2025 Election Bio for President:
Nick Archuleta
Nick Archuleta has proudly served as the President of North Dakota United since 2013.
Prior to being elected ND United president, Archuleta worked as a Spanish teacher at Century High School in Bismarck, a summer school History teacher at Bismarck High School, and as a Spanish and Social Sciences teacher in LeRoy, MN.
He graduated from Valley City State University having earned a bachelor’s degree with a double major in History and Spanish. Archuleta also earned an Advanced Professional Education master’s degree from the University of North Dakota.
In his capacity as NDU president, Archuleta oversees the overall governance of the organization. He works closely with both NEA and AFT regarding their relationships with our state affiliate. He serves as the organization’s spokesperson, as well as its chief lobbyist.
Archuleta meets frequently with stakeholder groups such as NDU locals, school boards, the governor's office, state legislators, and a variety of organizations whose goals and missions intersect those of North Dakota United. He also serves on various boards and commissions within the state and nationally. For example, Archuleta serves on the ND Indian Education Advisory Council, the K-12 Coordination Council, and the Prairie Public Broadcasting Board of Directors. Nationally, Archuleta has served on several committees, including the NEA Human and Civil Rights Committee, the AFT Teacher and Staff Shortage Task Force, the National Council of State Education Associations, and is the current Chairman of the NEA Foundation.
2025 Election Bio for Vice President - Education:
Alicia Bata
Alicia D. Bata teaches for the Valley-Edinburg school district on interactive television to high school students in Edinburg, Park River and Grafton schools.
She was elected and served as the National Education Association (NEA) Director for N.D. for two terms. She was appointed by NEA’s president to serve on the Human and Civil Rights Committee in Washington, D.C., also for two terms. She was selected to participate in the Magna Carta Human Rights Project by NEA, in conjunction with the National Union of Teachers (NUT) in England. She was voted by her peers on the NEA Board to be a delegate representing the U.S. at the World Congress of Education in South Africa. Bata is a National Trainer on the NEA Cultural Competence team.
Bata was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her first university degree was as a Literary English/Spanish Translator (Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires). She received her Bachelor of Arts degree, teaching certificate, ESL/Bilingual endorsement, and Master of Science degree in Education with a cognate in Bilingual Education from the University of North Dakota. She is married to a N.D. farmer, Bill, and has four children and four grandchildren.
2025 Election Bio for Vice President - Public Employees:
Gary Feist
Gary Feist has been a tax auditor for the Office of State Tax Commissioner for the last 30 years, and currently works in the corporate income tax section. He served as president of the North Dakota Public Employees Association for 12 years and is the current president of the North Dakota Public Employees statewide local.
He has held the office of NDU Vice President for Public Employees since 2013 and also serves as Vice Chair of AFT Public Employee Program and Policy Council. He is married, with three daughters, and lives in Bismarck.
2025 Election Bio for NEA Director & 2025 NEA RA Delegate:
Kala Christensen
Kala Christensen was born in Oak Harbor, WA. With her father serving in the Navy, she began her education at a DOD school on a naval base in California. After his retirement, her family moved to Bottineau, ND, where she later graduated from Bottineau High School in 2003.
She went on to attend Jamestown College, earning a double major in elementary education and Spanish while actively participating in SNDEA and the band.
Kala began her teaching career in Lakota, ND, where she spent five years teaching high school Spanish and 6th grade general education. In 2014, she completed a Master of Education in elementary education while teaching World Languages at the Grand Forks Air Force Base.
Currently, she teaches 7th grade ELA at Valley Middle School and plays an active role in her local education association as membership co-chair, negotiator, and member organizer.
NEA RA Delegates:
Dawn Hintz
Dawn Hintz, a math teacher at Bismarck High School, is a candidate for delegate to represent North Dakota United at the 2025 NEA Representative Assembly in Portland, OR, this summer.
Hintz serves as a building rep at BHS, an alternate to the BEA resolutions committee, and has previously attended NEA RA’s in Chicago, Ill., and Orlando, Fla. Originally from Minot, Hintz is a third-generation educator. All of her farnily's educators attended Minot State University. She just applied for her ND lifetime teaching certificate. She is married to Dave, who works as a medical equipment field technician. Their daughter, Amanda, works in Fargo and graduated from North Dakota State University with a degree in Ag Business. Their son, Cameron, will graduate from Bismarck State College with a degree in Cyber Security.
Angel Lindseth
Angel Lindseth is a school counselor for the Hope-Page School District in eastern ND. Angel received her bachelor’s degree from VCSU in Elementary Education and Psychology and her master’s degree from the University of Mary in School Counseling and currently she is working on her Educational Leadership doctoral degree.
Angel and her husband live in Page, ND. Together they have a blended family with six adult children and one grandchild. They enjoy going to sporting events, traveling, and relaxing at their lake home during the summer months. Angel was elected to the NDU Board of Directors to represent K-12 less than 600.
Crystal Michels
Crystal Michels was born and educated in North Dakota. She holds two bachelor’s degrees from Minot State University and a master’s degree from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
She teaches English and coaches Competitive Speech, winning teacher of the year in her district in 2023. Aside from teaching, Crystal sits in the MSU Summer Theatre Board as their president and serves as the membership coordinator for her local association. She is married to another teacher, Aaron, and they have two children, Tanner, and Xylia.
Alexis Rasset
Alexis Rasset, has been an educator since 2016. Prior to her educator role, she was a Special Education Support Professional for three and a half years. Rasset has been active in her local union as a building rep, served on the hospitality committee, and as President-Elect. She is also active at the state level, attending six NDU Delegate Assemblies, lobbying at the Capitol, joining a special education collective, and serving on the NDU Board of Directors as the Southwest Region Director for the Iast four years. She is also a union participant at the national level, including many NEA Representative Assemblies, AFT TEACH, and NEA Leadership Conference.
Michelle Strand
Michelle Strand, a science teacher at Fargo South High School, serves as the K-12 Greater than 600 Director on the NDU Board of Directors. She is a member of the ND United GROW Team and also serves on the Governance Committee and the At-Large Position for the Fargo Education Association Executive Board.
Strand was born in California as an “Air Force brat,” and said her family moved around a lot in her first few years. She spent most of her K-12 years in the F-M area. She has taught in Minnesota, Nebraska, and North Dakota in both public and private high schools as well as community colleges. This is her 31st year of teaching science, and she is currently at Fargo South High School. Strand was a recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching for North Dakota in 2017, and she is a National Board Certified teacher for high school science. In 2022, she was selected as one of 11 STEM teachers from across the country as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow.
She says it was a great honor to be the first North Dakota teacher selected for this honor in the 33 years of the program.
