Participatory action research (PAR) lacks concerted attention to what makes youth-adult teams feel like genuine partners. This paper explores our youth-adult PAR team's experience of what made us feel like partners during our five-year study of youth voice in educational change. Our findings reveal that we felt like research partners when our partnership was rooted in 1) real relationship; 2) shared power, responsibility and passion; 3) a culture of flexibility, creativity and unfolding; and 4) transformation. By conceptualizing partnership in a manner that incorporates both youth and adult felt experiences and shared understandings, notions of youth-adult partnership become more inclusive. These findings (re)orient current emphases placed on the partnering benefits to youth, research and social change.