Jayson Watts
Director of Environmental Health and Safety, Mahi Pono - Kahului, HI
Jayson Watts is the Director of Environmental Health and Safety at Mahi Pono, LLC, a Maui-based farming company committed to strengthening Hawaii’s food security, developing high quality local produce, and fostering agricultural sustainability. With over 700 employees, Mahi Pono is revitalizing 41,000 acres of former sugarcane land, transforming it into a diverse agricultural hub that supports and drives economic growth in the state. He also serves as the Chair of the State of Hawaii Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC).
A Wailuku native and graduate of H.P. Baldwin High School and the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Watts has a long-standing record of championing sustainable community development initiatives and forging impactful public-private partnerships.
Before joining Mahi Pono in 2019, Watts served as Special Assistant to the Director of the Hawaii State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and as Senior Advisor to two Hawaii Lieutenant Governors. In the Lieutenant Governor’s office, he led policy initiatives aimed at improving Hawaii’s food security, including launching Aina Pono, the state’s first formalized farm-to-school pilot program within the Hawaii Department of Education.
Watts’ public service career also includes roles as Assistant Sergeant at Arms of the Hawaii State Senate, Legislative Director to the Senate Majority Caucus Leader, and as a Congressional Intern and later Staff Assistant to the late U.S. Representative Patsy T. Mink.
He was first appointed to the ADC Board in 2022 by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate. In 2025, he was reappointed by the Governor to a second four-year term and elected Chair by his fellow board members. Established by the Hawaii State Legislature in 1994, the ADC was created to facilitate the transition from plantation-era agriculture to a more diversified and sustainable agricultural economy. Hawaii spends an estimated $3.1 billion annually on imported food, while its local agricultural sector generates just $575 million — a gap that the ADC is charged with helping to close through strategic infrastructure investments, land management, and public-private partnerships. As Chair, Watts is focused on leading the ADC through its most aggressive phase of infrastructure investment, board reform, and cross-agency collaboration since its inception.
Watts also holds multiple leadership positions, including Secretary of the Hawaii Farm Bureau, Vice Chairperson of the Hawaii Food Industry Association, and a member of the Board of Directors for both the Maui County Farm Bureau and the University of Hawaii Alumni Association. Additionally, he serves as a U.S. Secretary of Commerce appointee to the Hawaii Pacific Export Council. Most recently, Alaska Airlines named him to its Inaugural Hawaii Community Advisory Board, where members advise on community engagement efforts and the airline’s $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines.
