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.
An overview of our annual workshop for entrepreneurs that highlights the resources and training available through Native360 Loan Fund.
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:
To view the full video of the hearing, click here.
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)
Community Bank Advisory Council (CBAC)
Credit Union Advisory Council (CUAC)
Academic Research Council (ARC)
More information on the Bureau’s advisory committees can be found here.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
Pictured: NCN Chairman Pete Upton, Congresswoman Deb Haaland, and Executive Director Jackson Brossy at meeting to discuss modernizing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) on August 27, 2019.(Photo: Native CDFI Network)
News Release
Native CDFI Network
The Native CDFI Network (NCN) will hold the first annual Policy Summit this week in Washington, D.C., on November 19-21. At the Summit, Native American-serving community development financial institutions (NCDFIs) will set policy priorities and then meet directly with Congress to advocate for strategies that will help grow Native economies.
Native CDFI Network is the only national nonprofit membership organization dedicated to Native Community Development Financial Institutions (NCDFIs), as defined by the U.S. Treasury CDFI Fund. The network was founded in 2009 by Native American-serving community development financial institutions serving American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians in rural, urban, and trust land communities. Nationally, there are 65 Treasury-Certified and 15 Emerging Native American-serving community development financial institutions in 23 states across the country. Native CDFI Network members are powerful vehicles delivering investment, economic, and housing capital across Indian Country.
Native American-serving community development financial institutions work primarily in tribal areas of the country to increase access to capital for small business, housing, consumer, and tribal or Native-owned economic development projects through the delivery of community-based loan fund programs, financial literacy, business training and the facilitation of investment instruments to underserved Native communities. These Native or Tribally controlled nonprofits are at the front line of growing assets, creating jobs, and building economies across Indian Country.
Native CDFI Network Chairperson Pete Upton of Native 360 Loan Fund stated, “we are looking forward to a lively and comprehensive discussion about our shared policy challenges. We will turn these challenges into action items so that together, we help build access to capital in our communities, create jobs, and grow our economies”
Upton added, “we have a packed agenda — discussion items include how to increase access to capital for Native American-serving community development financial institutions, modernizing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) so that banks are incentivized to invest in Indian Country, and how Native communities can have fair access to New Market Tax Credit allocations. Native American-serving community development financial institutions must be at the policy-making table, and we are here to make our voices heard.”
Native CDFI Network Policy Chairperson Robin Danner of the Homestead Loan Fund of Hawaii added, “the Policy Summit is where leaders in the Native American-serving community development financial institutions movement will meet to set the advocacy agenda for 2020 and beyond. Native American-serving community development financial institutions are creating jobs and growing assets all across the country, and Congress can help accelerate this growth. We invite anyone interested in advancing the Native American-serving community development financial institutions movement to attend.”
The meeting will feature a variety of speakers from Members of Congress, to executives of national community development organizations, to experts in Native American policy. Speakers include Native American Congresswomen Deb Haaland and Sharice Davids, Maurice Jones of LISC, Marietta Rodriguez of NeighborWorks America, Marion McFadden of Enterprise, Kevin Allis of the National Congress of American Indians, and Dante Desiderio of the Native American Finance Officers Association.
Native CDFI Network is partnering to hold the meeting at the National Indian Gaming Association’s Stanley Crooks Conference Center at 224 Second Street, SE, Washington, DC. On-site registration will be available on November 19 and 20.
More information on the Native CDFI Network can be found at:
facebook.com/nativecdfinetwork/
TO REGISTER CONTACT:
Brent Johnson
Native360 Loan Fund
308-850-1985
brent@native360.org
Pete Upton
Native360 Loan Fund
308-850-0303
pete@native360.org
REGISTER ONLINE AT:
https://www.nativesmallbusiness.org/native360_2019_2
Native American Entrepreneurial Empowerment Workshops are provided to native communities across the country through support from the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Native American Affairs (ONAA). ONAA contracted with RedWind to provide workshops through contract number: SBAHQ-17-F-0050.
Download a PDF flyer on the workshop.