Our Team
Abbey Seitz
Director of Transportation Equity
Abbey is Hawaiʻi Appleseed's Director of Transportation Equity. In this role, she advocates for transportation and land use policy that improves residents’ access to safe and affordable public transit services, as well as walking and biking infrastructure.
Before joining Appleseed, Abbey worked as a community and urban planner at Planning for Community LLC, a consultancy firm which she founded, and previous to that, SSFM International. Abbey holds a bachelor's in architecture from the University of Minnesota and a master’s in urban and regional planning from the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa.
Arjuna Heim
Director of Research, Director of Housing Policy
Arjuna is Hawaiʻi Appleseed’s Director of Research as well as serving as housing policy director. Arjuna has a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She has contributed research to several affordable housing studies, including the ALOHA Homes study, and the Maui County Comprehensive Affordable Housing Plan. Her research centers on finding equitable solutions to ensure all Hawaiʻi residents can access safe, stable housing.
Christy MacPherson
Director of Community Engagement
Christy is a community organizer, licensed clinical social worker and field instructor for the University of Hawaiʻi Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health. In her role as Hawaiʻi Appleseed’s director of community engagement, she works to cultivate Appleseed’s connections with the grassroots from which the best public policy originates.
Christy is the former executive director of Faith Action for Community Equity, a grassroots, interfaith social justice organization, and was program manager for Family Promise of Hawaiʻi, which serves homeless families with children. Her other social work experiences deal primarily with the areas of substance abuse and mental health. She received her education from McKinley High School, Pacific University in Oregon and the University of Hawaiʻi.
Daniela Spoto
Deputy Director, Director of Food Equity
Daniela serves as Deputy Director at Hawaiʻi Appleseed, where she helps guide strategy, policy advocacy, and operations across the organization’s core issue areas. She also continues to lead Hawaiʻi Appleseed’s food equity work, advancing policies that make healthy food more accessible and that strengthen Hawaiʻi’s food system.
Daniela brings over 15 years of experience in public health and social justice policy in Hawaiʻi. She’s motivated by the power of collaboration—bringing people together to shape policy solutions that reflect community priorities and create lasting impact. Before joining Appleseed in 2018, she led statewide initiatives for the Department of Health and the City and County of Honolulu. She holds a master’s in public health from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Devin Thomas
Director of Tax & Budget Policy
Devin is particularly interested in researching how the dire housing crisis in Hawaiʻi can be alleviated, and this focus informs his work with the Hawaiʻi Budget and Policy Center. Devin obtained his master’s degree in international relations at the University of Edinburgh, where he wrote his dissertation on the motivations of the United States in regard to its interactions with Venezuela.
Having grown up in Hawaiʻi, Devin is ardently committed to giving back to the local community by researching and promoting policies that combat economic and racial injustices.
Genevieve Mumma
Food Equity Policy Analyst
As a Food Equity Policy Analyst, Genevieve researches and advocates for equitable food systems in Hawaiʻi, focusing on policy initiatives and data-driven research that promote access to culturally significant and nutritious foods for all.
Before joining Appleseed, Genevieve conducted research and advocated for strengthened democracy and the end of corporate personhood as a Fellow at Democracy Unlimited and Move to Amend. As a Training Fellow for Grassroots Health, Genevieve also promoted health equity in Washington D.C., where she graduated from The George Washington University with a degree in Political Science and Peace Studies. Genevieve has experience studying at The Autonomous University of Madrid and University of the Philippines Diliman, where she developed a strong research background in human rights, local organizing and foreign policy. Being Filipina and growing up on Oʻahu, Genevieve is dedicated to serving the people of Hawaiʻi, especially AAPI/NH and immigrant communities.
Malia Boksanski
Transportation Equity Policy Analyst
As a Transportation Equity Policy Analyst, Malia is dedicated to ensuring that Hawaiʻi’s transportation systems and infrastructure serve all residents equitably. Malia built her career in the Bay Area’s transit sector, first as a Sustainable Transportation Associate for Commute.org, where she managed county-wide transit equity programs, and later as a Planner and Safe Routes to School Specialist, where she coordinated active transportation programming across cities, counties, and school districts.
Malia served as an inaugural member of the Hawaiʻi Youth Transportation Council and, upon returning home, as a Community and Transportation Planning Intern for the Oʻahu Metropolitan Planning Organization. As an avid transit rider and pedestrian, she believes that a first-hand understanding of our streets is the most powerful tool for effective advocacy.
Will Caron
Director of Communications
Will was born and raised on Oʻahu and is a graduate of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Before joining Hawaiʻi Appleseed, Will spent a decade working in media, serving as editor-in-chief at Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi, as a writer and associate editor at The Honolulu Weekly, and then as editor of The Hawaii Independent and Summit magazine. Will oversees Hawaiʻi Appleseed’s messaging and the production of communications products and resources. He also puts together the final version of Hawaiʻi Appleseed’s data-driven research products. Will works to ensure these tools are useful and accessible to the public and lawmakers in advancing people-first public policy.
Will White
Executive Director
Will is an experienced advocate, community organizer, and all-around policy wonk, who has dedicated his professional career to advancing equitable public policy for communities across the United States. A graduate of Kamehameha Schools and proud son of Kalihi Valley, Will spent the last 20 years on the U.S. continent working as a community organizer, policy advocate (and sometimes nightclub doorman) in both New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area.
For seven years, Will served as the Senior Director of Policy and Government Affairs at United Way Bay Area, where he worked to increase the minimum wage, improve access to healthcare for undocumented immigrants, and expand tax credits for working families. Having returned home in 2021, Will has had the opportunity to serve in the Hawaiʻi State Governor’s Office and the State Department of Budget and Finance before joining Hawaiʻi Appleseed. Will holds a bachelor’s degree in history from New York University and a master’s in urban policy analysis and management from The New School.