Lauren and Austin [Live Link]
Published on 31, Mar 2023
Eko Youth: Podcasting for Climate Resilience
As climate chaos grows across the planet, many eyes are on the scientists and government leaders who are struggling to find answers. However, Jaden Huynh, the Founder of the podcast equipment company Ekoyouth, believes that the key to saving Mother Earth lies elsewhere: in indigenous matriarchs (female leaders). Jaden is a teen mother from the Hinóno’eí, Tsitsistas, and Ute Nations. She is also Vietnamese, Chicana, and a full-time college student studying to become a neurosurgeon. Jaden cares deeply about saving our world from the devastation of climate change and is convinced that Black, Latina, Asian, and Native women all hold within themselves indigenous values and stories that are crucial for fighting climate chaos. Through Ekoyouth and her podcast “The Forgotten Realm,” she is teaching other women to podcast so that their environmental knowledge and indigenous stories will be stored for future generations.
Jaden has always connected deeply with the planet and valued the diversity of thought, values, and history of Native tribes and different ethnicities. In high school, she joined Student Voice, a club that focused on identity and inclusion of all perspectives.
“I first fell in love with indigenous advocacy at the Youth Celebrate Diversity Conference,” Jaden remembers. “My friendship with Mason Estes and Spirit of the Sun began with the workshop Dispelling Native American Stereotypes. He spoke on behalf of the Spirit of the Sun community with wisdom beyond my belief. He ignited my passion to make all voices heard, and the rest was history.”
Jaden would go on to volunteer with Spirit of the Sun, seeing firsthand that underserved natives were struggling with mental health and that native youth were empowered when they reconnected to their indigenous roots. Along the way, Jaden reconnected with her own indigenous identity and began helping others to do the same.
“I started doing advocacy work and public speaking. I held presentations, webinars, and teaching programs through Spirit of the Sun and became convinced that native groups, particularly their matriarchs, have so much information to share about how Mother Earth should be treated,” she says. “I decided to create ‘The Forgotten Realm’ so that it would not be lost.”
Today, through Ekoyouth, Jaden is supplying equipment for podcasting as well as teaching and fostering the art through an indigenous lens. Her community is growing as more women of color share their stories and their wealth of knowledge about climate chaos. Jaden and the other women are ensuring that tomorrow’s youth will be able to benefit from the wisdom of today’s climate-chaos activists.
“It is crucial that youth like me are proud of their indigenous identity and see how important they are in the fight to heal Mother Earth from global warming and pollution,” she says. “I want to empower them to make climate-conscious decisions the indigenous way. This includes honoring their ancestors, honoring the Earth, honoring each other, and honoring the elders that guide them.”
As more listeners discover “The Forgotten Realm” and Ekoyouth, Jaden is focused on her plans for 2023, including leading Spirit of the Sun’s visual storytelling workshop alongside Sydonney Blake, a Taino-Afro indigenous woman. Jaden will be teaching bipoc youth how to podcast.
At the same time, she will continue to attend college so that she can achieve her goal of becoming a neurosurgeon who is focused on indigenous storytelling.
“With my doctorate, I want to create Brain Storm, a mental health clinic for indigenous and undocumented people so that they will have access to mental health professionals in one space,” she reveals. “Equality in healthcare for all indigenous people is very important to me.”
As she looks to the future, Jaden is under no illusions that ending climate chaos will be easy. She says, however, that it can happen if everyone is willing to step up and do what they can to include indigenous voices.
“Targeted actions will make a difference,” Jaden states. “Remember that at Ekoyouth, 5% of every purchase goes to either Spirit of the Sun or the American Indian College Fund. Join my team of podcast queens who fight for their communities and protect their culture for the next 7 generations. Together, we can do our part to preserve Mother Earth for our future youth. DM @ekoyouthfam to get on board!”
Ekoyouth was founded by Jaden Huynh, the host of “The Forgotten Realm,” a podcast for the indigenous, family oriented, culturally seeking, and allied community. Ekoyouth believes that female podcasters are powerful, brilliant, and valued. It sells equipment to make podcasting as enjoyable as it should be. Ekoyouth prioritizes helping the native community and the environment by preserving the climate-chaos wisdom and stories of matriarchs. For more information about Ekoyouth, please see:
@ekoyouth6
@ekoyouthfam
@ekoyouthnetwork
