Patrice H. Kunesh is a visiting law professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law and nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution focused on issues concerning economic development in Native communities.
Previously, Kunesh served as commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans at the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Native American Affairs. Kunesh was also appointed to the U.S. Treasury Community Development Advisory Board (CDFI Fund) as the representative for Native communities. In 2023, President Joe Biden nominated Kunesh to be the chair of the National Indian Gaming Commission.
Kunesh has held appointments as the Deputy Solicitor for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior and Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In addition, she was the inaugural director of the Center
for Indian Country Development, an economic policy research initiative at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Kunesh started her law career at the Native American Rights Fund and then served as in-house counsel to the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. She also held faculty positions at the University of South Dakota School of Law.
Kunesh graduated with a J.D. from the University of Colorado Law School and earned an M.P.A. from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.