The Maui United Way Board of Directors has unanimously voted to appoint Jeeyun Lee as the nonprofit's new CEO. Courtesy photo

In a unanimous vote by its board of directors, Maui United Way has appointed Jeeyun Lee as its new chief executive officer.

Lee most recently served as the nonprofit’s director of community impact, and she has been serving as the organization’s interim CEO since July 2025.

In the CEO’s role, Lee will oversee a team of five staff members for Maui United Way, which facilitates nearly 60 programs serving Maui, Molokai and Lanai with a budget of over $5 million. According to the nonprofit, Lee plans to work to strengthen the organization’s partnerships across the community.

Her previous work with the Maui Recovery Funder’s Collaborative is credited with clearing a path for collaborative, trust-based philanthropy for nonprofits working in wildfire recovery.

“I’ve seen firsthand the power of what is possible when our community comes together,” Lee said in a statement. “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.”

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 more than 87,000 Maui County residents.

Her initiatives also included gas cards for fire survivors, offering $100 a month for six months to 500 families, as well as coordinating the Mālama i Lahainaluna Firebreak Initiative, distributing $1.5 million through the Māʻona Food Security Grant and helping fund family-centered mental health services for fire-impacted ʻohana.

She also helped launch the Sentry Mālama Nā Keiki Initiative, which invested $2 million in culturally aligned youth mental health programs.

Maui United Way also applauded Lee for helping steward more than $3 million into the community through pro-bono freelance work after the wildfires.

Her previous roles include executive director of the Hawaii Nature Center, director of development at Hale Makua and people development director at Imua Family Services.

Lee has a master’s degree in social work with a focus on international and community development from Monmouth University.

For more about Maui United Way, go to www.mauiunitedway.org or contact the organization at (808) 244-8787 or info@mauiunitedway.org.