The Young Artists at Work Program at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) recently shifted its model from an afterschool arts program to a young artists' residency. This decision arose from a desire to reposition the youth program as a priority within the larger organization, coupled with a commitment to deepening the pedagogical values of community engagement, positive youth development, and project-based learning. The EMC Arts Innovation Lab for Museums helped pilot the prototyping of a YBCA staff participation model, using an individualized curricular approach to activate new networks of internal and external support. This article details the ways in which an initially semantic shift led to significant changes in program scope, visibility, integration, and outcomes.