking.
The goal of the event was to expose youth to real-world utility careers, elevate their sense of purpose, and spark new ideas about how they can serve and lead in their own communities.
One participating program leader said that “the kids had a great time (I did too)! More than one of them asked if they could come back next year. Thank you for doing this and supporting the kids in our community—it was a great way to end the week.”
BPU noted that it remains committed to empowering the next generation through its long-standing investment in local youth and looks forward to growing the Summer Youth Program in the years ahead.
