UNITY Youth Highlight
Three days of art, medicine, and time in her home valley gave Katy Johnston a meaningful experience during a difficult March. Alongside UNITY alumna Jeri Bruno, she helped facilitate the We Are Living Arts event, connecting cultural expression with opportunities for healing.
Johnston, a member of the Bishop Paiute Tribe, served as Female Co-President in UNITY’s 2023–2024 National UNITY Council Executive Committee cohort. The cohort represents Native youth, connects regional councils and individual members, and develops leadership through cooperation and service. Her participation at home brought that leadership experience into a community setting shaped by art and relationships.
She described Bruno as an “amazing healer” and valued being able to spend “3 days healing through art and medicine and time in my valley.” Facilitating alongside a UNITY alumna also connected two generations of involvement in the organization through a shared community activity.
The experience gave Johnston a role as both contributor and participant. Helping facilitate was an act of service, while time with art, medicine, and people at home offered space for her own reflection. Her report makes room for both parts of that experience.
March also included a meaningful family milestone: her mother received her older brother’s bachelor’s degree in museum studies, with a minor in cinematic arts and technology. Johnston placed that moment alongside the arts gathering in an account of a month that held both difficulty and significance.
“There is no deadline on healing,” she shared.
That reflection connects with the emphasis on belonging and care in her related spring reports. At February’s Midyear Conference, she valued being surrounded by Native youth and the UNITY family. In April, she described making more intentional time for mental health while continuing college coursework.
Within UNITY’s broader work, those experiences connect cultural identity, social relationships, and well-being with leadership. Youth leaders can support meaningful experiences for others while also needing spaces where their own lives and feelings are acknowledged.
Johnston’s account shows the value of such a space through concrete participation: three days in her valley, a partnership with an alumna, and the use of art and medicine as part of the experience. Her reminder about healing carries forward the care at the center of that work.
