Our People
Leadership

Gloria Perez
President & CEO
Gloria Perez is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, where she leads the first statewide women’s foundation in the country. Since 1983, the Women’s Foundation has distributed more than $45 million through community investments; conducts ongoing research on the status of women and girls in Minnesota; advocates for public policy that results in greater economic security and safety for women and their families; and invests in organizations and leaders to build the field and achieve gender and racial justice.
Meet Our Staff














Chanida Phaengdara Potter
Vice President of Strategic Communications and Narrative Change
612-236-1833



Interns & Fellows
The Dr. Reatha Clark King Fellowship and the Wenda Weekes Moore Internship Program are our innovative initiatives to build a pipeline of women of color leaders in philanthropy.

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Nevada Littlewolf, Chair
Executive Director, Women Winning
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Chanda Smith Baker, Vice Chair
Senior Vice President of Impact, The Minneapolis Foundation
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Debarati Sen, Treasurer
President, Construction & Home Improvement Division, 3M
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George Martin, Secretary
Partner, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
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Vanessa Goodthunder
Director, C̣aƞṡayapi Waḳaƞyeża Owayawa Oṭi
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Katherine Hayes
Owner/Director, HRK Group
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Edward Heisler
Co-Director, Men as Peacemakers
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Kristine Maritz
Business Advisor Vice President, Board of Trustees, NextStage MN
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Adair Mosley
Chief Executive Officer, African American Leadership Forum
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Anita Patel
Vice President of Grantmaking, Bush Foundation
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Brenda Quaye
Owner & Founder, Venstar, LLC
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Fatima Said
Executive Director, Project FINE
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Dr. Rajni Shah
Head of Partnerships, MyMeds
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Valerie Spencer
Community Volunteer
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Elizabeth Tolzmann
Director of Policy and Planning of Ramsey County
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Sandy Vargas
Senior Executive Leadership Fellow University of Minnesota, Hubert Humphrey School of Public Affairs