Jack Dowling and Erin Mukai join MEO Board of Directors

Jack Dowling and Erin Mukai, both with experience and expertise in housing development and resumes of community service, have joined the Maui Economic Opportunity Board of Directors.

Dowling will be representing Mayor Richard Bissen and Mukai, the Maui County Council, on the 21-member tripartite Board of Directors for the 61-year-old Community Action nonprofit that supports people in need in the county. The Board consists of equal numbers of members from the government, business and client sectors.

The two new members were approved by the Board at the April 23 meeting. They replace Cynthia Lallo, Bissen’s Chief of Staff, and David Raatz, Director of Council Services. Both members proactively stepped down amid ongoing discussions of the Maui County Board of Ethics regarding Maui County employees serving on Boards of organizations receiving county funds. 

“We welcome Jack and Erin to our Board of Directors. Their knowledge, experience and commitment to the community will be valuable as MEO works to support community members in need, especially in the critical area of housing,” said MEO Executive Director Maggie Batangan.

“MEO thanks Cynthia and David for their time, support and help, especially during the wildfires and current recovery,” added MEO CEO Debbie Cabebe. “They made significant contributions to the important work of Helping People, Changing Lives. We will miss them.”

Dowling is the Director of the Dowling Co., Inc., a longtime real estate development company.

“I believe I can offer insight from a real estate development, finance and public-private partnership perspective to help advance initiatives around housing, economic opportunity and community development,” he said in his Board application. “I share MEO’s commitment to supporting Maui’s long-term economic resilience.”

He earned his bachelor’s degree in real estate finance from Southern Methodist University in Texas and a master’s in business administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Illinois.

Dowling has been active in the community as a board member for the Maui Health Foundation, Board President/Vice President of the Associations of Unit Owners at Kehalani Village Center, Treasurer of the Hawaii HomeOwnership Center, a nonprofit that assists low and moderate income families to become homeowners, and Treasurer of Lele Aloha, a Native Hawaiian-led nonprofit that supports resource protection and healthy communities.

“Mr. Dowling brings valuable experience, strong community insight and a commitment to public service that will support the mission and work of Maui Economic Opportunity,” said Bissen in his nomination letter.

Mukai, the other new board member, is Project Coordinator for Pacific Rim Land, sister company to Goodfellow Bros and the land management and development arm.

“I have experience in land-use entitlements and permitting – which is a specific niche/background, but I’m familiar with working with government agencies and contacts because of this work,” Mukai said in her Board application.

“I was born and raised on Maui and care about the long-term well-being of our community, which includes not only access to housing but support services as well,” she said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute in a meaningful way by supporting the valuable work MEO is already doing.”

She earned her bachelor’s in government and legal studies from Bowdoin College in Maine. Her community work includes serving as Secretary of Habitat for Humanity, a Maui nonprofit that builds and sells homes to low income families.

Both individuals were appointed to fulfill the remaining terms of Lalo and Raatz on the MEO Board of Directors. In these roles, they will help guide the nonprofit agency by setting policy, managing budgets and overseeing executive leadership.

MEO is one of Maui County’s largest nonprofits with more than 30 programs, 230 staff on three islands, as well as East Maui, and a budget of $37 million in the 2024-25 fiscal year while touching the lives of 54,780 residents.