This week’s speaker will be one of this years 2024 Young Alumni Achievement Award Winners, Erica Thunder!  Erica is a Senior Associate at K.L. Scott and Associates, also serving as the company's first Tribal Subject Matter Expert. 

Erica Thunder is a proud citizen of the MHA Nation (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara Nation) of Fort Berthold, North Dakota. She grew up in the Bottineau and Turtle Mountains of North Dakota and graduated from Bottineau High School.

Ms. Thunder’s Arikara and Hidatsa lineage proudly stems from Elbowoods, North Dakota. Her spiritual name, Te Hinuk, meaning “Lady of the Lake,” was gifted to her as an ode to her family’s original waterways near Elbowoods, as well as Lake Metigoshe in the Turtle Mountains, where she spent much of her formative years.

She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of North Dakota (UND) in 2011 and her Juris Doctor degree, along with a Certificate in Indian Law, from UND's School of Law in 2014. During law school, she clerked for the Tribal Judicial Institute at UND.

Upon graduating from UND Law School, Erica was hired by her Tribal Nation, MHA Nation, as a Staff Attorney for its Legal Department. She then served as a Staff Attorney and Project Facilitator for the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin’s Trial Court and its Department of Social Services.

In late 2016, Erica returned to North Dakota to serve as the Judicial Systems Administrator for the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission, where she played a vital role in strengthening relationships between the State and Tribal Nations.

In 2019, Erica became the first Native American and youngest person to serve as Labor Commissioner, leading the North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights. She also became the first Indigenous and youngest State Cabinet member to serve outside of the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission.

In 2020, Erica made history by simultaneously serving as the Interim Executive Director of the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission and North Dakota’s Labor Commissioner. She was the first Tribal citizen to hold two separate Cabinet positions while also serving as a Commissioner for North Dakota Indian Affairs.

Erica continues to serve as an At-Large Commissioner for the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission, as appointed by Governor Burgum, serving with three other At-Large Commissioners, and the five Tribal Chairpeople of MHA Nation, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Standing Rock, Spirit Lake, and Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate.

In 2022, Erica became North Dakota’s first Director of Diversity and Cultural Competency for the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, advancing the missions of public safety and equity for the Department.

As of June 2024, Erica is a Senior Associate at K.L. Scott and Associates, serving as their first Tribal Subject Matter Expert.

Erica was named North Dakota’s “Woman of the Year” by USA Today in 2021 and has received numerous awards from the State of North Dakota, including a Governor’s Award for Excellence.

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Join us for our next 18:83 Speaker Series!  Each week, we invite a campus or community leader to talk about how today's student can develop their leadership skills, as well as other advice regarding personal and professional development.  Each session will last approximately 18 minutes and 83 seconds coinciding with UND’s founding year of 1883.