More than 2,500 Native youth and advisers filled the Oklahoma City Convention Center this week for the 50th National UNITY Conference, a five-day, youth-led gathering that brought young leaders from tribes across the country together to learn, celebrate and build networks. The conference mixed cultural programming, leadership workshops and a College and Career Expo aimed at helping teens and young adults plan for education and careers, and organizers and tribal leaders used the milestone year to emphasize resilience, cultural pride and practical pathways for attendees.
United National Indian Tribal Youth, known as UNITY, organized the July 10–14 event and said it expected more than 2,500 attendees. According to UNITY, the program included general sessions, regional caucuses, a College and Career Expo and more than 40 workshops, and the organization named NBA player Lindy Waters III and chef Pyet DeSpain as keynote speakers. UNITY framed the gathering as a 50-year celebration of youth leadership and civic engagement since its founding in 1976, a kind of birthday party with a serious to-do list.
Speakers and programming
Lindy Waters III, a Kiowa and Cherokee Nation citizen who entered the NBA in 2022, used his keynote to urge young people to amplify Indigenous voices. He told reporters his goal was to continue using his platform to "keep awareness" of Native communities, a comment captured by The Oklahoman. His philanthropic work also provides concrete support, and the Lindy Waters III Foundation's 2025 annual report says the group awarded a record scholarship class last year and enrolled roughly 128 Native youth in a college-prep program. Those programs, including scholarships, campus visits and year-round coaching, tracked closely with the conference’s dual focus on inspiration and tangible opportunity.
A national mix of tribes and regions
Delegates represented UNITY’s regional councils, Great Plains, Midwest, Northeast, Northwest, Pacific, Rocky Mountain, Southeast, Southern Plains, Southwest and Western, giving the conference true national reach, according to UNITY. Beyond panels and caucuses, attendees took part in peer-led leadership labs and a 3-on-3 basketball tournament that organizers said reinforced teamwork and cultural pride, a reminder that not all leadership lessons happen in a meeting room.
Leaders stress resilience
Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. of the Cherokee Nation and Principal Chief Sena Yesslith of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma served as honorary co-chairs for the 50th conference. Hoskin told attendees, "you all descend from people that got knocked down, but they didn't stay down," as reported by The Oklahoman. Attendees and organizers said that message, of inheritance and persistence, threaded through workshops and ceremonial gatherings alike.
Corporate and nonprofit partners were on site to translate the leadership training into career pathways. Accounting firm REDW led financial-literacy sessions in the Education & Career Expo while other exhibitors promoted internships, scholarships and training programs. For many young attendees, organizers said, the conference is less about a single speech than about relationships, building networks that can carry young leaders home to their communities across the country.
