Mercedes Krause (Oglala Lakota) was born and raised in Las Vegas, and is a dual-citizen of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Nation. She is a nationally recognized teacher who has worked extensively with international and tribal communities.

Mercedes is the Native American Alumni's Vice-chair, and she also currently serves as the Chair for the Clark County American Indian/Alaskan Native Democratic Caucus, Secretary for the State Native American Caucus, and serves on the Las Vegas Indian Center's Board, Clark County Dems Board, Battleborn Progress’ Board, and serves as Vice-chair of the Native American Alumni Club at UNLV. Additionally, she is working on a second master's degree in Native American Studies at Montana State University. She is a 2019 Emerge Alumni and serves on the Superintendent's Advisory Committee with the Nevada Department of Education and as a Commissioner on the Nevada Minority Affairs Commission (Housing Committee Co-chair and Education Committee Chair).