Bennette Misalucha is a community leader in Hawaii who has held key executive positions in banking, marketing, public policy and community outreach sectors, often pioneering roles for women and minorities which have brought her a number of awards and distinction. Born in the Philippines, she is fluent in three languages and has embraced Hawaii as her home for thirty six years.
Bennette runs her own strategic communications and business strategy consulting company. Her past experiences include Vice President and Regional Director for Government and Community Relations for Actus Lend Lease, LLC, a global development company focused on military housing privatization. She also spent 16 years in banking and was Senior Vice President at Central Pacific Bank at its retail banking and corporate banking divisions. Early in her career, Bennette was a television reporter and news producer, both in Hawaii (KHON Channel 2 News) and the Philippines.
Bennette is deeply involved in community and nonprofit work in Hawaii. She was a founding President of Women in Transportation Hawaii Chapter and was on the board of The Bus for 16 years. She currently sits on the Board of Regents at Chaminade University and the Filipino Community Center, amongst other organizations.
Bennette's work has earned her many distinctions, such as "Woman of Distinction" by the Girl Scouts of Hawaii, the United Filipino Community Council "Progress Awards in Banking and Finance", the "State Mother of the Year" for American Mothers Inc. and one of top "Ten Women Volunteers in Hawai‘i" by Pacific Business News. She is also an alumnus of the Pacific Century Fellows program, Hawaii's version of the White House Fellows.
She is a graduate of the University of Hawaii, the Graduate School of Retail Banking at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and attended the University of Washington Pacific Coast Banking School. She is the mother of two adult children, Christian and Danielle.