Before Maui United Way sets out to create a strategic plan for the next three to five years, the nonprofit is lending an ear to the communities it serves.
Now through March 6, community members on Maui, Molokaʻi, and Lānaʻi may take a new survey that will assess unmet needs and help guide MUW’s funding and focus areas. Responses will be confidential and data will be returned back to the public, according to CEO Jeeyun Lee.
She notes that the purpose of this type of outreach is to allow the organization to “move with intention.”
“You can have all the resources at your fingertips in terms of funding, but if you don’t use it intentionally and if you don’t invest it in spaces where there is going to be a return in investment to community, it can make zero impact,” she told Aloha State Daily. “So, how do we then take that information and find impactful ways to implement [programs] with the resources we have and continue to also bring in fresh, new resources into our community?”
Lee added that MUW’s $100,000 grant from the state Legislature under Act 310 (SB 933) will continue to support food security and housing initiatives.
MUW’s four areas of interest include financial security, healthy community, youth opportunity and community resiliency.
Disaster preparedness and resiliency planning remain crucial as the community recovers from the Lahaina wildfires. Gas cards for fire survivors, for example, is something MUW implemented that directly impacted more than 500 families in need of transportation support .
“A lot of these issues that we are facing now, we were facing pre-fire. They’ve just been exacerbated exponentially," Lee said. "We really want to hear from our families, our nonprofits, our small businesses. We want to reflect the community at-large. More data collection will strengthen our ability to advocate at the county, state and philanthropic levels; we want to reinforce that our role is to be a trusted convener.
“Not reacting moment to moment, but really creating a system that is functional, that gets elevated in times of crisis. I think that’s what we’re going to get out of the survey,” she said, adding that the last time they conducted one was in 2017.
“Weʻre overdue and I’m really excited to make sure the work we’re doing aligns with community.”
Lee, a West Maui resident, said she turned in her survey, and “it was quite quick, about 5 minutes to do.”
“No vote no grumble,” she said with a smile. “You are your strongest advocates. And so, all of us can uplift our voices in [this] simple way.”
Originally from Michigan, Lee said her first exposure to nonprofit work was at age 16 at the YMCA. From there, she pursued a master’s degree in social work, specializing in international and community development, and later lived on Oʻahu for a decade before moving to Maui nearly 9 years ago.
“I just felt called to raise my son where he’s ancestrally from and rooted,” she said. “Pono Shim took me under his wing and had shared, ‘Ask your son what he wants to do’ – he was 3 at the time. I had that conversation with him, and I went back to uncle and he was like, ‘I have a feeling Maui is going to need you and your skillsets,’ and it gives me chicken skin. He unfortunately passed, but Maui United Way was an opportunity with aloha as part of its value system. It was a full circle moment, and ever since, it has felt like he’s been watching over us."
With more than 20 years of nonprofit experience, her intention is "to contribute back to the community I’m a part of," she said.
Lee joined MUW as its director of impact and became interim CEO in July 2025 prior to assuming the role full-time in December. As CEO, she oversees more than 60 programs and a budget of $5 million.
During her tenure, the organization distributed more than $12 million in funding to local nonprofits and community members, serving over 87,000 residents across Maui County.
“My mother used to tell me, ‘Jee, you’re never going to be rich, but you sure are rich in the people that you have around you,’ and to me that’s the most wealth you could possibly have.
“I’ve just been blessed to have an incredible network. … I’m still learning, too, what it takes to be a good leader. Honing the craft of supporting your team, board, community, from a genuine and authentic place. It is a kuleana and privilege to be in the space that I’m in.”
She aims to leave this world better than she found it. “My goal, at the end of my life, is to be able to look my son straight in the eye, and say I did the best I could.”
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Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros can be reached at kelsey@alohastatedaily.com.
