Rural & Small Cities Partner Spotlight: Gina Young, Director of the East Maui Water Authority
East Maui is entering a period of major transition in how its water systems are governed, financed and stewarded. The East Maui Water Authority (EMWA), created by charter amendment in 2022 and guided by its community board, the Aha Wai O Maui Hikina, is working to return decision-making to the people most affected by water and climate stress. With support from the Public Finance Initiative as part of its Rural and Small Cities Program, EMWA is developing strategies to find funding for projects that advance community priorities and long-term stewardship goals. In this conversation, EMWA Director Gina Young reflects on the moment, the work underway, and what comes next.
East Maui stands at a crossroads. From your perspective, what makes this moment so consequential?
We are operating under historic drought conditions with increasing climate risk. At the same time, residents continue to live with the consequences of water resource management decisions that were not designed around fairness or long-term community benefit. This combination of ecological stress and structural inequity is exactly why we need a new approach. If we do not change how water is managed and projects are financed, we will continue to see communities carrying the cost without the power to change the outcomes and our island’s water availability and security is severely at risk.
What is EMWA trying to achieve through its work with the community?
EMWA’s mission is to provide robust watershed management that centers on traditional Hawaiian knowledge and practices. These practices have a proven history of success in creating eco-system health. We are committed to engaging the communities with the local knowledge and who are most affected to create a more secure water future for our local watershed communities and our entire island.
By moving at the speed of trust, every incremental milestone, from advancing financial literacy to employing cultural knowledge to upgrading water systems, moves us closer to a more equitable, sustainable and resilient future.
What have you learned by engaging directly with residents across East Maui?
In June 2025, residents of Keʻanae, Upcountry, and the North Shore toured East Maui streams and met with water and finance experts. They raised concerns about fairness in water resource management, upgrading the system, increasing transparency, supporting food security, and strengthening decision-making.
EMWA is partnering with the Public Finance Initiative through its Rural and Small Cities Program. How does that change what is possible?
Our partnership helps build the capacity of policymakers to understand how public finance tools can be integrated with philanthropic social investments to expand the base of resources for the East Maui water system, focusing on ways that create stepping stones toward greater local control.
You are convening workshops in late October. What role do those gatherings play in advancing this work?
On October 28 and 29, EMWA and PFI will bring community members, advocates and officials together to identify priority projects and the financing tools that can support them. The workshops are working sessions where people who live with these choices will help set direction and evaluate options for funding and implementation. They are also a chance for other water advocates across Maui County to learn about financing strategies for long-term, values-aligned infrastructure improvements.
If someone outside East Maui asks what this effort represents, what would you want them to understand?
With equity and fairness as our guide, East Maui’s water and food systems can evolve into models of community stewardship for generations to come. This work gives us an opportunity to manage our precious and finite resources, led by the community and supported by creative and collaborative financing.