Bank of Hawaii Announces Leadership Promotions in Marketing

Kristine Stebbins has been promoted to senior executive vice president and chief marketing officer from executive vice president and deputy chief marketing officer at Bank of Hawai‘i. She is responsible for overseeing Brand & Integrated Marketing, Community & Employee Engagement, Bank of Hawaii Foundation, Marketing & Omni-Channel Management; Customer Experience; Marketing Research and Insights; Marketing Performance; Marketing Operations; and Marketing Risk for the bank.

Stebbins joined Bank of Hawaii in October 2020 as senior vice president and director of digital experience innovation & technology in the bank’s Marketing Division. With the bank’s ongoing commitment to providing exceptional customer experiences, CX became an enterprise-wide effort, and Stebbins was quickly promoted to chief experience officer in November 2021 to help accelerate the bank’s focus on delivering world-class customer omni-channel experiences. In May 2024, she took on the role of deputy chief marketing officer to oversee marketing performance, marketing operations, digital delivery, creative studio, strategic research and insights, as well as customer experience.

Stebbins is a seasoned marketing professional with nearly 30 years of experience focused on digital marketing, brand strategy, integrated marketing, product marketing, and channel marketing through the customer experience lens. She founded and served as CEO of Beyond Vigilant, a strategic consultant company that led clients through digital business transformation. In 2017, Beyond Vigilant was acquired by Hero Digital LLC, where Stebbins held the position of senior vice president and strategic client services before joining Bank of Hawaii. Throughout her career, she has held a variety of senior leadership positions at Ogilvy & Mather Advertising in both Hawaii and New York, Accenture, Ascentium, OmniSky and was also a global marketing director at Microsoft.

Stebbins earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from Chaminade University of Honolulu and is a speaker and presenter at major trade and industry conferences, including Adobe Summit, SXSW and Forrester Digital Transformation Conference. She has served on the board of Girl Scouts and mentored several local entrepreneurs as part of the Mana Up effort supporting small business growth in Hawaii. Stebbins is an active guest lecturer at Chaminade University and has served as a mentor with Bank of Hawaii’s Women Inspired employee resource group.

Joy Ishiara has been promoted to executive vice president and executive director of brand & integrated marketing at Bank of Hawaii. She oversees the bank’s brand management, while continuing to lead its engagement team to drive marketing initiatives and business growth.

With over 25 years of marketing experience, Ishiara has been instrumental in shaping the Bank of Hawaii brand since she joined the organization in 2007 as a marketing & communications administrator. In 2014, she advanced to vice president and brand, advertising and promotions manager, leading the bank’s Brand & Creative Studio with a strategic focus. Her expertise in strategic marketing led to her promotion in 2018 to senior vice president and brand & e-commerce marketing manager. The following year, she transitioned to director of marketing eCommerce & brand in the Research & Insights department. By 2020, Ishiara returned to lead the Brand & Creative Studio as director of marketing, eCommerce & brand, reinforcing her pivotal role in the bank’s success.

Prior to Bank of Hawaii, Ishiara worked at PacRim Marketing Group, Inc. and Central Pacific Bank. She earned her bachelor’s degree in travel industry management from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Ishiara serves as a board member of Lanakila Pacific as well as its marketing chairperson. She previously served with the Hawaii United Okinawan Association, as Moanalua High School Parent Teacher Student Association vice president and secretary, and as board treasurer for Moanalua High School Music Department.

Lono Kealoha has been promoted to senior vice president and is joining the Marketing Division as director of community & employee engagement at Bank of Hawaii. He has also been appointed president of Bank of Hawaii Foundation, succeeding Momi Akimseu, who has recently been appointed Bank of Hawaii’s director of brand. Kealoha previously served as vice president and CRA officer since 2021.

With more than 13 years of experience at the bank, Kealoha will be responsible for managing and leading the Bank of Hawaii Foundation, including overseeing grant requests and awards, building collaborative partnerships across public and private sectors, and delivering on the foundation’s commitment to strengthen and support the community. As director of community & employee engagement, he is also responsible for oversight of corporate and employee events, including the bank’s Live Kokua Volunteer Program, its annual Community Service Day as well as enhancing the community and employee experience through the development of engagement initiatives.

Kealoha first joined the bank in 2011 as a bank associate in Branch Banking and held various positions of increasing responsibility within the branch network on Oahu, including banking center manager at Bank of Hawaii’s Main Branch before serving as CRA officer. He earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Kealoha serves as treasurer on the boards of Hale Naau Pono, Waianae High School Marine Science Learning Center, and Hawaii Self-Help Housing. He is also the president of Princess Ruth Keelikolani Middle School’s PTA. Additionally, Kealoha volunteers on the advisory committee of Epic Ohana’s Opportunity Passport Program and previously served with the Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture’s Hooulu Waiwai Community Program. He serves on the leadership team of Na Oiwi Aloha, Bank of Hawaii’s Native Hawaiian employee resource group, which supports and advocates for Native Hawaiians in the bank and greater community.

Savannah Rezabek has been promoted to senior vice president and director of omni-channel marketing from vice president and senior manager of digital & creative at Bank of Hawaii. She is responsible for the overall management of critical marketing efforts across the bank’s omni-channel strategic marketing plan. This includes leading and partnering with engagement program teams, Digital Experience (DX) and User Experience (UX), eCommerce teams, and all channel managers, as well as executive leaders across the organization, to deliver quality omni-channel strategies and marketing executions for campaigns, programs and ongoing inbound and outbound marketing efforts.

Rezabek joined Bank of Hawaii in 2020 as vice president and digital marketing manager before being promoted to senior manager of marketing operations in 2022. In June 2024, she transitioned to senior manager of the bank’s Digital & Creative department. Over the years, Rezabek implemented, managed and helped evolve the bank’s social media monitoring and management platforms and directed its email marketing efforts to provide exceptional service to customers.

Prior to joining the bank, Rezabek worked as a senior manager of digital marketing with DemandZEN, a B2B lead generation service company, and as a marketing manager with Avalara, a tax compliance software company. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University. She also received her leadership essentials certificate from Cornell University. Additionally, Rezabek has received certifications from Forrester (CX customer obsession certification), Hootsuite (social marketing certification), Marketo (certified expert), Hubspot (marketing software, inbound marketing, and partner marketing certifications), as well as Eloqua’s master certification.