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Sarah Oquist
Secretary
Sarah Oquist is a national speaker and leadership consultant. She serves on the board of directors of six companies- two for-profit and four nonprofit companies. For over three decades, Sarah has been leading and managing others, learning through hands-on experience to engage, inspire, and effectively lead individuals, teams, and companies to transformational change and sustainable success. She began her combined legal, business career as a commercial finance lawyer at Faegre, then as primary international in-house lawyer for U.S. Bank, next as CEO/board chair of the hospitality conglomerate that owns Grand Casinos Minnesota, then as COO/co-founder of a commercial litigation law firm. Now, Sarah devotes her time to speaking, writing, and advising in the areas of team optimization, corporate governance, and leadership impact.
Among her honors, Sarah received the Minnesota Lawyer’s 2020 Diversity & Inclusion Award for going above and beyond in her efforts to create a more diverse and inclusive community, and the Twin Cities Business’ 2021 Notable Women in Commercial Banking for best-in-class executives and leaders. After facilitating an inclusion workshop with the FBI in Minneapolis, Sarah was invited into the FBI's Citizens Academy. Among her credentials, Sarah is a certified individual executive coach and a team, organization, and relationship systems coach.
Current board service includes Management HQ, Walker Art Center (Treasurer), and Woodlands National Bank.
Sarah is an enrolled member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. She grew up in rural Arkansas, and now resides in a Minneapolis suburb with her husband and three children. In her free time, Sarah enjoys golfing, spending time with her family at their lake home, and coaching youth basketball, even coaching her daughter’s team to a Grade State Championship in 2022.