Deborah Kim resigned from her position as president/CEO for the Honolulu-based, $1.2 billion Hawaii State FCU after nearly 20 years of service, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports.
According to the newspaper, which said it obtained a copy of Kim's resignation email, she cited "unprofessionalism" as a motive for leaving the credit union.
The paper quoted Kim's email as stating, "I have worked in the best interest of the credit union and its members for 19 years, only to end my tenure with your volunteer officials spitting in my face. I deserved better."
In a written statement to the Credit Union Times, Hawaii State FCU spokeswoman Marcy Arifuku said as of Nov. 8, Kim is no longer employed by the credit union and that "it is the policy of Hawaii State FCU not to discuss details of an employee's departure."
"Deborah Kim helped develop a succession plan as part of Hawaii State FCU's management team," the statement read. "This plan has been enacted and Rachael Sasaki, the senior vice president and second in command, is now the acting president. The company will continue to operate as normal and operations will not be affected by the departure."
In January 2011, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser covered an investigation by federal regulators into the excessive perks enjoyed by the CU's board members, including up to seven annual off-island trips for each board member, paid travel expenses for spouses and reimbursements for health insurance. Board members reportedly booked trips through the travel agency owned by their former board chairwoman, Beverly Ing Lee.
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Natasha Chilingerian
Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.
