Champions for Change
Remembering Our Sisters
Brave Heart
California Native Youth Collective
Building Communities of Hope
Creative Native
Democracy is IndigenousNative youth are in the driver’s seat of the Center for Native American Youth (CNAY), guiding all the work we do. One of the most important ways we seek input and counsel from our youth stakeholders is through our Youth Advisory Board (YAB).
The Youth Advisory Board is made up of the current class of Champions for Change, along with alumni from previous classes and other outstanding Native youth leaders.
Members of the YAB:
- Participate in quarterly meetings to stay engaged with CNAY’s staff and receive programmatic updates;
- Attend supplemental subcommittee meetings to build leadership skills and guide CNAY’s work;
- Serve as community experts, invited to provide their perspectives at conferences, webinars, meetings and other speaking engagements;
- Lead by example, serving as positive role models for their peers; and
- Act as community liaisons to share information about resources and youth opportunities with their communities.
Meet the YAB:
Youth Advisory Board (YAB) Chair, 2025 Champion for Change
Katie Lynch (she/her) is a proud Citizen of the Potawatomi Nation and scholar-activist, passionate about improving the health of Indigenous…
Youth Advisory Board (YAB) Vice Chair, 2025 Champion for Change
Joshua Ching (he/him) is a Kanaka Maoli activist passionate about access to justice issues in Native communities. Currently a junior…
Youth Advisory Board (YAB) Secretary, 2024 Champion for Change
Tayler Tanginiq Higgins (Yup’ik, Dena’ina, Suqpiaq) is the proud daughter of Teresa S. Thiele and the late Michael J. Higgins.…
2026 Champion for Change
Sebastian April (he/him), Mi’kmaq, is currently a Junior at the University of Connecticut (UConn) studying Plant Science with a minor…
Child Welfare Consultant, 2024 Building Communities of Hope Fellow, YAB Member at Large
O’mastewin (O’ma) Foster (she/they) – “First Day of Light Woman” – is of the Blackfeet Nation, Assiniboine and Dakota Peoples…
2023 Champion for Change, YAB Member at Large
Samuel Hiratsuka (Unangax̂ , Yup’ik, Winnemem Wintu & Navajo) serves as a member of the Center for Native American Youth’s…
2025 Remembering Our Sisters Fellow, YAB Member at Large
Carrie Johnson (she/her) is a graduate student at New York University pursuing her MA in News & Documentary on a…
2025 Champion for Change, YAB Member at Large
Maiyuraq (Maiyu) Lauryn Nanouk Jones (she/her) is Inupiat/Inuit from Unalakleet, Alaska. Maiyu is currently an undergraduate student at Western Washington…
2025 Brave Heart Fellow, YAB Member at Large
Lakota is the Garden Design Manager at the Copper River Native Association. She is passionate about “permaculture” as a practice.…
2024 California Native Youth Collective Fellow, YAB Member at Large
Ethan Molina (they/them) is a queer, Indigenous – Chicano activist from San Fernando Valley. Ethan started organizing in middle school…
2023 Champion for Change, YAB Member at Large
Gabriella Nakai (Choctaw/Navajo) is a junior honor student at Arcadia High School in Phoenix, Arizona. Gabbe is committed to food…
2025 Champion for Change, 2022 Remembering Our Sisters Fellow, YAB Member at Large
Lily Painter (she/her), known also by her Kiowa name – Brings Water – is a Kiowa and Winnebago writer, poet,…
2025 Champion for Change, YAB Member at Large
Lourdes Pereira (she/her) is Hia-Ced O’odham and Yoeme and a citizen of the Tohono O’odham Nation. She received her bachelor’s…
2026 Champion for Change, 2024 Remembering Our Sisters Fellow
McKaylin Peters (she/her) is a citizen of the Menominee Nation from Keshena, Wisconsin. Raised on the Menominee Reservation, she currently…
2024 Champion for Change, YAB Member at Large
Sage Phillips (she/her) is a proud Penobscot Nation citizen, 2024 Champion for Change and advocate for prospective Native youth pursuing…