Valentina Vavages-Andrew

Places I call home: Chuckson (Tucson) the great Tohono O'odham Nation, the Sonoran Deserts are my ancestral lands!

What I love to do: I love to travel, I'm a radio dj/podcaster, I love the outdoors, I enjoy learning, experiencing, & carrying on my cultural traditions, I collect 90s toys, I'm always down for unplanned adventures.

My favorite place along the corridor and why: The Cesar Chavez Bridge on I-10 & S. 6h Ave, because it represents much of what I fight for every day. The freedom and dignity to be indigenous, to represent my roots, my culture, language, lifestyle, but most importantly my people.

Organizations I belong to: KXCI Community Radio, Tohono O'odham Young Voices Podcast

Bio: Prior to my current personal and professional background, I spent 8+ years working in environmental outreach, education, and research, both as a student and as a professional career. Since then my direction in life has changes, just as my career path has. As a radio dj and podcaster, I enjoy sharing community stories in the utmost and honest way. Allowing people to share their truths, unedited, uncensored, unapologetically, stems from my own experiences feeling suppressed from media outlets. Podcasting helped shift my activism to a digital platform, it has also gained much support and credibility for sharing indigenous stories. Aside from that, I love my city, I've learned so much from so many individuals within the various communities, and I've established so many great relationships.