Leilani and her family joined Westside in 2012. One of her personal favorite Westside moments was standing in the sanctuary with her spouse with other gay married couples as we celebrated marriage equality. Reverend Peg had married Leilani and Soph in the stands at a roller derby match during the half time show and they had their reception in the Social Hall with wedding photography in Westside’s beautiful garden.

Leilani has served at Westside over the years in a variety of roles including organizer of coffee hour snacks, co-teacher of Chalice Chapels with intern ministers and facilitator of an Artist’s Way cohort.

In recent years, she has been organizing the storyteller guild, facilitating Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) UU small group ministries that serve BIPOC UUs across the country, leading our Parent Group, and teaching Religious Exploration on Sundays.

Starting in late August 2025, Leilani moved from volunteer to staff becoming our new Director of Religious Exploration. Leilani had previously volunteered as WSUU’s RE Equity, Inclusion and Creativity Advocate and worked closely with our previous two DREs in weekly sessions crafting our RE program serving children and families, making an inclusive, flexible, value-based program.

Leilani brings her enthusiasm, creativity, experience and skills to creating joy, belonging, learning, and a bit of magic in our bodies, in our hearts, and in this lifework of crafting a more loving world.

Leilani practices mindful meditation, intersectional tarot, daily accessible yoga, and zentangle art though her big passion is arts and crafts of all kinds. She can be found with busy hands mending, knitting or doing embroidery. Learn more about our RE program in her DRE Blog, Creatively UU.