Youpa is a visual artist and concerned citizen who dedicates her art and advocacy work to the service of the care of the Earth. She focuses on raising awareness and finding solutions for plastic pollution by giving talks, writing, creating art, and working on policy at the local and state level to help counter the health, environment and social justice harms of plastics. In 2018, Youpa started and currently co-manages the Facebook group Working Toward Plastic Free in Montana. She completed Judith Enck’s Beyond Plastic Pollution course in March 2021 and is involved in the class alumni education and action group. Her volunteer work includes Co-Chairing the Families for a Livable Climate Plastics Working Group (a Beyond Plastics affiliate) and doing educational talks through Beyond Plastics Speaker’s Bureau.
She is an organizer with MT Plastic Free to reduce unnecessary single-use plastics. Her belief in the rights of nature and the necessity of shifting to a regenerative circular economy are the foundation of her work. Youpa has an MA in Psychology/Drama Therapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies. She was born in Montana and is grateful to live in Northwest Montana on the Flathead Reservation, home to the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes. Youpa believes: “We have responsibilities in our kinship with the web of life that makes our lives and all lives possible. Our health depends on a healthy, regenerative, just, diverse, and vibrant earth.”