We are thrilled to announce our next guest will be brand newly elected Bellevue City Councilwoman Vandana Slatter! She will be the first South Asian member when she will be sworn-in in January 2016! Dr. Vandana Slatter is a community leader, public school parent, and biotech and health professional. We are honored to have her join us on Tahmina’s radio show on Tuesday 10th November at 10am on Desi 1250AM.
She is the Canadian-born daughter of parents who immigrated from India in the 1960s. Vandana was born and raised in northern British Columbia. Her father is a physician who trained in 
Canada and then stayed on to set up a general practice. Vandana and her two sisters grew up in Prince George, a regional center for mining and logging, at a time when there were few South Asian families in the area. She attended the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in the 1980’s, where she graduated in Pharmaceutical Sciences and earned a varsity athletic letter in the sport of fencing, as captain of the Women’s varsity fencing team and BC Junior foil champion. Vandana married her husband Greg in 1988, and immigrated to the United States from Canada to pursue her Doctor of Pharmacy at the UW and he a post-doctoral fellowship in pharmaceutical sciences. They moved to Michigan and later New Jersey for a total of 13 years to pursue their careers and returned to the Pacific Northwest in 2003.
Vandana currently works in Global Scientific Affairs at a leading biotechnology company, Amgen. In her role, she communicates with academic researchers and leading clinicians regarding novel drug treatment for inflammatory disease, osteoporosis and bone health. Over the past twenty-five years, she has worked as a clinical hospital pharmacist and also in various scientific, clinical and business roles for major pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies, including Pharmacia, Pfizer, UCB Pharma, Roche/Genentech and Amgen.
Vandana has a long family history of public service and became interested in US public policy and progressive politics when her son was born in Michigan in 1996 and the newly passed family and medical leave act allowed her to spend more time with her son and still return to her career. She became a naturalized US citizen in 2001. Upon moving back to the Pacific Northwest in 2003, to prepare for service in the public sector, she completed a Master’s degree in Public Administration at the Evans School at the the University of Washington and served as an MPA Intern to U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell. After graduating with her MPA, she returned to work in biotech but was appointed to the Washington State Board of Pharmacy (now the Pharmacy Assurance Commission) by Governor Christine Gregoire in 2007. She also served on the Foundation Board of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington where she advocated for medically accurate health education in schools and access to medicines. She is a past Board member of the Children’s Institute for Learning Differences, a school serving children with special needs. Following her passion to advocate and learn about women’s leadership, she has also served on delegations representing the Pacific NW, with the Center for Women and Democracy, to meet with women leaders in Morocco (2009) and Iceland (2015). Vandana currently serves on the boards of several non-profits including, Overlake Hospital Foundation, Farmer Frog, Global Social Business Partners, and was among the first community leaders trained for service with the City of Bellevue Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). In 2013, she ran for office as a candidate for Bellevue City Council, advancing through the primary, but not prevailing in the November 2013 general election. In her successful 2015 election campaign, she earned the endorsement of many local democratic leaders and progressive organizations representing minorities, the environment, and working families in the Pacific Northwest. Vandana and her husband and son have lived in Northeast Bellevue since 2003. Vandana’s husband of 27 years, Greg, is a research scientist. Their son graduated from high-school last June and proudly serves as a citizen-soldier in the Washington Army National Guard.
Vandana Slatter is a wonderful inspiration to me, to women everywhere but also for the South Asian community in general. Tune in to hear her talk – we will cover many issues! She has a wonderful story to share about a legendary leader in India we all know! Tune in on Tuesday November 10th at 10 am on Desi 1250 AM! You can listen on your radio or live online! Share your thoughts if you do join us!