Tyler Peters

My professional and academic work has been shaped by my own lived experiences within foster care. Having felt that my voice was going unheard, I made it my mission to improve child welfare policy and improve outcomes for marginalized youth. After graduating as the valedictorian of College of the Desert and completing my degree in Political Science at UCLA, I focused my research and advocacy on the intersections of LGBTQ+ identity, youth well-being, and systems-level reform. Through published writing, legislative analysis, and presentations to policymakers, I have worked to highlight the needs of vulnerable youth and develop evidence-based solutions. My background in statistics, data visualization, and tools such as SPSS, Excel, Airtable, and Power BI further enables me to translate complex child-welfare trends into accessible insights for practitioners, policymakers, and the public.

I have supported young people directly in transitional housing programs, analyzed federal legislation as a policy intern with the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, and conducted research on educational and child welfare outcomes. These experiences guide my long-term goal of advancing trauma-informed, equitable reforms in both policy and law. I remain driven by the belief that meaningful change becomes possible when lived experience, research, and policy work together.