Maui Metropolitan Planning Organization announces new Executive Director

The Maui Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board has unanimously approved the hiring of Pamela Eaton as the agency’s new Executive Director. She will begin on Nov.  7.

Maui MPO is the transportation planning agency for the island of Maui.

Eaton is currently the Long-Range Planning Division Chief of the Maui County Planning Department with involvement in multiple transportation and land use planning projects. They include the South Maui Community Plan update, the Kaʻahumanu Community Corridor Transit-Oriented Development action plan and the West Maui Community Corridor Transit Oriented Development action plan.

“She can hit the ground running,” said Yuki Lei Sugimura, the planning organization’s Policy Board Chair. “Pam already has her hands on Maui MPO programs, and in addition to her wealth of knowledge and experience in transportation projects, we look forward to her leadership in this new position.”

Eaton served as the first chair and continues to serve on Maui MPO’s Technical Advisory Committee, an intergovernmental group of experts that provides technical advice to the Maui MPO Policy Board and Executive Director. The advisory committee, with public input, provides recommendations on projects to receive federal funding for Maui.

In her new role, Eaton will help ensure compliance and facilitate Maui MPO’s on-going projects. This includes updating its Public Participation Plan, presentation of the final draft plan of the West Maui Greenway and the Transit-Oriented Plan “i Mua Central Kahului.”

She will carry on existing programs like Maui MPO’s long-range transportation plan Hele Mai Maui 2040, Vision Zero Maui and the Transportation Improvement Plan.

Eaton holds a bachelor’s degree in American government and economics from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in Marine Policy and Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island.