Hawaiʻi Bankers Association welcomes Linda Ezuka as Executive Director

The Hawaiʻi Bankers Association welcomes Linda Ezuka as Executive Director. She fills the vacancy left by Neal Okabayashi, who is retiring after serving as HBA’s Executive Director since June 2017.

Ezuka has more than three decades of community development experience. She is the founder of CRA Today and the CRA Hub for banking professionals and hosts the CRA Podcast, which focuses on the Community Reinvestment Act.

“We congratulate Neal on his exceptional leadership of the Hawaiʻi Bankers Association through some of the state’s most challenging years,” said Bryan Luke, HBA President. “Linda’s deep breadth of experience will help the HBA continue to serve as a strong voice for member banks throughout Hawaiʻi.”

Ezuka has worked in CRA compliance, training, community development finance and Community Development Financial Institutions initiatives.

She serves on the board and investment committee of the HMSA Foundation and on the advisory board of the Patsy T. Mink Center for Business and Leadership. She has also served as chairwoman of the board for the YWCA of Oʻahu, Hospice Hawaiʻi and the Hawaiʻi Community Reinvestment Corporation, a CDFI.

She is a past CDFI New Markets Tax Credit and CDFI Reader, a Pacific Century Fellow, SBA Financial Services Advocate of the Year Awardee and Pacific Business News 40 Under 40 honoree. She is the author of the book “Outstanding: A Practitioner’s Guide to Exam Readiness.”

Ezuka holds an MBA from Hawaiʻi Pacific University.