Meilani Meleisea joins the BUILD CA Team with extensive experience surrounding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work within higher education at her alma mater, the University of California, Berkeley. As founder and Executive Director of the university’s only institutionalized Pacific Islander-centered advocacy organizations, she partnered with local organizations in California and international partners in Aotearoa to build pathways for the recruitment of Indigenous Pasifika students and to support retention programs for continuing students. Moreover, Meilani arrives at BUILD with years of experience in Volunteer and Community Engagement at GLIDE sf, where she managed a workforce of approximately 25,000 annual volunteers to further the organization’s mission of creating a radically inclusive, just, and loving community, working to break the cycle of poverty and marginalization.

She is elated to join BUILD CA to continue supporting and empowering the next generation of leaders along their journeys through secondary school and beyond. Meilani is also an active proponent of cultural advocacy organizations, both domestic and international, concerning equitable representation and access for Pacific Islanders worldwide. In her spare time, she enjoys vocal performance, cooking, and strolls through Oakland’s Chinatown with her dog, Beb.