about dave
In 2012, I was wrapping up a tour in Afghanistan, where I'd led the military's socio-economic development and civil society programs. Good work, meaningful work. We'd helped establish a national health care system, refurbished a hydroelectric dam, built roads and schools, helped restore a functioning court system.
I took leave home to Red Cliff — to reconnect with family and place. I sat across from my father at his kitchen table, a chipped green formica table in his single-wide, and told him about it. He listened. Then he said: "That's good. We have Facebook. I saw all that. We're all very proud of you. I just have one question. When are you going to do all that here?"
Things didn't change overnight. I still had commitments — with the Army, with DoD, with ongoing work that mattered. But that question put me on a path. Gradually, then entirely, I brought everything I'd learned — about governance and strategy, about building institutions under pressure, about what it takes to help communities determine their own futures — home.
That's what Nordin Solutions is.
the path here
My career began in national security and international affairs — military intelligence, strategic planning, and program management in some of the world's most complex environments. I spent years in Afghanistan building governance and economic development programs, advised the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on national intelligence policy, and led strategic communication for a $5 billion Native trust fund at the Department of the Interior.
After my father's question, the two threads of my career — national security and Indigenous affairs — began to merge. I became Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs at the Tohono O'odham Agency, representing the federal government's relationship with a sovereign nation of more than 2.7 million acres. I led a tribal business development corporation through a financial turnaround. I became an Associate Judge for the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa — the band my own family comes from.
Today I direct the Native Nations Institute at the University of Arizona, teach at Tohono O'odham Community College, and continue to serve on the bench. Nordin Solutions is where the rest of that work lives — strategic advising for tribes, federal agencies, foundations, and organizations navigating the same questions I've spent a career trying to answer.
Why “Nordin”
Nordin Solutions carries my father's name. It's a small thing on a website, but it matters to me — a way of honoring him, and the larger Red Cliff family and community that raised me, every time someone reads it.
Associate Judge, Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
background
M.A., U.S. History
M.A., Political Science & International Relations
Top Secret Security Clearance
Languages: English, Korean, Persian/Farsi
Associate Judge, Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Director, Native Nations Institute, University of Arizona
Former Superintendent, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Tohono O'odham Agency
Former Director of External Affairs, Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians, U.S. Department of the Interior
Former International Program Manager, Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Kabul, Afghanistan
Professor, Tohono O'odham Community College
let’s talk
I take on a limited number of consulting relationships at any time. If you're working on something where my background might be useful, I'd enjoy a conversation.
