Leilani Gayles

Leilani Gayles joined Impossible Foods in August 2021 as Chief People Officer. She oversees Impossible’s people operations — including talent acquisition, compensation and rewards, talent and leadership development, diversity, equity and inclusion, and strategic people initiatives — all to support the company’s commitment to creating the best work experience for all employees.

Gayles joined the company after a decade at the San Francisco Giants, where she served as Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer.  At the Giants, Leilani developed performance-based compensation systems, management and leadership development programs and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, all of which contributed to building unparalleled business operations, on and off the field.   

Prior to her role with the Giants, Gayles worked in the human resources field in various environments, ranging from hyper-growth [email protected] to large technology companies including Hewlett Packard and Silicon Graphics. She has focused her career on helping organizations achieve scale while creating a highly engaging and productive workplace where employees can do the best work of their careers.

Gayles holds a bachelor’s degree and a master's degree in organizational behavior from the University of San Francisco. She is a senior fellow serving the Silicon Valley chapter of the American Leadership Forum, a network of regional leaders committed to serving the common good. A San Francisco native, Leilani lives on the Peninsula with her family of five.