Fresh Energy is pleased to welcome Erika Micke as our new senior associate, office administration on the Organizational Health team! As we work toward our ambitious Vision 2030 goals and continue to build a clean energy future that works for all Minnesotans, Erika plays a crucial behind-the-scenes role ensuring our team has everything they need to succeed. From managing office logistics to updating our inventory, Erika’s organizational skills and positive energy are already making a difference.
I sat down with Erika to learn more about her background, her role at Fresh Energy, and how she spends her time when she’s not keeping our office running smoothly.
Tell me about your background and how you ended up at Fresh Energy.
I was born and raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and my parents and sister still live there. I came to Minnesota for college at St. Olaf. I’m a certified history nerd, and I got my undergraduate degree in History with concentrations in Family Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies.
After college, I moved to the Twin Cities and worked as an administrative coordinator at an architecture and engineering firm for the last two years. I developed my love for making organizations run smoothly here, and I had a variety of responsibilities during my time there.
I led the charge on transitioning the organization to a new phone system in the cloud, massively overhauled our document management system, and edited various documents, contracts, and specifications for designing schools, government buildings, and medical facilities. I had to learn a lot of different acronyms for the architecture and engineering space, so I’ll have to mentally update those for the clean energy space instead.
When I saw this position open with Fresh Energy, I could tell the organization was a great team of supportive, professional, and inclusive people. I’m excited to make an impact with my position and with Fresh Energy as we work to decarbonize Minnesota.
What will you be doing at Fresh Energy?
My role is all about supporting our staff and making sure everyone has what they need to do their best work. I manage office operations and logistics, work with information technology, and help coordinate external partnerships alongside Mat and Steve.
I’ve already been doing a lot of organizing and cleaning — straightening up the office, going through our technology closet (which has been quite the project!), and helping Margaret with her calendar. I’m also looking into catering options for events and planning fun things for our team, like hopefully setting up a trivia session for our holiday party.
I know you had a really great experience during your undergrad studying abroad. Can you tell me about your studies in Greece and Turkiye?
Absolutely! During my senior year, I studied abroad in Greece for J-Term, which was absolutely incredible. We stayed in three different cities — Athens, Nafplion, and Thessaloniki — and we’d spend 12-hour days traveling to museums and archaeological sites. On my second day, we saw the Parthenon and the whole Acropolis site in Athens, and later we visited the Palamidi Fortress in Nafplion. It was amazing to be immersed in history like that!
Prior to that, I also did an archeological internship in Gazipasa, Turkiye, right on the Mediterranean coast. We were excavating the ancient site of Antiochia ad Cragum, and I got to pull up human and animal remains, old pottery shards, and even Byzantine-era coins! We didn’t have enough supplies for proper sifters, so we hand-sifted everything.
The best part was knowing that everything we uncovered was going to be held in the local museum. The Turkish locals were very supportive of our work because we were digging up their history. How many people get to live in Turkiye and say they’ve literally uncovered pieces of ancient history with their hands? It was an amazing experience, and I really enjoyed getting to see the history of the area with my own eyes.
What do you on your time off when you’re not keeping Fresh Energy operations running smoothly?
I’m a big crossword puzzle enthusiast! It started when my grandma would save issues of People magazine for me — they had pop culture crosswords that I loved doing. Now I have physical crossword books and two crossword apps on my phone, and I’ll do them whenever I have a spare minute.
I also really like napping, hanging out with my friends and family — especially at our lake cabin in the summer, where you can find me every weekend — and trying out different Mexican and burger restaurants around the Twin Cities.
Thanks, Erika! We’re excited to have you on the Fresh Energy team and for your help in keeping our organization effective.