A proud Sri Lankan-American from the Bay Area, Miss California Teen USA 2023 Taliya Peiris is a recent high school graduate. She will be attending Santa Clara University in the fall, where she will be majoring in Management Information Systems in the college of Business. She aspires to combine her passions for business and pop culture to become a business analyst for an entertainment company. She has already started to make her mark in the industry as the owner of TAP Media, her very own social media marketing company, helping small businesses in her community with their digital marketing and social media campaigns.

Growing up as a dancer and piano player, and now currently learning how to DJ, Taliya has always enjoyed expressing herself through the performing arts and encourages others to pursue and support creative careers. She started her social media movement III Creatives (Inspiring Imagination and Inclusivity) to bring to light the importance of representation in the entertainment industry and accessibility to visual and performing arts resources for all to learn and enjoy. She aims to expand this platform by continuing her Instagram Live series “Creative Convos with Taliya Peiris”, where she interviews up-and-coming artists in the industry, as well as by creating a scholarship to allow deserving student artists the opportunity to pursue higher education in their respective fields.In her free time, Taliya enjoys all things music related, from going to concerts to collecting her favorite albums on vinyls. She loves rooting for her favorite Bay Area sports teams with her dad, trying new restaurants with her friends, and traveling the world with her family, having been to 16 states and 11 countries so far!