Brave Heart Fellowship
Champions for Change
CA Native Youth Collective
Remembering Our Sisters
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:
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…
Youth Advisory Board (YAB) Chair, 2024 Champion for Change, 2024 Democracy is Indigenous Organizer
Ian Teller is Diné (Navajo) and from Tsaile, Arizona, a beautiful community on the Navajo Nation. He is a 2024…
2020-2021 Champion for Change, YAB Member at Large
Isabella Madrigal, an avid writer and storyteller, is a senior at the Orange County School of the Arts and enrolled…
2020-2021 Champion for Change, YAB Member at Large
Jazmine Wildcat has spent most of her formative years advocating for equality and equity for others, ensuring humankind and the…
2024 Champion for Change, YAB Member at Large
Jeidah DeZurney (she/her), is a 24 year old member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, her bands are Chetco,…
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…
2023 Champion for Change, YAB Member at Large
Joshua Jackson is a Red Lake Band Ojibwe member from south Minneapolis’ Little Earth Community. His upbringing has shaped his…
2023 Champion for Change, YAB Member at Large
Jovi Williams, 18 years old, lives in the beautiful community of Dishchii’bikoh, located on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in…
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…
2025 Champion for Change, 2022 Remembering Our Sisters Fellow
Lily Painter (she/her), known also by her Kiowa name – Brings Water – is a Kiowa and Winnebago writer, poet,…
2025 Champion for Change
Lourdes Pereira (she/her) is Hia-Ced O’odham and Yoeme and a citizen of the Tohono O’odham Nation. She received her bachelors…
2025 Champion for Change
Maiyuraq (Maiyu) Lauryn Nanouk Jones (she/her) is Inupiat/Inuit from Unalakleet, Alaska. Maiyu is currently an undergraduate student at Western Washington…
Youth Advisory Board (YAB) Vice Chair, 2024 Champion for Change
Sage Phillips (she/her) is a proud Penobscot Nation citizen, 2024 Champion for Change and advocate for prospective Native youth pursuing…
2023 Champion for Change, YAB Member at Large
Samuel Hiratsuka (Aleut/Yu’pik/Winnemem Wintu/Navajo) is the proud son of Tommy and Vanessa Hiratsuka. Born and raised in Anchorage, Samuel maintains…
2024 Champion for Change, YAB Member at Large
Tayler Tanginiq Higgins (Yup’ik, Dena’ina, Suqpiaq) is the proud daughter of Teresa S. Thiele and the late Michael J. Higgins.…