Earlier this month I spent almost three hours discussing Kansas City&#x92;s past and future with a dozen 20-something professionals in a downtown loft.</p><p>The finance managers, architects and others in the room were well-informed and enthusiastic, two qualities you want to see in young people who absolutely must be bigger parts of this city&#x92;s leadership.</p><p>Their questions touched on a wide variety of issues including downtown&#x92;s lack of mass transit, taxpayer subsidies, the importance of rebuilding neighborhoods and the lure of the suburbs.</p><p>Getting young men and women involved in civic-minded activities is a high priority in Kansas City as it works to revive its downtown and repopulate its urban core.</p><p>But big questions loom:</p><p>&bull;&#xA0;How do you make sure the 20-somethings with potential turn into the 30- and 40-somethings with real power to lead this community?</p><p>&bull;&#xA0;How do you get them involved in all kinds of activities and feed off their energy in creating a more vibrant future for the entire region?</p><p>&bull;&#xA0;How do you keep them in Kansas City when Seattle, Austin, Washington, D.C., and other attractive cities beckon?</p><p>It&#x92;s positive that a large number of youth-oriented groups in Kansas City plant the seeds to show young people how to be involved in community activities. Organizations such as BacchusKC and the Centurions Leadership Program run by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce can provide excellent networking and mentoring opportunities, discounts for cultural events, a peek behind the scenes at how Kansas City really works and, yes, lots of happy hours. </p><p>For instance, tonight there&#x92;s a GenKC Night at a UMKC basketball game; a happy hour at a downtown bar followed by a performance of &#x93;Romeo and Juliet&#x94; under the auspices of BARRE, the Kansas City Ballet young professionals group; and a happy hour at a Power & Light District bar sponsored by Habitat Young Professionals of Kansas City.</p><p>For a more extensive listing of youth-oriented groups, go to http://imaginejewishkc.org/ page.aspx?id=199692.</p><p>However, these organizations are just part of the answer to utilizing young people&#x92;s skills.</p><p>Here&#x92;s what is even more crucial to the long-term health of Kansas City: Put young women and men into positions of power to <span class="italic">truly be important</span> to the city&#x92;s future.</p><p>Put more bluntly, the old-timers who run dozens of major businesses and law firms in town need to not just recognize young talent in their midst but also take the plunge and entrust those young people with more influence. Eventually, that will lead to changes in how the business community provides leadership on all kinds of issues, including the distribution of money through civic foundations to arts and culture groups.</p><p>Mayor Sly James &#x97; as former Mayor Mark Funkhouser did as well &#x97; has taken a stab at placing more young people on dozens of city boards and commissions. Who knows? The political bug may bite some and cause them to get more involved in political and neighborhood matters.</p><p>It&#x92;s also essential to challenge the young people who want to grab the reins of power in Kansas City. </p><p>They can&#x92;t just go along to get along, to do things in Kansas City the same way they&#x92;ve been done for years.</p><p>That&#x92;s a recipe for stagnation, not growth.</p><p>Entrenched bastions of power in Kansas City won&#x92;t simply move aside for the youngsters. Plus, leadership is hard work, whether it&#x92;s at City Hall or in the corporate boardroom. Youthful leaders need to be responsible and accountable in their actions as they climb to the top of the power pyramid.</p><p>Young people face another challenge in these fast-changing days: finding their passion.</p><p>Just because they&#x92;re members of, say, the Young Friends of Art doesn&#x92;t mean they have to devote their life to funding the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Ditto for young friends of Kansas City&#x92;s library, symphony, Repertory Theatre or other good causes.</p><p>Spokeswomen for two groups &#x97; Meggan Rorvig at Young Friends of Art and Ellen McDonald at BARRE &#x97; said a large number of newcomers often come to their events. The ongoing challenge is to get these young people interested in and committed to making positive changes.</p><p>The young leaders who will be the Don Halls and Sly James&#x92; of the future eventually have to decide what&#x92;s important to them. Then they must seize the opportunities to improve life in Kansas City &#x97; for themselves, their families and the rest of us.