Stellar Leadership

Mr. Retzloff serves as Senior Executive Chairman of Stellar Bank and Executive Chairman of Stellar Bancorp, Inc. He previously served as Chairman of Allegiance Bank and CEO of Allegiance Bancshares, Inc. With more than 30 years of Houston banking experience, he served as a director and twice as Chairman of a publicly traded multi-billion dollar financial institution. His past work experience also includes General Motors, Bristol Myers, Retzloff Capital Corporation and CEO of Travis Body & Trailer, Inc. Additionally, Mr. Retzloff serves on the boards of the Houston Food Bank, Greater Houston Partnership, Open Door Mission, Faith in Practice and as Vice President of the Kinkaid School Investments Foundation. As a native Texan and a lifelong Houstonian, he received an Industrial Engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1979 and an MBA with distinction from the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University in 1981.

Mr. Franklin serves as Executive Chairman of Stellar Bank and Chief Executive Officer of Stellar Bancorp, Inc. He previously served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of CBTX, Inc. Mr. Franklin began his more than 40-year Houston banking career working for a small community bank in Houston upon graduation from the University of Texas. Mr. Franklin graduated from the University of Texas in 1977 with a BBA in Finance. He is currently serving on the Board of Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas and previously served on the Board of the Texas Bankers Association. Mr. Franklin has actively served various charitable organizations over the years, along with serving on the board of a local private school. 

Mr. Vitulli serves as Chief Executive Officer of Stellar Bank and President of Stellar Bancorp. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Allegiance Bank and President of Allegiance Bancshares, Inc. He has over 30 years of banking experience, getting his start as a loan review examiner at Charter National Bank in Houston, then moving to Sterling Bank until joining Allegiance Bank in 2007, prior to the bank’s opening. Mr. Vitulli serves on the boards of Texas Bankers Association and CHRISTUS Foundation for HealthCare and previously served on the board of the St. Pius X High School Foundation. He is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin with a BBA in Finance.

Mr. Akin has over 25 year career in the banking industry and he is currently serving as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer of Stellar Bank and Chief Risk Officer of Stellar Bancorp, Inc. Previously, he held the positions of President and Chief Risk Officer at Allegiance Bank and Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer at Allegiance Bancshares, Inc. Mr. Akin's banking career as an executive started when he joined Independence Bank in 2002 as Senior Credit Officer and was eventually promoted to President in 2009. Between 2010 and 2013, Mr. Akin also served as CEO of Independence Bank until joining Allegiance Bank following a . Mr. Akin has since assumed the roles of Regional President, Deputy Chief Credit Officer, and Chief Administration Officer at Allegiance Bank. Mr. Akin holds an MBA from the University of Houston and a Bachelor of Arts in Finance & Marketing from the same institution.

Ms. Davis serves as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Experience Officer of Stellar Bank. She previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer of Allegiance Bank. She brings more than 20 years of human resource, organizational development, talent management, and learning and development experience to Allegiance. Most recently, Stacy served as Senior Vice President and Director of Talent and Organizational Development at BOK Financial. Stacy holds a B.S. in Public Relations/Education, M.Ed. from the University of Central Oklahoma and a Ph.D. in Workforce Analytics from Oklahoma State University.

Ms. Dinsmore serves as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Stellar Bank. She previously served as the Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of CommunityBank of Texas since 2015, as well as the Chief Operations Officer and Chief Information Officer at Integrity Bank from 2012 to 2015. She is currently responsible for oversight of aligning operational strategies with corporate strategies, leveraging system capabilities to optimize performance, and managing operational risks.

Mr. Egge serves as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Stellar Bank. He previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Allegiance Bank and Allegiance Bancshares, Inc. He has over 20 years of financial services experience, predominantly as an investment banker focused on providing strategic and capital markets advisory services to banks and specialty finance companies. Prior to joining Allegiance in 2016, he served as Director of Capital Planning and Corporate Development for Cadence Bank, a $9.4 billion asset regional bank at the time. Mr. Egge is a member of the Board of Directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters Greater Houston. He graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Economics and Finance from the College of William & Mary and holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Mr. Ensminger serves as the Chief Information Officer at Stellar Bank. He brings more than 20 years of experience leading enterprise and global IT functions and driving technology strategy, innovation and transformation across various industries, including financial services, life sciences/biologics, and internet startups. He is also the co-inventor of two patents utilized by USAA. Prior to joining Stellar, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Information & Technology Officer at Broadway Bank. A U.S. Army veteran, Mr. Ensminger holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems from Our Lady of the Lake University, where he also served as a Board of Trustees member.

Mr. Long serves as Senior Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Stellar Bancorp, Inc. and Stellar Bank. He previously served as Senior Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of CommunityBank of Texas and CBTX, Inc. beginning April 2019. Mr. Long served as a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP from 2016 to 2019 where he represented financial institutions in corporate and regulatory matters, including the CBTX, Inc.’s initial public offering. Prior to joining Norton Rose Fulbright, he was a partner at Bracewell LLP where he represented financial institutions in corporate and regulatory matters. Mr. Long received a bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of Texas and graduated from the University of Texas School of Law.

Mr. Parsons serves as Vice Chairman of Stellar Bank. He previously served as Vice Chairman of CommunityBank of Texas and CBTX, Inc. Mr. Parsons was one of the original founders of the CBTX, Inc. and served as a director of the CBTX, Inc. and CommunityBank of Texas beginning in 2007. Mr. Parsons also served as CommunityBank of Texas’ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 2007 until 2013. He began his banking career in 1973 with First City National Bank of Houston as a Management Trainee and has served in various capacities at numerous commercial banks within the Company’s market areas, including Community Bank & Trust, SSB, as President and Chief Operating Officer. From 1992 until its sale to Texas Regional Bancshares, Inc. in 2004, Mr. Parsons oversaw Community Bank & Trust’s expansion, through organic growth and five acquisitions, to over $1.1 billion in assets and a network spanning 15 Southeast Texas communities. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Lamar University Foundation. Mr. Parsons earned a BBA in Accounting from Lamar University in 1971 and an MBA in Finance from the University of Houston in 1973. 

Mr. Sturgeon serves as Vice Chairman of Stellar Bank. He previously served as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer of CommunityBank of Texas since 2013, where he additionally chaired the risk committee and sat on various Bank level risk and governance committees. Prior to that he served as the Vice Chairman from 2011 through 2013 at VB Texas Inc., and Vista Bank. He brings exceptional experience to enterprise risk management, compliance, audit, loan review, information security, financial crimes risk and strategic planning activities. Mr. Sturgeon has over 40 years of experience in banking and graduated with a BBA in Finance from the University of Houston in 1973 and an MBA from Southern Methodist University in 1977.

Mr. West serves as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer of Stellar Bank. He previously served as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer of CommunityBank of Texas since 2013. Mr. West joined CommunityBank of Texas in 2013 via the of CBTX, Inc. and Vista Bank Texas where he was Executive Vice President and Senior Credit Officer since 2006. Prior to Vista Bank Texas, Mr. West served as Senior Credit Officer at Horizon Capital Bank in Houston. In his capacity as Chief Credit Officer, he is responsible for loan asset quality, loan policy and the Bank’s loan approval process. Mr. West has over 40 years of experience in banking and graduated with a BBA in Accounting from Baylor University in 1978 and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant.