About Kat Arena
Earthen Guide for Grounded Resilience, Reconnecting, and Renewal
My Earthen Journey
I am a Mestiza—descendant of both Indigenous and Western lineages—born in Mexico and transplanted to the United States. I have walked between many worlds and cultures: Mexican and American, Indigenous and Western, and grassroots and academic. This experience has shaped my life and work and taught me that meaningful connections, between people, cultures, and the Earth, are needed for restoration, reciprocity, and balance.
My healing journey began fifteen years ago when I learned about how our health, communities, and environments were being impacted by our lifestyles. This led me to start my journey learning how I could heal myself, our communities, and our environments.
In my journey, I have learned that social-ecological reconnecting is essential to healing our world and both ways around. Systems focused on production have disconnected us across time and space. To move toward a harmonious and balanced future, we must reconnect—with our roots, with one another, and with the living systems that sustain life.
My practice have come to be grounded in the teachings of multiple cultures, shaped by my Mestiza identity. I also recognize and honor how Indigenous people have always nurtured connections to the land and grounded the world in reciprocity and collective care, and their knowledge has guided much of my personal and community restoration work.
These values and perspectives inspire how I show up in the work: not as a healer, but as a guide—supporting others in reconnecting, in building resilience, and in walking toward balance, restoration, and wholeness.
My Background
My background as a community worker and educator, interdisciplinary researcher, and environmental advocate informs my holistic approach.
From organizing communities to protect our ecosystems to co-creating curriculum on social-ecological interconnections, I have always centered healing—not just as an outcome, but as a process of transformation. I have led earth-centered programs for youth and adults to nurture relationships with self, nature, and communities to advance sustainability and climate resilience. Over five years, I founded and led a grassroots nonprofit dedicated to reconnecting diverse communities with land, spirit, and ancestral knowledge.
My resilience work is grounded in years of experience co-developing pathways for healing and empowerment—whether through improving environmental impacts of governments and colleges, or supporting Indigenous and Western conservation efforts, creating engagement plans that respect lived experience and cultural wisdom. My collaborations from the local to the international levels have focused on building social-ecological resilience rooted in relational accountability and cultural connections.
With academic training in ecology, social-ecological resilience, and environmental management, I bring both scientific insight and cultural grounding into my offerings. I have also led efforts across sectors to develop equity-driven solutions that blend healing, sustainability, and resilience.
Currently, as a guide and practitioner, I offer guidance, exercises, and integrative experiences for those seeking to reconnect with their self, communities, and environments. I continue to weave healing and resilience into every level of my work, believing that a harmonious future begins with cultivating spaces where we can reconnect to land, culture, and each other.