Maui United Way names Jeeyun Lee as its new CEO

Maui United Way, a leading nonprofit serving Maui, Molokai and Lānaʻi, has appointed Jeeyun Lee as its new Chief Executive Officer. Lee most recently served as the organization’s Director of Community Impact and as Interim CEO since July 2025. She provides oversight of 60 programs and is responsible for a budget of more than $5 million.

In her new role, Lee said she plans to strengthen the organization’s partnerships to create meaningful change for Maui Nui residents including food insecurity,  youth mental health care and environmental recovery post-wildfires. Her work with the Maui Recovery Funder’s Collaborative has cleared a path for collaborative, trust-based philanthropy between dedicated nonprofit partners working in wildfire recovery.  

“I’ve seen firsthand the power of what is possible when our community comes together,” Lee said. “As CEO, I want to build on the progress we make when we focus on the challenges we share as a community. As residents of this County, we carry many of the same struggles—which means we can align our work between public, private, and community partnerships to share in creating holistic solutions. Maui United Way has always been grounded in collaboration, compassion, and meaningful results.”

During her two-year tenure as Director of Impact at Maui United Way, Lee has led major recovery and support efforts in the aftermath of the 2023 Maui wildfires. Under her leadership, the organization distributed more than $12 million in funding to local nonprofits and community members, serving over 87,000 residents across Maui, Molokai and Lānaʻi. She spearheaded critical initiatives, such as:

Gas Cards for Fire Survivors: Provided $100 of transportation support a month for six months to 500 fire-impacted families.

• Mālama i Lahainaluna Firebreak Initiative: Organized the creation of a protective firebreak around Lahainaluna High School Campus, including bringing together more than 60 community volunteers to weed-whack the area.  
• Māʻona Food Security Grant: Distributed $1.5 million to grass-roots community nonprofits that focus on sustainable food systems and ensuring access to food across Maui Nui.
• ʻOhana Mental Health: Funded family-centered mental health services for fire-impacted ʻohana through programs like Imua Family Services’ Young Child and Family Counseling and the Boys and Girls Club’s social and emotional wellness programs, which served nearly 800 keiki on Maui.  
• Sentry Mālama Nā Keiki Initiative: Invested $2 million to support culturally aligned youth mental health services, including care for the adults and organizations that serve our keiki.

She has also personally stewarded over $3 million into the Maui community through her pro-bono freelance work after the wildfires.

Before joining Maui United Way, Lee served as Executive Director of Hawaiʻi Nature Center in ʻĪao and Makiki Valley, Director of Development at Hale Makua, and People Development Director at Imua Family Services, serving in numerous senior management positions to provide Maui County residents with essential resources.

Lee, who holds a master’s degree in social work with a focus on international and community development from Monmouth University, steps into this role with a deep sense of kuleana grounded in her pilina with Maui. As a West Side resident who chose Maui so that her son could grow up on his ʻāina kūpuna, she sees her work as both a personal responsibility and the honor of her lifetime.