Our Minister and Staff
Rev. Brigitta joined Northlake in August of 2024. Brigitta has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology from Westminster College and received a MA in Higher Education and Student Affairs from New York University in 2013. She graduated with Masters in Divinity from the Iliff School of Theology in May 2023. She has served as a lay leader at the Boulder Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Lafayette, Colorado, completed a chaplaincy internship at AdventHealth Shawnee Mission hospital and was a faith-organizing intern for Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ). She was the ministerial intern for the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix. She then continued work there as a spiritual wellness chaplain. Learn more about Rev. Brigitta.
Email Rev. Brigitta Vieyra at [email protected].
Reverend Kimberly Quinn Johnson – Minister
Rev. Kimberly Quinn Johnson serves as minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork on Long Island, NY. She joins Northlake monthly as an online minister, and is a regular part of our staff. Rev. Johnson has a wide range of experiences which fostered her passion for, and expertise in, racial justice work. Earlier in her career, Reverend Johnson worked as a union organizer with the United Auto Workers. She also taught women’s and gender studies at New Jersey City University. Rev Johnson graduated from Meadville Lombard Theological School, where she was awarded the Faculty Award for Religious Leadership.
Email Rev. Kimberly Quinn Johnson at [email protected]
Margaret Rogers – Director of Lifespan Religious Education
Margaret Rogers is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist, originally from Arlington, Virginia. She has attended Northlake UU Church since September 2012, with her two children. Margaret has a master’s degree in teaching from the University of Washington. She taught middle school mathematics, and she has extensive experience working with children of all ages.
Margaret’s vision for the Northlake Children’s Religious Education program, is to create a space where children and youth feel comfortable, safe, and valued; and where they can develop the relationships that will support them as they grow in their personal and spiritual identities. Margaret also coordinates educational opportunities for adults.
Email Margaret at [email protected]
Stephanie Chia – Congregational Administrator
Stephanie Chia grew up in Montana, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in human communication theory. She has lived on both coasts, farmed, run her own business, coordinated engineers, managed offices, and now lives on Whidbey Island with her husband and two children.
Email Stephanie at [email protected]
Bug Morales – Onsite Coordinator
Bug Bee is our new Onsite Coordinator, working at Northlake 20 hours per week. Bug has lived in Seattle for more than seven years, and really enjoys the landscape. Outside church involvement, Bug loves to paint, and to play board games with friends. Many blessings!
Email Bug at [email protected]
Kathryn Smith Derksen – Music Director
Kathryn Smith Derksen is a musician and director who’s worked with a range of choirs, most recently a community choir in South Africa, where her family lived as peace workers.
She is a member of the nearby Evergreen Mennonite Church, which loves good music and embraces non-violence as a way of life. She specializes in early music and international music.
Email Kathryn at [email protected]
Maria Khavin – Pianist and Northlake Choir Accompanist
Maria Khavin, a pianist and choir accompanist, joined Northlake in 2010. It is her foremost and ultimate goal that the entire congregation feels enriched, uplifted and inspired by the music she performs or accompanies!
Maria grew up in St. Petersburg, Russia, in a musical family, and started piano lessons at the age of 6. She studied with several wonderful teachers and subsequently graduated from State Music College in 1992, just before moving to the United States.
In the Seattle area she is an active member of the music community, and has been in demand as a music teacher, recitalist and collaborative pianist. She has performed with NOISE for kids, Mahler Festival, Sacred Music Foundation, Ladies Musical Club, Public Opera, KING 98.1, and Lyric Opera NW, among many other professional organizations. Maria holds a master of music degree from the University of Washington, where she studied with Professor Craig Sheppard. She is a certified music teacher in Washington state.