MayKao Y. Hang, president and CEO, Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, St. Paul, has been appointed to the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

Hang  was named president and CEO of the Wilder Foundation, a nonprofit health and human service agency, in 2010 and was formerly its director of Children and Family Services, having spent most of her career working to improve the lives of those who are disadvantaged. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Brown University and a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Minnesota.

Hang serves on the boards of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Twin Cities LISC and Minnesota Philanthropy Partners. She received the Ann Bancroft Dream Maker Award in 2009 for supporting women and girls and was a Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal 40 under 40 honoree in 2010.

The Minneapolis Fed has a nine-member board of directors. Three represent the interests of banking in the district and are elected by banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. The other six represent the general public, which includes business, agriculture, labor and consumers.

Of these, three are elected by member banks and three are appointed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C. Hang was appointed by the Board of Governors.

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.

As one of the 12 Federal Reserve banks, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis contributes to a variety of Federal Reserve System functions, including operation of a nationwide payments system, distribution of the nation’s currency and coin, supervision and regulation of member banks and bank holding companies, and serving as a fiscal agent for the U.S. Treasury.

Additionally, the president of the Minneapolis Fed serves as a member of the Federal Open Market Committee, the monetary policymaking arm of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors. Together with its branch in Helena, Mont., the Minneapolis Fed serves the Ninth Federal Reserve District, which includes Minnesota, Montana, North and South Dakota, 26 counties in northwestern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.