Youth Coordinator

Bio

katya (they/them) has over ten years of experience teaching young people to explore their gifts and interests, acknowledge individual and collective responsibility, navigate challenges, spark curiosity, foster joy and grow to become resilient change-makers who lead with integrity.

katya is dedicated to helping BIPOC communities advocate for their well-being as liberatory praxis of self-determination and resistance. They are part of the founding team of Sweet Leaf Collective, a budding BIPOC healing space in the Longfellow neighborhood. Sweet Leaf aims to address health/care/access to holistic healing disparities, and other forms of health/healing/environmental/reproductive injustice.

katya is also an educator who has worked as a classroom teacher, technology teacher, reserve teacher, food and nature educator. They attended California State University at Northridge and the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire to study Integrated Strategic Communications and User Experience design. They have worked in both fields, bringing a wide range of skills wherever they go.

katya joined FMR in April 2022 and is excited to weave their passion for water, farming, food/nature education, holistic health and environmental justice into the classrooms, outdoors, at parks, rivers and beyond.

FMR Role

As Youth Coordinator, katya will be focused on our youth stewardship through our education programs, from K-12 classrooms to supporting interns and facilitating our growing Environmental Stewardship Institute!

Personal Details

katya loves growing and gathering around food or out in nature because it connects us better to our bodies, one another, community and the earth. In their free time, katya loves to paint, wander outside and cook nourishing meals with friends. Other hobbies include: mushroom foraging, soap making, spoon carving, biking, ceramics, reading, making apple cider vinegar, woodworking, connecting with animals, and maintaining a love for scotch bonnets and hibiscus.

katya is a part of many outdoor collectives, including the Urban Birding Collective, where space is created for Queer + BIPOC folx to bird and build skills. katya enjoys their time out with the collective, but does have a difficult time deciding whether to look at the plantcestors or birds in the sky. They're involved in various other nature, food, farming and healing spaces too. katya is happy to be a part of all these communities.

Contact

kwesely@fmr.org, 651.222.2193 x26