Understanding West Maui | Lisa Huynh Eller on Power, Place & Maui’s Future

#WestMaui #MauiWildfire #CommunityPlanning

In this interview, writer and communications professional Lisa Huynh Eller joins Alaka‘i Lastimado to discuss her research on the 2021 West Maui Community Plan and the broader struggle over land use, governance, and community power in West Maui. Drawing on archival materials and interviews with members of the West Maui Community Plan Advisory Committee, Eller traces how residents sought to shape the future of their region—and how these efforts take on new meaning in the aftermath of the August 2023 wildfire. Her work highlights the tension between community-driven planning and external development pressures, while also documenting a historic moment of civic participation in West Maui’s planning process.

About the Author:
Lisa Huynh Eller is a longtime writer and communications professional based in Hilo, Hawai‘i. A former news reporter for West Hawai‘i Today, she now owns Big Blue Studio, supporting nonprofits and businesses through strategic communications and writing.

Book Discussed:
Whose Future?: Community Planning in West Maui
https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/whos...

West Maui Book Series
Edited by Lance D. Collins, PhD, the series supports research and education on the history, culture, and land of West Maui.

#LisaHuynhEller #AlakaiLastimado #MauiFuture #HawaiiLandUse #UHPress #WestMauiBookSeries #MauiRecovery #PlanningForMaui