[2][3] Tate-Nadeau studied business at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, and was a member of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority.

In 1984, after the Dean of Woman at her school suggested it would help raise her GPA, she joined the Reserve Officer's Training Corps (ROTC).

[5][6] Credentialed in 2003 as a Certified Emergency Manager by the International Association of Emergency Managers, Tate-Nadeau also received Executive Certification in Counter-Terrorism - International Institute for Counter-Terrorism from the Lauder School of Government, Herzliya, Israel in 2013 and is a 2018 graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School Executive Leaders Program.

Prior to joining the Pritzker administration, Alicia Tate-Nadeau spent more than three decades with the Illinois National Guard.

Her time in the military included serving as the Assistant Adjutant General for the Illinois National Guard and concurrently as the Deputy Commanding General, Army National Guard, United States Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, as well as tours overseas with missions in Iraq and Israel.