Difference Makers

The Treasurer Visits Blackfeet

U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach recently traveled to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Browning, Montana, for his first trip to Montana since taking office — part of a broader swing through Indian Country that also included visits to the Flathead and Coeur d’Alene reservations. In Episode 6 of Difference Makers 3.0, Brian Edwards and Native CDFI Network CEO Pete Upton sit down with Beach after a day of touring Native-owned businesses, meeting with tribal leaders and Native lenders, and attending a regional gathering hosted by Native CDFI Network and NACDC Financial Services. The conversation explores infrastructure, banking access, broadband connectivity, private investment, federal contracting and the barriers tribes still face attracting outside capital. Beach also discusses why he believes tribes possess major economic advantages many policymakers still underestimate — including sovereignty, entrepreneurial energy and cultural ties that encourage younger citizens to return home. Along the way, the episode touches on Native CDFIs, financial literacy, diversification beyond gaming and the challenge of building long-term economic growth in rural reservation communities. Show Notes: Native CDFI Network https://nativecdfi.net/ [https://nativecdfi.net/] NACDC Financial Services https://nacdcfinancialservices.com/ [https://nacdcfinancialservices.com/] Tribal Business News https://tribalbusinessnews.com/ [https://tribalbusinessnews.com/] U.S. Treasury Office of Tribal and Native Affairs https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/tribal-affairs [https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/tribal-affairs] Difference Makers explores how Native community development financial institutions (CDFIs) are expanding economic opportunity across Indian Country. From small business lending and homeownership to consumer loans, financial education, and technical assistance, Native CDFIs provide the capital and support that help Native communities build stronger local economies. Join the Native CDFI Network [https://nativecdfi.net/] and Tribal Business News [https://my.tribalbusinessnews.com/] as they spotlight the people, partnerships, and ideas driving economic change in Native communities.

The Next Builders

There are about 65 certified Native community development financial institutions (CDFIs) in the United States — roughly the same number as a decade ago. But that’s starting to change. In Episode 5 of Difference Makers 3.0, Brian Edwards speaks with leaders building new Native CDFIs in Oklahoma, Hawai‘i and the Northeast — part of a growing wave of more than 30 emerging efforts working to expand access to capital in communities that still don’t have it. The episode features Kristen Wagner of the Native CDFI Network, along with Riley Logsdon and Chris Coburn of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Community Development Corporation, Olani Lilly of Changemakers Community Economic Development, and Alexander “Brave Journey” Sterling of Turtle Island Community Capital. Together, their stories show how the next generation of Native CDFIs is taking shape — not through a single model, but through approaches grounded in the needs, values and realities of the communities they serve. In Oklahoma, a tribally affiliated lending organization is building toward certification while expanding access to small business and consumer lending in communities where predatory lending remains common. In Hawai‘i, a community development organization is using finance as one tool within a broader, relationship-based approach — rooted in culture, community and long-term resilience. And in the Northeast, a new Native CDFI effort is identifying significant unmet demand in a region that has historically lacked access to Native-led capital, with one estimate pointing to at least $180 million in investable opportunities. In this episode: * Why the number of Native CDFIs has remained relatively flat — and what’s changing * How more than 30 emerging Native CDFIs are working toward certification * What it takes to build a Native CDFI from the ground up * How tribally affiliated lending models are developing in Oklahoma * Why consumer lending matters in communities facing predatory lending * How Native Hawaiian leaders are rethinking finance as a relationship-based system * The scale of unmet demand for capital in regions like the Northeast * What drives the next generation of Native CDFI leaders Reading & Resources 🔗 Native CDFI Network RISE Initiative https://nativecdfi.net/institute/ncn-ris [https://nativecdfi.net/institute/ncn-rise/] 🔗 Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Community Development Corporation https://cheyenneandarapahocdc.org/ [https://cheyenneandarapahocdc.org/] 🔗 Changemakers Community Economic Development https://changemakershawaii.org/ [https://changemakershawaii.org/] 🔗 Turtle Island Community Capital https://turtleislandcommunitycapital.org/ [https://turtleislandcommunitycapital.org/] Difference Makers explores how Native community development financial institutions (CDFIs) are expanding economic opportunity across Indian Country. From small business lending and homeownership to consumer loans, financial education, and technical assistance, Native CDFIs provide the capital and support that help Native communities build stronger local economies. Join the Native CDFI Network [https://nativecdfi.net/] and Tribal Business News [https://my.tribalbusinessnews.com/] as they spotlight the people, partnerships, and ideas driving economic change in Native communities.

The Flour Mill

Large-scale economic development deals in Indian Country are typically financed through complex capital stacks — combining banks, tax credits and outside investors — with Native CDFIs often left out. That may be starting to change. In Episode 4 of Difference Makers 3.0, Brian Edwards and Pete Upton speak with Ted Piccolo and Stephen Nunes of Mission Driven Finance about a $65 million flour mill project on the Umatilla Indian Reservation — and how Native CDFIs helped finance a critical piece of the deal. The Blue Mountain Mill project brought together tribal equity, senior debt from Native American Bank and a $9 million subordinated loan from eight Native CDFIs across the country. In this conversation, Piccolo and Nunes explain how that financing came together, why Native lenders were brought in early, and how a collaborative structure — what Piccolo calls a “capital weave” — could shape future Native-led projects.  In this episode: • How eight Native CDFIs came together to finance a $9M gap in the capital stack  • Why Native lenders have historically been left out of larger deals  • How the “missing middle” can stall projects — and how it was filled  • What a “capital weave” is — and how it works in practice  • How participation builds capacity for Native CDFIs to take on larger deals  • Why this model could extend to energy, infrastructure and other sectors Reading & Resources: 🔗 Mission Driven Finance  https://missiondrivenfinance.com [https://www.missiondrivenfinance.com/] 🔗 Native CDFI Network  https://nativecdfi.net [https://nativecdfi.net/] 🔗 Tribal Business News coverage of the Blue Mountain Mill  https://tribalbusinessnews.com [https://tribalbusinessnews.com/sections/finance/15289-native-cdfis-partner-in-9m-investment-for-flour-mill-on-umatilla-reservation] Difference Makers explores how Native community development financial institutions (CDFIs) are expanding economic opportunity across Indian Country. From small business lending and homeownership to consumer loans, financial education, and technical assistance, Native CDFIs provide the capital and support that help Native communities build stronger local economies. Join the Native CDFI Network [https://nativecdfi.net/] and Tribal Business News [https://my.tribalbusinessnews.com/] as they spotlight the people, partnerships, and ideas driving economic change in Native communities.

Philanthropy’s Blind Spot

Native communities receive less than one-half of 1% of philanthropic funding in the United States — roughly four or five dollars for every thousand dollars foundations give away. In Episode 3 of Difference Makers 3.0, Brian Edwards speaks with Kevin Walker, President and CEO of the Northwest Area Foundation, about why Indian Country remains on the margins of mainstream philanthropy — and what changes when foundations choose to build deep relationships with Native communities. Under Walker’s leadership, Northwest Area Foundation made a public commitment that 40% of its grant dollars go to Native-led organizations — a level of sustained investment that stands out in the philanthropic sector. In this conversation, Walker reflects on how that decision emerged, what philanthropy often misunderstands about Indian Country, and why Native CDFIs represent one of the clearest opportunities for measurable economic impact. In this episode: • Why Native communities receive less than 0.5% of philanthropic funding • How NWAF committed to directing 40% of its grants to Native-led organizations • What philanthropy often gets wrong about Indian Country • The difference between a deficit mindset and an opportunity mindset • Why Native CDFIs are powerful drivers of local economic development • How foundations can move beyond land acknowledgments toward real accountability Reading & Resources: 🔗 Northwest Area Foundation https://www.nwaf.org [https://www.nwaf.org] 🔗 NWAF Native-led work approach https://www.nwaf.org/approach/native-led-work/ [https://www.nwaf.org/approach/native-led-work/] 🔗 NWAF strategy supporting Native CDFIs https://www.nwaf.org/approach/native-cdfis/ [https://www.nwaf.org/approach/native-cdfis/] 🔗 Native CDFI Network https://nativecdfi.net [https://nativecdfi.net] Difference Makers explores how Native community development financial institutions (CDFIs) are expanding economic opportunity across Indian Country. From small business lending and homeownership to consumer loans, financial education, and technical assistance, Native CDFIs provide the capital and support that help Native communities build stronger local economies. Join the Native CDFI Network [https://nativecdfi.net/] and Tribal Business News [https://my.tribalbusinessnews.com/] as they spotlight the people, partnerships, and ideas driving economic change in Native communities.

From Policy to Practice

How Native CDFIs grew from federal study into a sovereign finance movement In 2001, the U.S. Treasury Department released the Native American Lending Study, identifying 17 structural barriers to capital access in Indian Country. The report helped catalyze what would become the modern Native CDFI movement. Fifteen years later, Treasury published a follow-up report, Access to Capital and Credit in Native Communities (2016), examining how the sector had evolved. In this episode of Difference Makers 3.0, researcher Miriam R. Jorgensen of the Harvard Project on Indigenous Governance and Development and the Native Nations Institute joins Brian Edwards and Pete Upton to discuss: * Why the 2001 study was pivotal * How Native CDFIs grew from roughly 10 institutions to nearly 70 * Why capitalization remains a challenge * The role of tribal government investment * How Native CDFIs evolved from microloans to complex capital stacks * What happens if federal support changes 🔗 Read the 2001 Native American Lending Study [https://www.cdfifund.gov/system/files/documents/2001_nacta_lending_study.pdf] (U.S. Treasury PDF). 🔗 Read the 2016 report, Access to Capital and Credit in Native Communities.  [https://nnigovernance.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/2022-09/Accessing_Capital_and_Credit_in_Native_Communities_0.pdf]Written by Miriam R. Jorgensen, Research Director at the Native Nations Institute and the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development. Funded by the U.S. Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, with additional support from the Morris K. and Stewart L. Udall Foundation.  🎧 Listen now:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2352819/episodes/18718249 [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2352819/episodes/18718249] Difference Makers explores how Native community development financial institutions (CDFIs) are expanding economic opportunity across Indian Country. From small business lending and homeownership to consumer loans, financial education, and technical assistance, Native CDFIs provide the capital and support that help Native communities build stronger local economies. Join the Native CDFI Network [https://nativecdfi.net/] and Tribal Business News [https://my.tribalbusinessnews.com/] as they spotlight the people, partnerships, and ideas driving economic change in Native communities.