This brief highlights how the positive youth development (PYD) approach can help extremely vulnerable youth move from a vicious cycle of HIV risk to a virtuous, protective cycle, using a case study from a cross-sectoral, integrated youth development program in Mozambique. It is not a comprehensive description of all activities under Programa Para o Futuro Mozambique (PPF-MZ), but discusses how key activities of the program fit together within the USAID YouthPower PYD framework. Aspects of PYD that PPF-MZ drew on included: promoting positive adult and peer relationships, creating safe spaces for youth, and building youth skills through training, education and internships. The project benefitted from an extended period of evolution that allowed for effective adaptations to the methodology and trust-building with local stakeholders, and a hands-on approach to training that enabled youth to practice important soft skills as they learned. With an improved skill base, supportive relationships, and greater confidence in their own abilities, youth were positioned to secure more productive livelihoods and better exercise the knowledge they had gained about how to protect and improve their health. Youth showed increases in all domains of PYD, helping establish a solid base for transition to a healthy adulthood.