Grow Dat is a youth leadership organization that annually employs 70+ young adults. We create meaningful employment opportunities for New Orleans youth while using food production, critical analysis, and relationship building as a tool to bolster self-awareness and nurture self-confidence. We value and practice open communication skills and collaborative learning across difference. A first job experience for many, our Core Leadership Program participants spend half their time engaged in agricultural tasks (e.g., planting and harvesting), and the other half in workshops focused on social, emotional, and ecological intelligence. Graduates can then advance to our other programs: the Advanced Leadership Program, Seed Project, Crew Leader Fellowship, or Farm Fellowship, which all offer deeper opportunities to analyze food systems, practice sustainable agriculture, and foster collective action. In 2023, our organization launched our new Grow Dat on the Geaux project, which promotes food justice in Central City in two primary ways: affordable and culturally-relevant food retail and collaborative planning sessions with neighborhood residents facilitated by Grow Dat program alumni.