Reverend Marilee Baccich, LAC, MDIV, (1947-2021) founded and was the Executive Director of the Udana institute. She taught meditation, Sufi studies, world religions, spiritual healing, and other related classes. Rev. Baccich received her Master’s of Divinity from Starr King School for the Ministry. She was ordained as an interfaith minister through the Sufi Order International. She was a minister, retreat leader, spiritual activist, and an active participant in the Sufi Healing Order. Prior to becoming a minister, Marilee completed her training in acupuncture at the San Francisco School of Traditional Chinee Medicine and practiced as a licensed acupuncturist, herbalist, and homeopath for two decades.

Rev. Baccich taught meditation for over 30 years. She taught classes in formal and informal settings on meditation and spiritual development, led both individual and group retreats, and sponsored interfaith worship services locally and in Louisiana. She had a particular emphasis on engaged spirituality, bringing spiritual practice together with social action. As a community minister she was hired to lead and direct the Katrina Hurricane Relief and Social Justice Project through the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The program was so successful it was adopted at the national level by the Unitarian Universalist Association and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.