First Hawaiian, Inc. has announced the appointment of Vanessa Washington, retired former Bank of the West Senior Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, to serve on the Boards of Directors of First Hawaiian, Inc. and its bank subsidiary, First Hawaiian Bank.
“We are very pleased that Vanessa Washington has joined our Boards as she brings over 25 years of extensive experience serving as a trusted advisor in highly regulated industries, including financial services and REITs,” said Bob Harrison, First Hawaiian, Inc. Chairman, President and CEO. “She has deep expertise in legal, governance and risk mitigation, and we are looking forward to her insights and contributions to First Hawaiian’s continued success.”
Vanessa Washington served as the Bank of the West Senior Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary from 2006 until her retirement in October 2020. Ms. Washington previously served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for the publicly traded real estate firm of Catellus Development Corporation from 2001 to 2005 and prior to that, was Senior Vice President and Secretary at California Federal Bank, where she was employed from 1992 to 2001. She has experience as a commercial real estate transactions attorney in private firms and in-house. Ms. Washington serves on the Board of Directors of San Francisco’s Habitat for Humanity where she is the Chair of their Audit Committee. She also serves on the managing board of The Clearing House and is a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers. Ms. Washington holds a law degree from the University of California Berkeley School of Law and a bachelor of science degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
