Autumn Ness

We sit down with community organizer Autumn Ness to talk about activism, crisis response, and the power of grassroots organizing in Hawaiʻi. Autumn shares how her experiences living through the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in Japan shaped her understanding of community resilience and corporate power. After moving to Maui, she began recognizing similar patterns in the fight over GMO crops and pesticide use, which led her into organizing and policy advocacy alongside local communities. The conversation follows Autumn’s work from grassroots campaigns to building solutions such as the Maui Food Hub and the Lahaina Community Land Trust. Ashley and Wren explore how crises can expose systemic vulnerabilities but also create opportunities to strengthen community ownership and trust. Autumn reflects on the importance of long term relationship building, protecting land from speculation, and supporting community driven leadership so that local people can shape the future of the places they call home. Show Notes: ⁠Lahaina Community Land Trust: lahainacommunitylandtrust.org ⁠⁠Maui Food Hub: mauihub.org ⁠Article: Harnessing the Shock of Disaster to Propel Change shelterforce.org/2025/10/08/harnessing-the-shock-of-disaster-to-propel-change Subscribe to hear more stories from change-makers in Hawai‘i! pilalipodcast.org/subscribe Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 2:37 From Japan to Maui 22:12 Building Food Solutions 32:16 Lahaina Fire Response 52:12 Land Trust Progress 59:31 Collective Sovereignty