Ocean Munds-Dry spent almost fifteen years immersed in the study of ballet, and the discipline of the studio — hours of repetition, the composure to perform under pressure, the ability to communicate through presence as much as words — turned out to be excellent preparation for a career in law and government relations. The training that once meant holding a room’s attention on stage translates just as well to holding it in a hearing room or in a regulator’s office.
For four years before law school, she worked for U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman, handling constituent services and economic development issues across Northern New Mexico — an early, ground-level education in how policy actually reaches people and the importance of relationships when working towards a professional goal.
That experience pointed her toward law. Ocean earned her B.A. in Government from New Mexico State University in 1996, then her J.D. from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2004. She started her legal career in private practice, representing clients before regulatory agencies with a particular focus on New Mexico’s Oil Conservation Division — work that set the trajectory for the next two decades.
From there, she moved in-house, taking on progressively larger roles across some of the region’s leading energy companies: Associate General Counsel at Concho Resources, Managing Counsel at ConocoPhillips, Associate General Counsel, and then Director of Government Affairs & Regulatory Policy at Civitas Resources.
Today, Ocean is Director of External Affairs at SM Energy, where she oversees government affairs, regulatory policy, community relations, and communications across the four states where SM operates. The role draws on nearly everything that came before it: legal precision, regulatory fluency, and an early instinct for connecting policy decisions to the people they affect.
Ocean now channels that lifelong love of dance into supporting NDI’s mission to give New Mexico’s children the chance to discover their own love and joy of movement. She and her spouse, Randy, are raising two children to be active, curious citizens of the world, and the family is happiest exploring new places and being outdoors. Ocean also gardens and rides her bike long distances whenever she can.
