Lee Erickson
SADD Coordinator

Lee sees himself as a passionate idealist who has a good sense of what is going on inside of people and a pretty good understanding of what makes young people tick.  He jokingly admits to graduating with a Ph.D. from the University of Life.   

Lee has been the state coordinator of SADD since 1999.  There are two major driving forces behind Lee’s passion for SADD.  One is his love and understanding of young people; the other is the life changing loss of his beautiful 16-year-old daughter, Krista.  Krista was killed in a car crash involving a drunken college student.  Ironically, just three months before Krista’s crash, Lee was proposing a SADD chapter in his home town of Hillsboro, North Dakota. 

Lee has been married for 32 years to his lovely wife, Gerene, who attained her double Master’s in Management and Business Administration.  (Lee made it a point to learn along with her.)  Along with Krista, Lee and Gerene have two other beautiful children and a wonderful son-in-law.  Cory is finishing his degree in Communications from UND and is the resident ND SADD video wizard and web master.  Alyssa, a Concordia graduate, is an editor at Microsoft in Fargo, and their son-in-law, Cole, oversees the daily duties of the insurance agency Lee owns but does not have the time to devote to anymore. 

In his spare time, which is limited, Lee likes reading, golf, and keeping the yard looking good.  (He actually enjoys mowing the lawn!)  He has always enjoyed writing and would like to do some more of that in the future.  Lee is a real meat and potatoes kind of person.  He likes good rock music and keeping his mind busy and does not have time for negative attitudes. 

Lee believes that if young people feel valued by their communities they can be fantastic agents for change and further empower their peers and those younger than them to change the future.  Lee wants to be sure that young people in our Safe Communities Coalitions are actively engaged in the policy and programming initiatives and their voices are heard and respected by corresponding adult coalitions. 

Though there is never enough time or money, Lee tries not to get caught up in frustrations and keeps looking forward.  He loves the exchange of ideas and energies, and he enjoys the rewards of working with fantastic young people, passionate adults, Safe Communities Coordinators, Prevention Coordinators, and other state SADD Coordinators.