{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Stop & Talk","title":"Mario Ordóñez-Calderón: The Ocean as a Place of Belonging","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3520,"description":"Mario Ordóñez-Calderón is a Maya Indigenous leader, U.S. Navy veteran, surfer, and Founding Executive Director of Un Mar de Colores, an Indigenous-led nonprofit advancing ocean access, youth wellbeing, and coastal resilience. His work sits at the intersection of coastlines and culture, using environmental education, eco-therapy, and youth leadership to position the ocean as both a learning environment and a place of collective care. Mario also serves on the Environmental Justice Advisory Board of the California Ocean Protection Council and has helped bring Un Mar de Colores’ work into regional and international conversations about ocean health, climate resilience, and equitable coastal access. \n\nThis Episode \nSan Diego County is shaped by the ocean. But living near the coast doesn’t necessarily mean feeling connected to it. \n\nMario Ordóñez-Calderón didn’t learn to surf until adulthood. Once he did, he recognized water as a throughline connecting his family’s roots in Yucatán, his own sense of identity, and a growing belief that young people deserve the opportunity to build their own relationship with the places around them. \n\nThat belief is at the heart of Un Mar de Colores, where surfing becomes an invitation into something deeper: connection with water, place, and community. \n\nIn this conversation, Mario and Grant explore what access really means when getting to the beach is only the beginning. Mario shares how his grandfather’s teachings shaped his understanding of reciprocity with nature; how young people and their families experience healing and confidence at the water’s edge; and why helping someone feel that “this is your shoreline too” can change their relationship with themselves and their community. \nThey also get into the systems behind that work. Mario recounts helping advance legislation that reduced barriers for outdoor equity programs, then discovering that passing a law was only the first step. His experience working with lifeguards and public...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/E50UwUZbhBWosolTVbD7jMIdqqQxUsyZGfLc3NjRiXE/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzQ1MTAwLzE3MDg5/ODY0MTQtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}