Kathryn Burgum (formerly Helgaas) is the American behavioral health reform and addiction recovery advocacy First Lady of North Dakota, a prolific public speaker, and a recovery advocate. She is the wife of the current U.S. Secretary of the Interior and former Governor of North Dakota, Doug Burgum. Kathryn Burgum is an author and national expert on addiction, mental health, and reducing stigma based on her lived experience of long-term recovery. Her work has shaped state policy initiatives, and by 2026, she shifted to a national advisory position related to federal recovery efforts.
Kathryn Burgum Biography | |
|---|---|
| Real Name: | Kathryn Helgaas Burgum |
| Birth Date: | 1960s |
| Age (as of 2026): | 60s |
| Birthplace: | Jamestown, North Dakota, USA |
| Parents: | Maynard Helgaas |
| Husband: | Doug Burgum |
Early Life
Kathryn Burgum was brought up in Jamestown, North Dakota, and she was brought up in a small, business family. She was the second lastborn in a family of four, and her family owned a John Deere agricultural equipment company for over a 30-year period. This is the setting where she was introduced at a young age to work, responsibility, and community involvement. She was hired in the parts department of the family business, an experience that she has mentioned as instrumental in instilling discipline and accountability in her.
She went to Jamestown High School, where she graduated with honors and was a part of cheerleading, varsity tennis, and choir. Kathryn subsequently furthered her studies in another state and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in retail business at Arizona State University. She pursued her education by getting a Master of Business Administration in human resources at the University of North Texas. These scholarly roots facilitated a long career in the profession before joining the political sphere and activism.
Kathryn Burgum Career
Prior to entering the sphere of public advocacy, Kathryn Burgum had spent roughly 25 years in the sphere of marketing and human resources in the context of a number of industries, such as software, biotechnology, manufacturing, and real estate. She had spent her time in corporations working on organizational development, talent management, and communications, which equipped her with leadership skills that were later used in large-scale public efforts.
Her open career started when she became the First Lady of North Dakota in 2016. Through her time in office (2016-2024), she focused almost all of her attention on behavioral health reform. She served as the chair of the advisory council of Recovery Reinvented, a statewide program that focused on abolishing the stigma of addiction and rebranding substance use disorder as a chronic illness as opposed to a vice. Recovery Reinvented, led by her, united policymakers, healthcare providers, law enforcement, educators, and individuals in recovery to create systemic change.
Kathryn was also a trustee in the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, which is one of the leading addiction treatment and research centers in the United States. In this position, she also gave her input in national discussions on evidence-based treatment and prevention, as well as long-term recovery support.
In January 2026, Kathryn Burgum switched to an advisory role at the national level concerning addiction recovery in the Trump administration. She served as the Senior Adviser on Addiction Recovery, which was part of the Great American Recovery Initiative of the White House. In this position, she draws upon her own experience and policy experience to assist in shaping federal policy on addiction, overdose prevention, and mental health awareness.
Social Media
Kathryn Burgum is quite a low-key yet intentional user of social media, mostly via Instagram under the chosen username, which is @kathrynburgum. She writes about recovery advocacy, mental health awareness, speaking engagements, and reflections about her efforts to support behavioral health efforts.
Kathryn Burgum does not engage in personal branding using social platforms as many of these prominent personalities do; instead, she uses them as a teaching and inspiring resource, frequently posting content that focuses on hope, responsibility, and compassion toward individuals and families impacted by addiction. She has a fairly limited follower base on social media, which represents her choice of substance-based communication versus visibility-oriented interaction with followers.
Personal Life
Kathryn Burgum is the wife of Doug Burgum. The two got married in 2016, having been together for a number of years. Doug Burgum even offered a betrothal in a barn on their property, an aspect he has been interviewed about and publicly released. Kathryn and Doug were both married to other people before getting married.
They do not bear any children of their own; Kathryn is stepmother to the three grown-up children of Doug Burgum, who was married before. The family has been living mainly in North Dakota under the administration of Doug Burgum as the governor, and subsequently, they have been living in Manhattan as the national obligations spread out.
Kathryn Burgum Net Worth
The personal net worth of Kathryn Burgum is not publicly announced, and no proven financial estimation is attributed to her personal assets. She has a long history of corporate employment and nonprofit board service, with no publicly disclosed ownership interests or investment portfolios.
Her husband, Doug Burgum, has a net worth that is highly publicized to be over 100 million dollars, made through the sale of Great Plains Software to Microsoft. Whereas Kathryn enjoys the mutual assets of marriage, no legitimate sources segregate or evaluate her individual net worth.