January Everyday Champion: Nate Faris!

Congratulations to MCCOY's January Everyday Champion: Nate Faris! What is your profession or vocation?
I am a Certified Arborist and I direct the Youth Tree Team program at Keep Indianapolis Beautiful. I hire high school youth to work in crews to water and care for newly planted NeighborWoods trees in Marion County, Indiana.

How are you an Everyday Champion for Youth?

I think I am a champion for youth by both setting clear boundaries with youth and, at the same time, befriending them. I aim to make good use of the creative tension between being a friend of youth and being an employer of youth. Such a situation allows for youth to feel both valued for who they are as well as invested in and responsible for their crew's work, and the work of the Youth Tree Team program in general.

	What impact do you hope to make on youth?
	I hope to give high schoolers a great first job that gives them life skills (punctuality, responsibility, teamwork, leadership), job skills (proper tree and plant care), connections to local green-collar job (landscape architecture, tree care), and experience with the environment (rafting on the White River, learning how to identify tree species).

	What?s one thing that you wish an adult had told you when you were a young person?
	I value the work you are doing, and you are on the right track.

	What do you want to do next to support youth?
	I want to make connections with local green-collar professionals--landscape architects, tree care specialists, etc.--in order to connect youth with meaningful jobs when they have graduated from our program.

Do you work directly with youth?

Yes

What percentage of your time is spent working directly with youth or families?

40-59%