Jeff Harmening has been appointed as a Class C director and Bernie Sinner has been elected as a Class A director to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Board of Directors for standard three-year terms beginning January 1, 2026. Lakota Vogel, current Class B director, was reelected to a second three-year term beginning January 1, 2026.
Elections were held in accordance with the Federal Reserve Act and under the direction of outgoing Chair Chris Hilger. The appointment was made by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System also in accordance with the Federal Reserve Act.
Jeff Harmening was appointed to serve as a Class C director. Harmening is chairman and CEO of General Mills, where he has worked since 1994. He has held leadership positions for the company in the United States and Europe, and previously served as president and chief operating officer. He began his career as a financial analyst with Eli Lilly and Company. Harmening is a graduate of DePauw University and received his MBA from Harvard.
Bernie Sinner was elected by Ninth District member banks to serve as a Class A director. Sinner is president and senior lending officer of BankNorth in Casselton, North Dakota. Sinner has worked at BankNorth since 1999 in positions of increasing responsibility, including serving as president of the Casselton branch. Sinner has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Saint John’s University in Minnesota and attended the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Harmening and Sinner succeed outgoing Directors Chris Hilger and Brenda Foster, respectively, whose terms expired at the end of 2025. The Federal Reserve Board of Governors designated current Class C Directors Paul Williams as chair and Jay Debertin as deputy chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis for 2026.
The Minneapolis Fed’s nine directors represent a cross section of the Ninth District. Class A directors are elected to the board by member banks to represent member banks. Class B and C directors represent the public and the many sectors of the economy. Class B directors are elected to the board by member banks, while Class C directors are appointed by the Board of Governors, which also designates the board’s chair and deputy chair from among its three appointees.
The responsibilities of directors are broad, ranging from overseeing the general operations of the Minneapolis Fed to reporting on district economic conditions. This information helps prepare the Minneapolis Fed president for participation in Federal Open Market Committee meetings, where decisions are made about monetary policy. For more information and to see all serving directors, visit the Board of Directors page.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that, with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the Federal Reserve System, the nation’s central bank. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is responsible for the Ninth Federal Reserve District, which includes Montana, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis participates in setting national monetary policy, supervises numerous banking organizations, and provides a variety of payments services to financial institutions and the U.S. government.