Tayler Tanginiq Higgins (Yup’ik, Dena’ina, Suqpiaq) is the proud daughter of Teresa S. Thiele and the late Michael J. Higgins. Tayler is a 20 year old Indigenous youth advocate and community leader. Tayler was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska with family roots in Bethel, Ninilchik and Lake Clark, Alaska. She is an enrolled Seldovia Village Tribal member and Cook Inlet Region Incorporated shareholder. She is a first generation undergraduate student at the University of Alaska Anchorage studying Business Administration with a minor in Alaska Native Studies. 

Tayler is Chair of the Youth Advisory Council for Cook Inlet Tribal Council. She is a 2023-2024 Arctic Youth Ambassador under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a 2023 Native Movement youth cohort leader. Tayler was the 2022 Fur Rendezvous Heritage Ambassador representing her Native community in local events. She works towards bringing Native representation into spaces that Native communities are underrepresented and underserved. 

Tayler was raised in East Anchorage which is the most diverse community in Alaska and in the nation. She has first hand experience and knowledge of barriers that urban Native youth face in low-income communities and education systems. Tayler is passionate about Climate Justice, Mental Health and promoting community equity and inclusion of low-income communities and their youth in leadership.