Welcome to the premiere of Season 5. We’re opening this season with a powerful and timely conversation about what it truly means to align your life—and your sense of purpose—with your values, especially in a world facing deep social and environmental challenges.

In this episode, Finding Joy in Your Values, we are honored to welcome Quetza Ramirez, a teacher, youth leadership coach, and an Indigenous Two-Spirit person whose work lives at the intersection of education, Earth stewardship, and liberation. Quetza is a passionate educator and researcher in Rights of Nature and Critical Ethnic Studies, with deep expertise in decolonization practices, Indigenous liberation, and climate crisis response.

Rooted in Earth-based values, Quetza believes that Indigenous communities cannot be fully liberated until Mother Earth is also liberated—because Indigenous people are not separate from the land, but a part of it. Their ongoing learning and spiritual grounding are nurtured through Mexica danza, Mexica temazcal ceremonies, and plant medicine practices, which continue to shape how they show up in sacred spaces and in service to community.

In this conversation, we explore how Earth Law and the Rights of Nature offer bold and necessary climate justice solutions, and how finding joy aligned with our values is both a personal and collective act of resistance and healing. Drawing from their post-graduate work supporting student groups and community-centered organizations, Quetza also shares how their research in Critical Global Ethnic Studies, Earth Law, and Value Creation Pedagogy is coming together into an exciting and transformative project.

This episode invites us to rethink success, fulfillment, and belonging—and asks us to reflect: What becomes possible when we center joy as we live our values?