UNITY Youth Highlight
Keeping up with college assignments and making room for her own well-being became connected priorities for Katy Johnston in April. Her report described a deliberate effort to practice the care she often encouraged other people to give themselves.
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 supports leadership through cooperation and service. Her April reflection considered what it takes to sustain that service while managing everyday responsibilities.
At OCC in Costa Mesa, California, Johnston focused on schoolwork and turning assignments in on time. Alongside those academic commitments, she began giving her mental health more attention.
“I tell everyone all the time to take care of themselves but I never really took time for myself,” she wrote.
Her response involved specific changes to her routine. Living near the ocean, she aimed to spend at least one day a week at the beach, journaling or allowing herself quiet moments. She also described spending more time outside, going on runs, making time for the gym in the morning, and working on her sleep schedule.
Those details make her reflection practical and personal. She was finding activities and rhythms that made room for herself within a busy life, while continuing to meet her responsibilities as a student.
The focus followed other experiences she reported that spring. At UNITY’s Midyear Conference in February, she valued connection with Native youth and the UNITY family. In March, she helped facilitate the We Are Living Arts event in her home valley with UNITY alumna Jeri Bruno, spending three days with art, medicine, and community.
Together, the updates connect several areas of UNITY’s holistic development approach: education, physical well-being, mental and emotional care, cultural relationships, and social support. Johnston’s leadership story includes the everyday choices that helped her keep participating, alongside the more visible responsibilities of a national role.
“Try new hobbies, focus on yourself, and drink water,” she shared. Her message grows out of an honest account of learning to follow her own advice—and recognizing that caring for a young leader matters as much as the work that leader carries.
