Timeline
Age 6Xiuhtezcatl delivers his first speech at a local climate change rally in his hometown of Boulder, Colorado, opening with a prayer in his native language of Nahuatl.
Age 9
Xiuhtezcatl successfully campaigns with Earth Guardians to ban chemical pesticides in Boulder's public parks and schools.
Age 10 Xiuhtezcatl begins to spend afterschool and weekends speaking out about the harmful effects of fossil fuel infrastructure, like coal-fired plants in Boulder. He organizes a climate march in Denver, helping to recruit over 20,000 people.
Age 11
Xiuhtezcatl helps launch a campaign to advocate against the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on Boulder county-owned land and starts to raise awareness of the dangers of fracking in Colorado.
Age 12
Xiuhtezcatl is named Youth Director of Earth Guardians and travels to Brazil to serve as the youngest speaker at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Río.
He also joins NASA scientist James Hansen and journalist Bill McKibben in Washington, DC, to push President Obama to adopt a Climate Recovery Plan.
Age 13Xiuhtezcatl becomes the target of a right-wing smear campaign after giving presentations at local middle schools about the impacts of fracking. That same year, he stages his first nonviolent direct action, disrupting a Boulder County Commissioner meeting to protest the continued use of harmful pesticides in the city's public parks and schools.
Age 14Xiuhtezcatl becomes the lead plaintiff in Martinez v. Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, seeking the Colorado government deny oil and gas drilling permits to fossil fuel projects that harm human health and the environment.
Age 15Xiuhtezcatl becomes the youngest person to address the United Nations General Assembly on the topic of climate change and joins as a plaintiff in another lawsuit, Juliana v. United States, suing the US federal government for neglecting to act on climate change.
Age 16Xiuhtezcat's extensive campaigning against fossil fuel infrastructure in Boulder helps lead to the official closure of the county's last coal-fired plant.
Age 17Xiuhtezcatl publishes his first book with Penguin Random House, titled We Rise: The Earth Guardians Guide to Building a Movement that Restores the Planet (Rodale Books.)
Age 18Xiuhtezcatl releases his first studio album, Break Free, and collaborates with artist Shepard Fairey on the "We the Future" campaign to deliver free art to 20,000 US classrooms.
Age 19Xiuhtezcatl serves on the organizing committee of the US youth climate strikes and joins Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign as a climate surrogate.
Age 20Xiuhtezcatl publishes his second book, Imaginary Borders (Penguin Books), exploring the intersection between immigration and the climate crisis, and is featured in Netflix's documentary Youth v Gov.
Age 21Xiuhtezcat| launches a creative campaign with the largest Indigenous-led nonprofit, NDN, to advocate and raise money for the return of land to Native communities via his single
"Take It All Back." He spearheads a campaign with Levi's the same year to visibilize Indigenous representation in Latinx communities.
Age 22Xiuhtezcatl releases his debut narratorial podcast "The Last Resort," exploring the increasing political polarization in the United States and its connection to the California secessionist movement.
Age 23Xiuhtezcatl co-facilitates the largest land back initiative in Los Angeles, helping return 12 acres of land to the Gabrielino Shoshone Nation in partnership with LA's only-Indigenous school, Anahuacalmecac.
Age 24Xiuhtezcatl advocates for Indigenous language reclamation in his first trilingual song "Careful." Sung in English, Spanish and Nahuatl, the song goes viral on social media and wins "Best Music Video" at the Bend Film Festival, helping Xiuhtezcatl emerge as one of four artists featured in Spotify's 2024 Latin Heritage Month campaign.
© Xiuhtezcatl Martinez 2025