PHOENIX — She was a familiar face on TV for years – and a member of the 12News family.
As the first Native American TV journalist in Arizona history, Mary Kim Titla covered stories right here on 12News for nearly two decades. As a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, Titla was best known for telling the stories of Arizona's underrepresented Indigenous communities.
"I went from being a TV news reporter, which I loved, to doing something that I love even more," said Titla.
Today, she is the executive director of Unity for the United National Indian Tribal Youth, a national nonprofit whose mission is to foster the spiritual, mental, physical and social development of Native youth through various training programs.
"Unity provides a platform for them to express their voices. Their voices matter. And they have such great ideas. They are not the leaders of the future. They're leaders now!" Titla exclaimed.
And leading is what the one-time candidate for Arizona congress does best. Since taking over in 2013, Titla is reaching more Native youth than ever before, growing the organization to 325 youth councils in 36 states since it was founded in 1976 with just a handful of members. Today, Unity is the oldest and largest Native youth leadership organization in the country.
More than 2,500 youths attended the national conference in Minneapolis in July.
"They are organizing in a big way. They're leading campaigns. Many of them are environmental stewards, and they are pushing, you know, environmental awareness," Titla said. "They're actually creating their own nonprofits at the age of 16/17. Imagine that I couldn't have imagined doing that when I was at age. They're just, you know, amazing. And they're, they're very concerned about issues back home."
When asked about the challenges specific to the youth of native the Native American population, Titla said Native American youth are not unlike just young people in general.
"They have the same concerns. But I will say that a lot of the social ills, of course, reflect that our ethnic group has the highest percentages when it comes to teen pregnancy, high school and college dropout rates, substance abuse, and suicide rates. But despite all of that, they are so resilient. They are overcoming those barriers," Titla shared.
Titla's commitment to uplifting Native youth earned her a big honor as one of five recipients of this year's bank of America's "Neighborhood Builders: Racial Equity Award." the award recognizes local leaders advancing racial equality and economic opportunities for people of color.
"It was a real surprise. I'm very humbled. I really did not expect that recognition. But I'm grateful for it."
The award comes with a $200,000 grant which Titla said will be used to fund unity programs.
"The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls initiative is huge," she said. " A lot of Native American people either can relate directly because their loved one has gone missing and was found murdered, or they know of someone. So our young people have taken it upon themselves to do something about it. They've raised awareness through initiatives. They've started movements where they are creating awareness through walks or events, providing a forum for others to speak out, and making sure that we're getting the attention that is needed for this issue. And now we have a show, a TV show that's dedicated to it."
The ASU Cronkite School of Journalism Hall of Famer expanded Unity's news network in 2014, empowering Native youth to tell their own stories.
Born to two teenage parents on the San Carlos Apache reservation to leading a national organization that she was a part of in her youth, Titla said her story has come full circle.
Since its inception, Unity has touched the lives of more than 250,000 indigenous youth across the country.
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