Earth Guardians Youth Director Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, (his first name pronounced ‘Shoe-Tez-Caht’) is an indigenous climate activist, hip-hop artist, and powerful voice on the front lines of a global youth-led environmental movement.

At the early age of six, Xiuhtezcatl began speaking around the world, from the United Nations Summit in Rio de Janeiro, to addressing the General Assembly at the United Nations in New York. He has worked locally to get pesticides out of parks, coal ash contained, moratoriums on fracking in his state and is currently a plaintiff in a youth-led lawsuit against the federal government for their failure to protect the atmosphere for future generations. Xiuhtezcatl has traveled across the nation and to many parts of the world educating his generation about the state of the planet they are inheriting and inspiring youth into action to protect the planet.

Earth Guardians has grown to hundreds of crews in over 50 countries. His work has been featured on PBS, Showtime, National Geographic, Rolling Stones, Upworthy, The Guardian, Vogue, Bill Maher, The Daily Show, Skavlan, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, CNN, MSNBC, HBO, VICE, and more. In 2013, Xiuhtezcatl received the 2013 United States Community Service Award from President Obama, and was the youngest of 24 national change-makers chosen to serve on the President's youth council. He is the 2015 recipient of the Peace First Prize, recipient of the 2015 Nickelodeon Halo Award, 2016 Captain Planet Award, the 2016 Children's Climate Prize in Sweden, 2017 Univision Premio’s Ajente de Cambio Award, 2018 My Climate Hero, 2018 Shorty Award Finalist, Huffington Post Top 10 Movers and Shakers, Grist Top 50 Fixers. Bill Mckibben of 350.org calls Xiuhtezcatl "an impressive spokesman for a viewpoint the world needs to hear.”

Climate Change, Climate Issues, Environment, Environmental Policy, Energy & Environment, Environmentalist Environmental activist, TED, Hip Hop, Native American Culture & Heritage, Native American Issues, Diversity, Diversity Topics,