ABOUT
Leah doesn’t fit into a box and pursues whatever and wherever her soul leads.
She is a creative being on a mission to fuse her knowledge and skills to advocate for justice, connect with culture, and play her part in birthing a new earth (and lean into joy along the way!).
Work* bio…
Leah is an experienced marketing, communications and events specialist in higher education. She currently works as an events producer at the UTS Centre for Social Justice & Inclusion and, in this capacity, produces the centre’s annual thought leadership program. She is also the Chair of the UTS Multicultural Women’s Network, leading the network’s vision to build a strong community of multicultural women. Leah loves working in this field to curate (and participate) in interesting discussions on how we can dismantle harmful systems and drive positive social change.
UTS International Women’s Day 2023
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Leah curates the thought leadership program at the Centre for Social Justice & Inclusion, which amplifies social impact research and advocates for change. She translates social justice matters, academic research, and community engagement projects to make issues clear and relatable to a wide range of audiences. Her responsibilities include end-to-end event ideation, planning, delivery, and evaluation.
Career highlights:
Facing Australia’s colonial history on the path to reconciliation (Reconciliation Week 2025)
Leading the charge on and off the field with Lydia Williams (IWD 2025)
Cultivating an anti-racist campus culture with Giridharan Sivaraman
Tokenist, ally or accomplice with Dr Summer May Finlay (Reconciliation Week 2024)
Wifedom: Exposing the workings of patriarchy with Anna Funder (IWD 2024)
Navigating gender, race, faith and belonging with Sarah Malik (IWD 2023)
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Leah is also an experienced marketing and communications specialist and has worked in various roles in higher education and as a freelance consultant. She develops business, marketing and content strategies; develops and builds websites; copywrites for multiple channels, including website, social media, email, and paid advertising; and evaluates projects against benchmarks and KPIs.
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Leah’s passion for social justice is rooted in the drive for collective liberation. Her speaking engagements mainly focus on the intersections of race, gender, and issues affecting multicultural women. In her various capacities, she hopes to inspire fellow women of colour (by example) to challenge dominant colonial/capitalist/patriarchal narratives, feel empowered to stand in their power, speak their truth and drive meaningful change for the greater good.
Artist* bio…
Leah is a dancer, rhythm maker, and artist. She is a dancer, performer, teacher, and manager of Nāpua Australia, a Sydney-based school specialising in Tahitian and Hawaiian dance, and a drummer with ILE ILU, a women’s rhythm empowerment collective rooted in Afro-Brazilian drum and dance. Her experiences as an artist have deepened her understanding of the power of cultural art forms, such as drumming and dancing, as tools for healing, empowerment, and activating ancestral wisdom. These practices have inspired her to explore her pre-colonial Filipino roots and embark on her decolonisation journey and journey to self.
Hura Tapairu Manihini technical rehearsal
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Leah began her ‘ori Tahiti and Hawaiian hula journeys in 2017 and 2019, respectively, with Nāpua Australia under the direction and mentorship of Jocelyn Magos. She honed her traditional Tahitian arts knowledge in dance and culture at the International Program at the Conservatoire Artistique en Polynésie française in Tahiti in 2022. Leah was a founding member of the women’s rhythm empowerment collective, ILE ILU, directed by Marina Da Silva. Recently, she trained in Afro-Brazilian drumming with the pioneering women’s Afro-Brazilian percussion group Banda Didá and with Maestro Macambira in Salvador, Brazil, in 2024. Her dance training also includes the HUMXN Program, the DUTI Training Program, and the DUTI Alumni Program, which she joined in 2021. But Leah has been dancing since she could walk and is proud to continue her journey of learning, sharing, and moving into adulthood.
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Leah has competed in several international Tahitian dance competitions including Hura Tapairu Manihini (2024) and Ori Tahiti Nui (2024) in Tahiti, placed 3rd in her group’s category in Heiva San Diego (2019) in the USA and various online competitions.
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Her artistic credits include performing at TEDx Sydney, VIVID Sydney (Bare Necessities Festival), SXSW Sydney (USA House), Sydney Fringe Festival, Hawaii Tourism events, Lost Paradise Festival, Nike After Dark, Pacifica Festival, FIFA Women’s World Cup council events… and more!
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To date, her favourite passion project is co-founding and co-hosting Dance Unravelled, a podcast that focuses on meaningful conversations about personal development, socio-cultural, and political topics through the lens of dance, from the perspective of dancers.
*Note from Leah: The separation of ‘work’ and ‘artistry’ is simply for ease of understanding the different worlds I navigate. However, integrating these spaces is necessary to dismantle archaic systems, tap into our ancestral knowledge, and work together to create new paradigms.