UNITY Youth Highlight
At the Lumbee Tribe’s Dance of the Harvest Moon Powwow, Thorn Grove and Earth Ambassador Liliana Mars brought a practical invitation to Native youth: learn what UNITY offers and how to get involved. Their September 30, 2023 information booth connected a cultural gathering with opportunities for youth leadership and development.
Grove, who identifies as Akimel O’odham, Coharie, and Tuscarora, served as Southeast Representative in UNITY’s 2023–2024 National UNITY Council Executive Committee cohort. The cohort represents regional youth voices, connects councils and individual members, and helps youth work together around shared concerns. Speaking directly with young people at community events is one way that purpose becomes everyday work.
At the booth, Grove and Mars discussed UNITY involvement with youth attending the powwow. Their shared presence also connected two forms of youth leadership: regional representation through the executive committee and environmental leadership through the Earth Ambassador program.
“Working alongside Earth Ambassador Mars, the opportunity allowed us connect with Native youth and to discuss the developmental opportunities UNITY provides,” Grove wrote in his January 16 report.
The partnership gave outreach a personal dimension. Youth could meet people already participating in UNITY, ask about opportunities, and hear about the organization in a setting where families and community members were gathering. Grove’s responsibility was to help make that first connection and explain what involvement could offer.
His related fall reports show why that introduction mattered to him. In October, he attended the AISES conference with members of North Carolina State University’s Native American Student Association, exploring Indigenous leadership in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In November, he joined fellow UNITY executive committee members at the National Congress of American Indians convention.
Together, those experiences connected local outreach with the wider possibilities of youth participation: cultural relationships, college and career exploration, and learning alongside tribal leaders. The powwow booth offered a place to begin that conversation with other young people.
Grove’s report highlights a foundational part of leadership development—making opportunities visible and approachable. By working with Mars in a community setting, he helped connect Native youth with a network built around cultural identity, service, and the growth of their own leadership.
