Tyler is from Portland, Oregon. He completed his undergraduate work at Brigham Young University, majoring in Public Health with a minor in International Development. Prior to his undergraduate career, Tyler spent two years in southern Peru as a missionary. Afterwards he began a career with nonprofit organizations, working at a Free Clinic in the northwest, connecting impoverished communities with free basic health services. While studying Public Health, Tyler also worked full-time as a country director for HELP International, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization, spending four months at a time directing groups of young professionals in public health, business, and community education projects on the ground in El Salvador and Tanzania. In 2011 Tyler founded the Malezi AIDS Care & Awareness Organization (MACAO International), connecting marginalized groups of Tanzanians with resources already available in their own communities. Tyler and his wife America live in Central Illinois and enjoy time with family and with Winston, their rescue pit bull.