Amber Frank ’26

Leaning Into a Bright Horizon

Amber Frank chose Berkeley Law largely because of its burgeoning Indigenous community and academic offerings. But even she is surprised at the huge, and immediate, payoff.

As a 1L, Frank got involved with the school’s Native American Law Students Association (NALSA) chapter and the student-led Native American Legal Assistance Project. A Ho-Chunk Nation citizen, she spent her spring break in Alaska on a Berkeley Law Alternative Service Trip working with the First Alaskans Institute, an Alaska Native advocacy organization.

At the same time, she’s helped grow the school’s resources for Indigenous students and scholars, through events organized by NALSA and the new Center for Indigenous Law and Justice and attending interviews with prospective faculty members.

EARLY INFLUENCE: Amber Frank ’26 was named national 1L of the year by the Native American Law Students Association. Photo by Tylor Norwood

Portrait photograph of Amber Frank smiling while wearing blue shirt and silver jewelry

EARLY INFLUENCE: Amber Frank ’26 was named national 1L of the year by the Native American Law Students Association. Photo by Tylor Norwood

Amber Frank ’26

Leaning Into a Bright Horizon

Amber Frank chose Berkeley Law largely because of its burgeoning Indigenous community and academic offerings. But even she is surprised at the huge, and immediate, payoff.

As a 1L, Frank got involved with the school’s Native American Law Students Association (NALSA) chapter and the student-led Native American Legal Assistance Project. A Ho-Chunk Nation citizen, she spent her spring break in Alaska on a Berkeley Law Alternative Service Trip working with the First Alaskans Institute, an Alaska Native advocacy organization.

At the same time, she’s helped grow the school’s resources for Indigenous students and scholars, through events organized by NALSA and the new Center for Indigenous Law and Justice and attending interviews with prospective faculty members.

“Berkeley Law felt like a place where I could thrive, study outside, join organizations and journals, be among incredibly driven and brilliant peers, and — perhaps most importantly — have the support of a strong Indigenous community to lean on,” Frank says.

She’s done extensive pro bono legal research, relishing the chance to affect tribal legal issues, and calls the Alaska trip “one of the highlights I never could have predicted.”

Frank attended the Federal Bar Association’s Indian Law Conference last spring with a number of classmates, reuniting with several friends she made before her 1L year during the two-month Pre-Law Summer Institute for American Indians and Alaska Natives, run by the American Indian Law Center.

At the conference, she was named 1L of the Year by the national NALSA group, and she’s co-leading the local chapter this year.

“That was a surprise, but what made it so special was that our NALSA chapter was one of the most represented, with 15 members and some of my best friends, including five 1Ls attending,” Frank says.

“Berkeley Law felt like a place where I could thrive, study outside, join organizations and journals, be among incredibly driven and brilliant peers, and have the support of a strong Indigenous community to lean on.”

She’s also on the student-run journal Ecology Law Quarterly and the Faculty Appointment Committee, and is vice chair of programs on the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources Public Land and Resources Committee. Frank was one of 12 Udall Interns at the U.S. Department of the Interior last summer, working in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs — a priceless opportunity to dig into the legal, structural, and regulatory challenges of federal Indian policy up close.

Over the rest of her law school career, Frank wants to learn more about water and natural resource law, Indian gaming, and cultural property law, and to advance her civil litigation skills. She’s grateful for the impact of her mentors, including the late activist Dennis Banks, who spurred her to expand her academic horizons to include courses in history and Native American Studies and pursue a master’s degree in Indigenous Peoples Law.

“While I studied the often-upsetting history of federal Indian policy, seeing Pueblo and Ho-Chunk women represented in Congress, and Deb Haaland’s elevation from congresswoman to Secretary of the Interior, was extremely impactful and emotional and inspired me to apply to law school,” says Frank, who got to meet Haaland and U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, another hero, while in D.C. “During the next couple years, I aspire to obtain the tools to strengthen the legal framework in favor of tribal self-determination, self-governance, and Native nation rebuilding.” — Gwyneth K. Shaw

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