Kate Blystone
Planning Director
County of Maui Department of Planning
Sessions
The Hawaiʻi Water Plan Framework Update: Supporting the Integration of Water and Land Use Planning
9:55 AM - 10:55 AM Thu
Pili Nā Moku: Aligning Holistic Environmental Stewardship, Community Resilience, and Disaster Risk Reduction
3:55 PM - 4:55 PM Thu
Director's Panel
8:35 AM - 9:30 AM Fri
Kate Blystone serves as director of the County of Maui Planning Department. Kate's nearly 25- year career has included positions in the public, private, nonprofit, and educational sectors of the planning profession in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaiʻi. She was a program officer with Hawaiʻi Community Foundation's (HCF) House Maui Initiative when the wildfires of August 2023 destroyed Lahaina and ripped through upcountry. Her team at HCF quickly pivoted to recovery, focused on grantmaking and temporary housing solutions. She became director of the Maui Planning Department in January 2024 and works closely with her team on the Lahaina rebuild in addition to all the traditional kuleana of a planning department. Her specialties are community engagement, long-range and small town planning, and housing policy