Nadya Bucklin grew up in Southwest Minnesota and earned her B.A. in global studies and her master's of development practice (MDP) from the University of Minnesota — Twin Cities. Before moving back to Southwest Minnesota and joining the Southwest Regional Development Commission, she spent considerable time in the Twin Cities area as well as abroad, working in the childcare, teaching English as a foreign language, and in the non-profit sectors. She also served with AmeriCorps as a family and community engagement liaison for a charter school in Minneapolis. She is currently working with CERTs through the SRDC office. When not involved in SRDC and CERTs work, she enjoys spending time outdoors, hanging out with cats, and traveling.