CVNM Board Director
Nadine Padilla is Navajo and Pueblo (Isleta/Laguna) from Bluewater Lake, NM. She is on the faculty of the UNM School of Law, where she works closely with tribes on water issues. She also graduated from the UNM Law School with a Natural Resources and Environmental Law Certificate and Clinical Honors.
She was the Co-Editor-in-Chief for the Natural Resources Journal, a writing tutor for first year law students, a volunteer with the Native American Law Student Association, and a Teaching Assistant for the Pre-Law Summer Institute program. Prior to joining the Law School faculty, Nadine served as the Deputy Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department. She was a staff attorney at the New Mexico Environmental Law Center before that, and has over a decade of experience working with tribes and environmental justice communities. Prior to law school, Nadine was the first coordinator for the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment and worked with grassroots organizations to protect sacred sites, including Mt. Taylor.