See What Other Entrepreneurs Say About Empowerment Workshop 2021
An overview of our annual workshop for entrepreneurs that highlights the resources and training available through Native360 Loan Fund.
Schatz Leads Committee Roundtable on Economic Sovereignty in Native Communities
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, led a roundtable discussion, “Investing in Economic Sovereignty: Leveraging Federal Financing for New and Sustained Development in Native Communities” to hear from the Department of the Treasury, the Department of the Interior, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and Native leaders from across the country.
In his opening statement, Schatz explained historical challenges and underscored how federal resources are advancing Native communities’ economic sovereignty.
“Access to capital for economic and community development is a longstanding issue within many Native communities. Unique barriers, such as the inability to easily collateralize trust land for home loans, compound disparities in already distressed economies,” said Chairman Schatz. “However, Congress’s recent allocation of billions of dollars in targeted resources to help Native communities recover from COVID-19 – including the biggest one-time investment in Native-serving programs in history through the American Rescue Plan – has changed the game. [These] new federal authorities and resources are making a difference on the ground.”
The following panelists participated in the roundtable:
- Mr. Clint Hastings, Associate Program Manager for Native Initiatives, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, U.S. Department of Treasury, Washington, D.C.
- Ms. Fatima Abbas, Senior Advisor, Office of Recovery Programs, U.S. Department of Treasury, Washington, D.C.
- Ms. K. Denise Edwards, Acting Director of the Office of Indian Economic Development and Chief of the Division of Economic Development, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C.
- Mr. Casey Lozar, Vice President, Center for Indian Country Development, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, MN
- The Honorable Arlan Melendez, Chairman, Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Reno, NV
- Mr. Kūhiō Lewis, President & Chief Executive Officer, Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA), Kapolei, HI
- Mr. Richard Frias, Executive Director, Native American Financial Officers Association (NAFOA), Washington, D.C.
- Mr. Pete Upton, Board Chairman, Native CDFI Network (NCN), Washington, D.C.
- Mr. Carl Marrs, Chief Executive Officer, Old Harbor Native Corporation, Old Harbor, AK
To view the full video of the hearing, click here.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Announces New Advisory Committee Members
WASHINGTON, D.C. – CFPB Acting Director Dave Uejio today announced the appointment of new members to the Consumer Advisory Board (CAB), Community Bank Advisory Council (CBAC), Credit Union Advisory Council (CUAC), and Academic Research Council (ARC). These committee members will advise Bureau leadership on a broad range of consumer financial issues and emerging market trends.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act charges the CFPB with establishing a CAB to advise and consult with the Bureau’s Director on a variety of consumer financial issues. The Bureau also created three councils: the CBAC, CUAC, and ARC. The CBAC and CUAC advise and consult with the Bureau on consumer financial issues related to community banks and credit unions. The ARC advises the Bureau on its strategic research planning process and research agenda and provides feedback on research methodologies, data collection strategies, and methods of analysis, including methodologies and strategies for quantifying the costs and benefits of regulatory actions.
The committee members include experts in consumer protection, financial services, consumer lending, economic justice, and consumer financial products and services as well as representatives of community banks and credit unions. Advisory committee membership reflects the expertise across the range of issues under the Bureau’s jurisdiction. Committee members serve two-year terms.
The following members will serve on each of their respective committees:
Consumer Advisory Board (CAB)
- Leigh Phillips (Chair), President and CEO, SaverLife (San Francisco, CA)
- Joaquin Altoro, Chief Executive Officer, Wisconsin Housing & Economic Development Authority (Madison, WI)
- Lorray Brown, Attorney/Consumer Law Attorney/Co-Director, Michigan Poverty Law Program (Ypsilanti, MI)
- Louis Caditz-Peck, Director, Public Policy, LendingClub (San Francisco, CA)
- Stephanie Carroll, Directing Attorney, Consumer Rights & Economic Justice, Public Counsel (Los Angeles, CA)
- David Ehrich, Executive Director, AIR – Alliance for Innovative Regulation (Washington, DC)
- Laurie Goodman, Director, Housing Finance Policy Center, Urban Institute (Washington, DC)
- Margaret Libby, Founder and CEO, MyPath (San Francisco, CA)
- Andres Navarrete, Executive Vice President, External Affairs, Capital One (McLean, VA)
- Beverly Ruggia, Financial Justice Program Director, New Jersey Citizen Action (Newark, NJ)
- Faith Schwartz, President, Housing Finance Strategies, LLC (Austin, TX)
- Ky Tran-Trong, Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Visa (Washington, DC)
- Pete Upton, Executive Director, Native360 Loan Fund, Inc. (Grand Island, NE)
- Mae Watson Grote, Founder and CEO, Change Machine (Brooklyn, NY)
Community Bank Advisory Council (CBAC)
- John Buhrmaster (Chair), President and CEO, First National Bank of Scotia (Scotia, NY)
- Barry Anderson, President – Chief Operations Officer, F&M Bank (Edmond, OK)
- Mary Buche, Senior Vice President/Consumer Lending Relationship Manager, Bank of Labor (Olathe, KS)
- Ronette Hauser-Jones, Mortgage Division President, Great Plains Bank (Oklahoma City, OK)
- Todd McDonald, Senior Vice President/Board Director, Liberty Bank & Trust Company (New Orleans, LA)
- Rebecca Melton, Senior Vice President/Chief Credit Officer, The National Bank of Blacksburg (Blacksburg, VA)
- Kristina Schaefer, General Counsel & Chief Risk Officer, Fishback Financial Corporation/First Bank & Trust (Brookings, SD)
- Michael Tucker, Chief Executive Officer, Greenfield Cooperative Bank (Greenfield, MA)
Credit Union Advisory Council (CUAC)
- Jose Iregui (Chair), Vice-President of Consumer Lending, Langley Federal Credit Union (Newport News, VA)
- Michael Daugherty, President, Community Plus Federal Credit Union (Rantoul, IL)
- Monica Davis, Senior Vice President Risk Management, Union Square Credit Union (Wichita Falls, TX)
- Michelle Dwyer, President/CEO, Franklin First Federal Credit Union (Greenfield, MA)
- Jeff Ivey, President/CEO, River City Federal Credit Union (San Antonio, TX)
- Jeremiah Kossen, President/CEO, Town and Country Credit Union (Minot, SD)
- Michael Levy, General Counsel, Travis Credit Union (Vacaville, CA)
- Deborah Wreden, EVP, Product & Delivery Strategy, Virginia Credit Union (Richmond, VA)
Academic Research Council (ARC)
- Vicki Bogan (Chair), Associate Professor, Cornell University (Ithaca, NY)
- Mathieu Despard, Associate Professor, University of North Carolina at Greensboro (Greensboro, NC)
- Eric Johnson, Norman Eig Professor of Business, Columbia University (New York, NY)
- Michael Staten, Professor and Associate Dean, University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ)
- Anthony Yezer, Professor of Economics, George Washington University (Washington, DC)
More information on the Bureau’s advisory committees can be found here.
Initiate Prosperity Snapshot
Creating Greater Collaboration
The arrival of COVID-19 caused stress and financial hardship for many business owners all across the world. Native360 Loan Fund knew that their assistance and technical trainings would be more valuable than ever to small, Native-owned business entrepreneurs, ag producers/gardeners to market, farmers and rachers. Meeting with these business owners in person wasn’t an option, but through the use of Zoom virtual meeting technology, Native360 continued to develop strong business leaders in the Nebraska, Iowa and southeastern South Dakota region.
Native360’s strategy through the pandemic was to focus on three types of technical assistance for business leaders: 1-on-1 business coaching; local, regional and national trainings through Zoom; and the use of self-study.
Initiate Prosperity
Within the first few months of the pandemic, Native360 had their training platform, Initiate Prosperity, up and running. This platform was designed by Northern Initiatives, a CDFI located in Michigan, and is both proven and intuitive.
Initiate Prosperity blends resources, methods of delivery and content to allow for greater collaboration. This concept benefits the Native entrepreneurs that Native360 serves locally and regionally, but also allows for collaboration with other Native CDFI’s to benefit their community by scaling and leveraging resources.
“Entrepreneurs’ most valuable resource is their time. Having access to this online business development platform 24/7 will provide support when our clients need it,” Pete Upton, Executive Director for Native360 Loan Fund, said. “Clients can remain at their location, practicing good COVID-19 safety, eliminating travel time and expense and increasing the likelihood of using the technical assistance and coaching services. This method of training helped to reach more Native entrepreneurs who are able to participate across our broad service area and connect with Native entrepreneurs across the several midwest regions.”
1-on-1 Coaching and Self-Study
One-on-one coaching provides entrepreneurs with trainings on an individualized and case-by-case basis. Native360 utilizes eight small business coaches and consultants to help business owners, ag producers/gardeners to market, farmers and ranchers on a variety of topics including money, marketing and management. These sessions are designed to provide business owners with customized guidance and coaching through business-related challenges.
Initiate Prosperity has also recognized the importance of self-study. The online platform provides clients with tools that allow for a deeper understanding of business-related topics including business planning, branding and financial management.
Trainings
Since the launch of Initiate Prosperity, a paradigm shift has taken place as a result of the program. Native360, partnered with two great plains CDFI’s, hosted a regional virtual training that connected 17 Native small business owners from three states. Each CDFI marketed the event to their database of clients and was able to bring a diversified group of business leaders together to share their knowledge and experiences.
“What Native360 has learned is that when all of the participants in the training are from the same community, they don’t share openly in fear of others in the group duplicating their competitive strategies or trade secrets,” Pete said. “By taking a collaborative approach with other Native CDFI’s and inviting Native clients from across the region to our virtual training sessions there were much more open discussions and interactions with the facilitators and entrepreneurs. The interaction and cooperation at this event was powerful.”
Zoom trainings have allowed for connection, a place for business leaders to bounce ideas off of one another, offer feedback and brainstorm new business ideas. The relationships that formed during these events last longer than the event itself.
These local, regional and national trainings provide more than knowledge for the entrepreneurs who attend. They put Native small business owners in direct contact with other Native small business owners in different industries and different backgrounds who bring different approaches to solving problems.
Native360 understands the challenges that small businesses face and actively works to help find the right solutions. They will continue using these, and many other resources, to strengthen the Native-owned business community.
New Site Helps Native360 Provide Training During Covid-19 and Beyond
The arrival of COVID-19 caused stress and financial hardship for many business owners all across the world. Native360 Loan Fund knew that their assistance and technical trainings would be more valuable than ever to small, Native-owned business entrepreneurs.
Meeting with these business owners in person wasn’t an option, but through the use of Zoom virtual meeting technology, Native360 continued to develop strong business leaders in the Nebraska, Iowa and southeastern South Dakota region.
Native360’s strategy through the pandemic was to focus on three types of technical assistance for business leaders: 1-on-1 business coaching; local, regional and national trainings through Zoom; and the use of self-study.
Initiate Prosperity
Within the first few months of the pandemic, Native360 had their training platform, Initiate Prosperity, up and running. This platform was designed by Northern Initiatives, a CDFI located in Michigan, and is both proven and intuitive.
Initiate Prosperity blends resources, methods of delivery and content to allow for greater collaboration. This concept benefits the Native entrepreneurs that Native360 serves locally and regionally, but also allows for collaboration with other Native CDFI’s to benefit their community by scaling and leveraging resources.
“Entrepreneurs’ most valuable resource is their time. Having access to this online business development platform 24/7 will provide support when our clients need it,” Pete Upton, Executive Director for Native360 Loan Fund, said. “Clients can remain at their location, practicing good COVID-19 safety, eliminating travel time and expense and increasing the likelihood of using the technical assistance and coaching services. This method of training helped to reach more Native entrepreneurs who are able to participate across our broad service area and connect with Native entrepreneurs across the several Midwest regions.”
1-on-1 Coaching and Self-Study
One-on-one coaching provides entrepreneurs with trainings on an individualized and case-by-case basis. Native360 has secured eight coaches to help business owners on a variety of topics including money, marketing and management. These sessions are designed to provide business owners with customized guidance and coaching through business-related challenges.
Initiate Prosperity has also recognized the importance of self-study. The online platform provides clients with tools that allow for a deeper understanding of business-related topics including business planning, branding and financial management.
Trainings
Since the launch of Initiate Prosperity, a paradigm shift has taken place as a result of the program. Native360, partnered with two great plains CDFI’s, hosted a regional virtual training that connected 17 Native small business owners from three states. Each CDFI marketed the event to their database of clients and was able to bring a diversified group of business leaders together to share their knowledge and experiences.
“What Native360 has learned is that when all of the participants in the training are from the same community, they don’t share openly in fear of others in the group duplicating their competitive strategies or trade secrets,” Pete said. “By taking a collaborative approach with other Native CDFI’s and inviting Native clients from across the region to our virtual training sessions there were much more open discussions and interactions with the facilitators and entrepreneurs. The interaction and cooperation at this event was powerful.”
Zoom trainings have allowed for connection, a place for business leaders to bounce ideas off of one another, offer feedback and brainstorm new business ideas. The relationships that formed during these events last longer than the event itself.
These local, regional and national trainings provide more than knowledge for the entrepreneurs who attend. They put Native small business owners in direct contact with other Native small business owners in different industries and different backgrounds who bring different approaches to solving problems.
Native360 understands the challenges that small businesses face and actively works to help find the right solutions. They will continue using these, and many other resources, to strengthen the Native-owned business community.
N360 Executive Director Joins CDFI Call with Janet Yellen
Readout of Janet Yellen and Wally Adeyemo’s
meeting with CDFI and MDI CEOs
Treasury Secretary-designate Janet Yellen and Deputy Treasury Secretary-designate Wally Adeyemo met with a group of Presidents and CEOs representing local, regional and national Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) on the front lines of the economic crisis in urban, rural and tribal communities across the country on Monday.
Dr. Yellen opened the conversation by acknowledging the important role of CDFIs and MDIs in the U.S. economy, in delivering banking and lending services to low-income communities, communities of color and other unbanked and under-banked constituencies. Noting the $9 billion in funding for a new Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP) to provide low-cost, long-term capital for CDFIs and MDIs as well as the additional $3 billion investment in the CDFI Fund included in the COVID relief package moving through Congress, Dr. Yellen pledged to work with these specialized lenders to ensure that those funds are deployed efficiently and effectively to low- and moderate-income and minority communities that need it most.
Dr. Yellen and Mr. Adeyemo pledged their commitment to increasing CDFIs and MDIs’ small business lending capacity – including capital and technical capacity – so they can continue to expand and grow, and deliver support to those hardest-hit by this crisis, and lift up communities that have been denied access to mainstream banking and lending services.
The leaders thanked Dr. Yellen for raising concerns about income inequality and economic mobility during her tenure at the Federal Reserve, and echoed Dr. Yellen and Mr. Adeyemo’s desire to build stronger public-private partnerships to tackle the threat posed by economic inequality and the racial wealth gap.
Executive leaders from the following CDFIs and MDIs participated in Monday’s call:
- Lisa Mensah, Opportunity Finance Network (OFN)
- Frank Altman, Community Reinvestment Fund (CRF)
- Brian Argrett, City First Bank
- Betsy Biemann, Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI)
- Marla Bilonick, Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC)
- Bill Bynum, Hope Credit Union
- Martin Eakes, Self-Help Credit Union
- Donna Gambrell, Appalachian Community Capital
- Calvin Holmes, Chicago Community Loan Fund
- Jim King, Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises (FAHE)
- Jessie Lee, Renaissance Economic Development Corporation
- Inez Long, Black Business Investment Fund (BBIF)
- Joe Neri, IFF
- Pete Upton, Native 360 Loan Fund
- Luz Urrutia, Opportunity Fund
- Darren Williams, Southern Bancorp
Thanks for Helping Native360 #GrowWithGoogle
We’ve been selected as one of the five Nebraska nonprofits to win #GICNebraska, with a prize of $175,000 in grant funding and the best of Google’s training and tools.
Entrepreneurs from Five Tribal Nations Meet in Sioux City
Native360 Loan Fund hosted a two-day Native American Entrepreneurial Empowerment Workshop in association with RedWind Group on Dec. 5-6 in Sioux City, IA.
Native360 Executive Director Pete Upton provided a team of Native360 consultants to assist Native American entrepreneurs during the two-day event. Attendees from four states and five tribal nations — Ponca, Meskwaki, Seminole, Yankton Sioux and Cherokee — came with a variety of business and entrepreneurial backgrounds.