The Catalyze podcast: Ashton Martin ’20 of the USET Sovereignty Protection Fund on championing rights for Tribal Nations

Catalyze

Today’s guest is Ashton Martin ’20, a health policy analyst for United South and Eastern Tribes Sovereignty Protection Fund in Washington, D.C. The nonprofit is an intertribal organization that advocates on behalf of thirty-three federally recognized Tribal Nations, from the Northeastern Woodlands to the Everglades and across the Gulf of Mexico.
On this episode, Ashton shares about their social justice work as student body president at Carolina (and reflections from the 2023 reunion of former student body presidents at the Morehead-Cain Foundation), their path to working in public policy for Tribal Nations as a recent graduate, and the complexities of working in tribal law and policy. Ashton also gives guidance in using respectful language when referring to Tribal Nations.
Prior to joining the fund, Ashton worked as the Rodney B. Lewis Fellow in American Indian Law and Policy at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. During their time at Carolina, Ashton worked as a strategy and fundraising intern at Feedback Labs in Washington, D.C., a company co-founded by Dennis Whittle ’83. They previously worked as a summer investigations intern at the Cook County Public Defender in Chicago law officeand as chief of staff for Daymaker, a charitable giving platform led by CEO Brent Macon ’12.
Ashton spoke with Morehead-Cain at a café in Dupont Circle before the 2023 D.C. Regional Event for alumni and scholars.

Music credits

The episode’s intro song is by scholar Scott Hallyburton ’22, guitarist of the band South of the Soul.

How to listen

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Catalyze is hosted and produced by Sarah O’Carroll for the Morehead-Cain Foundation, home of the first merit scholarship program in the United States and located at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. You can let us know what you thought of the episode by finding us on Twitter or Instagram at @moreheadcain or you can email us at [e-mail].