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Press Release

Women’s Foundation of Minnesota Welcomes New Trustees

The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota welcomes two new trustees to its Board. Their three-year terms began on April 1, 2020.

New Trustees

Debarati (Deba) Sen is vice president and general manager of abrasive systems with 3M’s safety and industrial business group. She was most recently the managing director of 3M India. In her three years leading the India region, she drove double-digit growth for the business along with creating positive impact for the India region, organization, customers, and channel partners. During her more than 22 years with 3M, Deba has held various key global leadership positions in which she drove marketing, sales and customer engagement, product development, business development, strategy, and mergers and acquisitions. Recent roles prior to her Indian assignment included director, corporate sales, and director for global oil and gas.

Deba holds a BS in electronics engineering, and an MBA in marketing and finance. She has served on the board of United Way Bengaluru and previously served on the national governing board of Jeremiah Program, a Twin Cities-based national organization that helps alleviate generational poverty through early childhood education and education and skills training for single mothers. She has also served as vice chair for A3CTION, 3M’s employee resource network for Asians and Asian Americans.

Sandy Vargas is a champion of bringing people, charitable resources, and ideas together to spark positive community change. She recently retired from her role as president and CEO of The Minneapolis Foundation after serving in that role since 2007. As leader of one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the country, Sandy oversaw the management of $700 million in assets; the administration of more than 1,000 charitable funds created by individuals, families, and businesses; and the distribution of more than $45 million in grants each year.

Sandy was recently appointed as a senior executive leadership fellow with the Hubert Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. In this position, she will enhance community engagement with communities of color and low-income communities and plans to make the issues of racial, social, and economic equity major themes in projects. She previously served as Hennepin County administrator, the top executive position in Hennepin County government and has held management positions at the City of Minneapolis and the Minnesota Department of Transportation. She began her career as a small business consultant in the Minnesota Department of Economic Development.

A highly regarded community leader, Sandy received the 2012 Outstanding Citizen award from the Caux Round Table, a global network of business leaders. More recently, she received the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s Women in Business Award for her leadership in the broader Twin Cities community. Sandy also volunteers for boards and issues that align with her passions.

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