Meet Vandana
State Representative Vandana Slatter (D, 48th District, Position 1) is a former Bellevue City Councilmember, community leader, public school parent, and biotech and healthcare professional.
A Doctor of Pharmacy (UW), Vandana has worked for the past twenty-plus years at leading biotechnology companies, including Amgen and Genentech, bringing multiple parties together, making sense of complex information, and achieving safe and efficient solutions to best serve patients. She is a licensed pharmacist in the State of Washington.
While obtaining her Master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA) from the University of Washington, the same professional postgraduate degree held by many city managers and non-profit leaders, Vandana served as an intern to U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell. She was appointed to a 4-year term on Washington State Board of Pharmacy by Governor Christine Gregoire in 2007. She also served on the Foundation Board of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington. In 2009, Vandana traveled with the Center for Women and Democracy (CWD) to Morocco in a delegation led by State Senate Leader Lisa Brown and in 2015, to Iceland as part of the organization’s mission to advance women’s leadership locally, nationally and globally. She has also traveled to China representing Bellevue, with the Trade Development Association, and a delegation of NW political and business leaders.
On the Advisory Boards of local non-profits, Global Social Business Partners (GSBP) and Farmer Frog, she helped establish a Lake Hills Greenbelt urban farm with a social business focus where healthy organic produce can be provided to low-income households at an affordable cost. In 2014, along with approximately 30 neighborhood leaders Vandana completed the first ever City of Bellevue Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training course.
Vandana served on the Overlake Hospital Foundation’s Board of Trustees and has helped raise funds supporting the Cancer Center at Overlake and mental health programs on the Eastside. Vandana is also a past board member of the Children’s Institute for Learning Differences, a school serving children with special needs.
Vandana reflects on the importance of representation and being the first Indian-American elected to the Washington State House of Representatives.
Elected as a Bellevue City Councilmember in 2015, Vandana sat on eight different committees, including Council liaison to four City Commissions/Committees, covering areas such as transportation, youth, public safety, environment, and economic development. As a councilmember, she helped to pass a 1.5 B city budget and worked on issues including affordable housing, technology & innovation, public safety, and transportation.
In 2017, she was appointed as the State House Representative for the 48th Legislative District. As a representative she has sponsored and passed legislation to help homeless youth access government services, improve collection of educational data, and create a tax exemption for low income housing. She has also sponsored legislation to reduce Washington’s greenhouse gas emissions to those consistent with the Paris Climate Accord and to develop regional air travel through electric or hybrid-electric aircraft.She is co-chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology (ScItech) Caucus and a member of the Members of Color Caucus (MOCC).
Vandana is also a graduate of the University of British Columbia (B.Sc. Pharmaceutical Sciences). At UBC, she earned a varsity athletic letter in the sport of fencing, was captain of the UBC women’s varsity fencing team and a gold medalist at the BC Junior Women’s foil championships.
Vandana and her family have lived in Northeast Bellevue since 2003. Her husband Greg is a research scientist.