Eliana Maxim is a teaching elder in the Seattle Presbytery who is currently serving as the presbytery’s co-executive. Eliana was born in Barranquilla, Colombia and immigrated to the US as a young child with her parents, residing in Los Angeles, CA. Eliana attended Loyola Marymount University where she earned an undergraduate degree in communication arts and soon went to work as a news producer at CNN. She remained in that field for 12 years until she and her family moved to Seattle. At that time, she finally paid attention the long ignored call on her heart and began pursuing what that might mean by serving on staff at Mercer Island Presbyterian Church as director of children and family ministries from 1996-2010. During that time, she began course work at Union Seminary in Richmond, VA and then transferred to Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry where she completed a Masters in Divinity. Eliana was ordained as a minister of word and sacrament in 2011.

Although she grew up Roman Catholic, Eliana has found her home in the PCUSA and served the church in a variety of ways including the 220th General Assembly’s Committee on the Belhar Confession, the 221nd General Assembly’s Committee on the Presbyterian Mission Agency Review, the Committee on the Office of General Assembly, and more recently the 222nd General Assembly’s Way Forward Commission. Eliana is a faculty member of the Transitional Ministry Workshop at Menucha, Oregon and vice-moderator of the National Hispanic/Latino Caucus of the PCUSA. She also serves as a member of the Interfaith Leadership Council of the Washington State Faith Action Network.

In her downtime, Eliana enjoys a good book, cooking, exploring new places and meeting new people.

Eliana and her husband of 35 years, Alex, have two adult daughters Sacha and Gabi, both Seattle residents, plus two grandchildren.