Ayana Young (she/they) is a lover and protector of wild nature and a podcast/radio host specializing in intersectional environmental and social justice, deep ecology, and land-based restoration. As a Founder and the Executive Director of For The Wild, Young is learning deeply from the critical dialogue shared with over 200 guests on the For The Wild podcast, including Dr. Vandana Shiva, Terry Tempest Williams, Dr. Bayo Akomolafe, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Mariame Kaba, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and other thought leaders.
Young has a strong academic background at the intersections of ecology, culture, and spirituality as they graduated summa cum laude with an undergraduate degree from Loyola Marymount University, double majoring in Art History and Theology and minoring in Philosophy. She went on to study Restoration Ecology at the University of Victoria. Young was continuing her education in Ecology and Eastern Religions at Columbia University when she dropped out amidst the beginnings of the Occupy Wall Street movement, where she co-created the Environmental Working Group.
As a settler of Russian and European descent, she is now working to conserve an entire watershed alongside Indigenous tribes in the coastal redwood range of Northern California. Young approaches her mission with For The Wild with critical thinking, deep reverence, and artistry.
Contributions to Humans & Nature:
- Liberating Our View of the Night Sky: A Conversation Between Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein and Ayana Young
A response to “How do we understand the Cosmos as our home?” - On Funding, Fossil Fuels, and Femicide: A Conversation with Rachel Heaton and Roxanne White
From Minding Nature’s Winter 2020, Volume 13, Number 1 issue. - Fight for Free and Wild Salmon Rivers: Interview with Chief Caleen Sisk
From Minding Nature’s Fall 2018, Volume 11, Number 3 issue.
