- Push-out Score determined
- After 16 years in the position
- Accolades, praise and thanks for Lau
- Scott Seu taking over
- Lau said 102 words
(exechange) — Honolulu, Hawaii, October 5, 2021 — Connie Lau, chief executive of Hawaiian Electric Industries, leaves. As announced by Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. in a news release and in a regulatory filing published on Tuesday, October 5, 2021, Constance H. (Connie) Lau leaves her post as chief executive officer at the parent company of electric utility Hawaiian Electric, after 16 years in the role, effective January 1, 2022.
It is the end of an era.
Connie Lau’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Scott W. H. Seu, currently President and Chief Executive Officer at Hawaiian Electric, HEI’s largest subsidiary.
Shelee Kimura, senior vice president of customer service and public affairs at Hawaiian Electric, will succeed Seu as the utility’s president and CEO, becoming the first female chief executive in the company’s 130-year history.
“Part of a multi-year succession planning process”
Connie Lau’s departure from the CEO post is explained as follows. Hawaiian Electric Industries said: “The appointments of Seu and Kimura, as well as the appointment of Ann Teranishi, who became president and CEO of American Savings Bank earlier this year, came as part of a multi-year succession planning process undertaken by the boards of directors of HEI, Hawaiian Electric and American Savings Bank.”
Precise information regarding Connie Lau’s future plans was not immediately available.
“Retire”
Hawaiian Electric Industries said: “Constance “Connie” Lau, president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (HEI) (NYSE:HE) will retire after 15 years as the leader of the parent company of electric utility Hawaiian Electric and community bank American Savings Bank.”
Share price increase since October 2016
The announcement follows an increase in Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc.’s share price of 42% since October 2016.
In the position of CEO since 2006
Connie Lau became CEO of the Company in 2006.
Lau has deep industry and operational expertise having served in leadership capacities spanning several functions across HEI and its subsidiaries.
She is recognized as a transformational leader, having been identified by the US Banker List of Most Powerful Women in Banking in 2004, 2005, 2006 for transforming ASB into a full-service community bank.
Signing the groundbreaking Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative with the Governor of the State of Hawaii also secured Lau the Women in Clean Energy & the Environment, Woman of the Year award, 2011.
Lau is a nationally recognized leader in the fields of critical infrastructure, resilience and physical and cyber security, banking, and energy, demonstrated by her appointment by President Obama to chair the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, membership on the federal Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council, prior service on the Federal Reserve Board of San Francisco’s 12th District Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council, and her naming as a C3E Clean Energy Ambassador by the U.S. Department of Energy.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Chair, National Infrastructure Advisory Council (since 2012)
- President and Chief Executive Officer, American Savings Bank (2001-2006) Chief Operating Officer, ASB (1999-2001)
- Treasurer, HEI (1989-1999)
- Treasurer, Hawaiian Electric and Assistant Treasurer, HEI (1987-1989)
- Assistant Corporate Counsel, Hawaiian Electric Company (1984-1987)
PUBLIC COMPANY BOARDS
- Matson Inc. (since 2012)
PAST PUBLIC COMPANY BOARDS
- Alexander & Baldwin (2004-2012)
OTHER POSITIONS
- Board Member, Edison Electric Institute
- Former Board Member, Electric Power Research Institute
- Board Member, Associated Electric & Gas Insurance Services
- Board Member, Hawaii Business Roundtable
- Board Member, Foundation for Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies
- Board Member, Elemental Excelerator
- Member, Federal Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council
- Chair, Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (HEI Subsidiary) (2006-2019)
- Former Member of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s Twelfth District
- Community Depository Advisory Council (2011-2014)
- Chair, Consuelo Foundation
- Trustee, Punahou School
- Chair, Military Affairs Council, Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii
EDUCATION
- Master of Business Administration, Stanford Graduate School of Business
- Juris Doctor, Hastings College of the Law, University of California
- Bachelor of Science in Administrative Sciences, Yale College.
Push-out Score determined
The Push-out Score™ determined by exechange gauges the pressure surrounding Connie Lau’s move on a scale of 0 to 10.
exechange reached out to Hawaiian Electric Industries and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 41.2021 ($).