Jim Kelly

Jim Kelly is responsible for overseeing the company's relationships with state and local government and its community engagement and customer education activities. He also oversees internal and external communications, including advertising and customer research, and digital communications. Previously, he was vice president of Corporate Relations, responsible for Hawaiian Electric's communications activities.

Before joining Hawaiian Electric in 2016, Kelly worked as manager of member services and communications for Kauai Island Utility Cooperative, responsible for business and residential customer account management, payment and call center operations, external communications and community engagement.

Kelly joined the energy industry after a career as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Massachusetts, Minnesota, California and Hawaii. He worked as editor of Pacific Business News in Honolulu and as managing editor of The Honolulu Advertiser.

A native of Minnesota, Kelly holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. He has also taken graduate-level courses in historic preservation at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

He is a member of the board of directors of the American Red Cross, Hawaii State Chapter and the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii.