2023 Summit Speakers - Native CDFI

Dave Uejio

Strategy Program Manager | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Dave Uejio is a strategy program manager at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in Washington, D.C. In that role, he provides strategic support to help the bureau achieve its mission of making markets for consumer financial products and services work for Americans. Dave originally joined CFPB as its first Lead for Talent Acquisition, where he created a unique recruiting program to support the start-up of this highly visible 21st century federal agency. He has a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.

Dilawar Syed

Deputy Administrator | U.S. Small Business Administration

Dilawar Syed comes to SBA from the State Department where he championed American businesses as Special Representative for Commercial & Business Affairs. As the State Department’s top commercial diplomat, Deputy Administrator Syed advocated for U.S. companies to compete and win abroad and helped ensure U.S. competitiveness in markets across the globe. In this role, he mobilized the private sector to support the people of Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s invasion and advocated for commercial deals in strategic sectors such as aviation and defense, energy, and technology,

Before joining the Biden Administration, Syed was CEO at Lumiata, an AI healthcare company focused on reducing healthcare costs and improving patient outcomes. Previously, Syed was President at the software company Freshworks. Earlier in his career, Syed oversaw business operations for Yahoo!’s platforms and infrastructure and was a product manager at Siebel Systems and SAP.

Dilawar Syed has driven civic efforts at the federal, state, and local level focusing on economic growth and entrepreneurship. As the founding Chair of the California Entrepreneurship Task Force with the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, Syed promoted inclusive entrepreneurship. He served on President Obama’s White House Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and chaired the White House Initiative on AAPIs’ Economic Growth Committee. In that role, Syed led the administration’s engagement with small businesses across the U.S. after the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In 2020, Syed was tapped by San Jose, Calif. Mayor Sam Liccardo to help lead Silicon Valley’s pandemic economic recovery as a member of the Silicon Valley Recovery Roundtable.

Syed holds an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and earned a B.A. in Economics and Computer Science from The University of Texas at Austin.

Mary Miner

VP, Community Development | Alaska Growth Capital BIDCO, Inc.

Mary Miner is responsible for Alaska Growth Capital’s community development initiatives and is passionate about the success of Alaska’s communities. In her role as VP of Community Development, Miner manages AGC’s community outreach, entrepreneur technical assistance, and CDFI Fund initiatives. Born and raised in Alaska, Miner grew up supporting her family’s commercial fishing business in the Bristol Bay region of the state. After earning both a BA in International Studies and a Master of Science in Public Service Management from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, and living and working around the world, Miner returned to Alaska to pursue community development in her home state. Prior to joining AGC, Miner co-founded Atikus Investments Inc., a financial technology company servicing microfinance banks and community development organizations in Rwanda. Miner serves on the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement Alaska, furthering financial literacy for Alaska’s youth, and Cook Inlet Lending’s small business loan committee, advancing small businesses across the state.

Ben Navarro

Advisor – Affordable Housing Strategies for Rural and Native American Markets | Fannie Mae

Ben Navarro leads the implementation of Fannie Mae’s regulatorily mandated Duty to Serve Plan for the rural housing market. In this role, Ben pursues opportunities for Fannie Mae to expand its single-family and multifamily conventional lending products to rural communities, which includes Native-Americans, farmworkers, and those living in high-needs rural regions, among others. Specifically, he works closely with credit risk, legal, capital markets, and other subject matter experts at Fannie Mae to conduct research into the challenges specific to these markets, to develop new products, to perform outreach to rural housing stakeholders, and to ultimately increase the amount of liquidity that Fannie Mae provides to the rural housing market.

Before joining Fannie Mae, Ben worked for a number of organizations related to financial services, including the FDIC and Capital One. Ben studied at the University of Virginia and Georgetown University and is a native of the Washington, DC area.

Onna LeBeau
Omaha Tribe of Nebraska

Director | Office of Indian Economic Development Department of Interior

Onna LeBeau, a member of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, serves as the Director of the Office of Indian Economic Development (OIED). Onna comes to the Department of Interior as the former Executive Director of the Black Hills Community Loan Fund since 2015, where she had the honor of expanding the loan fund from a solely homeownership focused non-profit to one that provides the community with options for credit building and business development. Onna’s passion for community development started in 2001 shortly after graduating from Northern State University in Aberdeen SD, with degrees in finance and economics. Onna worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Great Plains Region, office of Economic Development, serving as loan specialist for the BIA loan guarantee program from 2002-2007.

Onna wanted to further her experience working with the people and left the federal government to pursue her career in the non-profit world by working at Oweesta Corporation as Lending and Reporting Director. Onna furthered her education at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, where she earned her Master’s in Applied Sciences with an emphasis on non-profit management in native communities and native community development, after which time she spent working at the Great Plains Tribal Leader’s Health Board as Development Director and Partners with Native American’s where she focused on native food sustainability projects and managed the American Indian education fund. Onna’s passion for the people led her to advocate for those who are driven to survive their historical trauma by providing a means to a healthier way of living financially and in a way that further empowers the individual by providing access to technical assistance and loan capital.

Tim Rios

Senior Vice President | Rural Strategy Leader | Social Impact & Sustainability | Wells Fargo

Tim Rios is a senior vice president in Wells Fargo’s Social Impact and Sustainability group. He is responsible for implementing the company’s rural and Native American / Alaska Native strategic and philanthropic initiatives. Rios formerly led a team of Community Relations professionals in northern and central California, Inland Empire, as well as San Diego and Imperial counties.

A 24-year Wells Fargo veteran, Rios has held various positions throughout the course of his career at the company including positions in retail, wholesale, and business banking.

Rios’ dedication to economic development has earned him recognition from the California State Legislature. In 2005, he received national honors from U.S. Small Business Administration when presented with its Financial Services Champion award. Rios has also received local, state, and national accolades including Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility’s Young Hispanic Corporate Achiever Award, Grizzly Award for executive leadership under the Bank on California Program, and Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development’s Risk Takers Dream Makers Community Champion Award. In 2013, Craig School of Business at California State University, Fresno, recognized him with the Top Dog Award, one of the highest honors bestowed on alumni.

A graduate of California State University, Fresno, Rios earned a degree in finance. In 2006, he completed a three-year executive banking program at University of Virginia.

An avid advocate for the communities he supports, Rios contributes his leadership and advice to multiple organizations and serves on various boards including the James Irvine Foundation. In 2004, he was appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to the California Economic Strategy Panel where he served for four years. In 2016, he co-founded the Central Valley Latino Giving Circle–an effort dedicated to promoting strategic philanthropy among Latinos who wish to make a positive impact in the lives of underserved families.

Nick Tilsen
Oglala Lakota

President & CEO | NDN Collective

Nick Tilsen is a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, father of four and founder of the NDN Collective. Nick has over 18 years of experience in working with nonprofits and tribal nations on projects that have a social mission. Prior to NDN, Nick founded and served as the Executive Director of the Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation for 12 years. Working in his home community on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to build place-based innovations that have the ability to inform systems change solutions around climate resiliency, sustainable housing and equitable community development.

Nick created the NDN Collective to scale these place-based solutions while building needed hilanthropic, social impact investment, capacity and advocacy infrastructure geared towards building the collective power of Indigenous Peoples. Nick has received numerous fellowships and awards from Ashoka, Rockefeller Foundation, Bush Foundation and the Social Impact Award from Claremont-Lincoln University. In 2017 Nick received an honorary doctorate degree from Sinte Gleska University. Nick continues his community organizing work and sits on the boards of the Indigenous Peoples Power Project, and the Oceti Sakowin Community Academy.

Ben Sanders
Northern Cheyenne Tribe

Chief Financial Officer |Native American Development Corporation

Mr. Sanders (an enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe) is the current Chief Financial Officer of the Native American Development Corporation.

Mr. Sanders has a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Physiology with a minor in Business Administration from Rocky Mountain College and holds an MBA from Gonzaga University with a focus in American Indian Entrepreneurship. His experience includes management roles in tribal finance and tribal business as Treasurer, Comptroller, Board Member and CEO. Currently, Mr. Sanders is leading an initiative to expand the financial capacity at NADC to accommodate the organization’s recent growth.

Before joining, Native American Development Corporation in 2021, Ben worked as an independent consultant providing services to tribes and tribal entities in financial management.

Jeff Tickle

General Manager | Inlet Lending Centers

Jeff Tickle arrived in Alaska in August of 92’ landing in Sand Point, an Alaska Native Aleut Community on the edge of the Alaska Peninsula in the Shumigan Islands. After working in the private banking and mortgage industry for 8 years, Jeff was thrilled to join and lead the Cook Inlet Lending Center team when he learned the focus was in helping our State of Alaska communities and families towards the goal of homeownership and small business entrepreneurship. “The community of Sand Point, Alaska welcomed me upon my arrival years ago and it is with great honor to be able to give back to our Alaska Native communities in the pursuit of their dreams of homeownership and entrepreneurial spirit.

Xochitl Torres Small

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture

Xochitl Torres Small was confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture on July 11, 2023. She is the first Latina to hold this position.

Prior to her confirmation as Deputy Secretary, Torres Small served as Under Secretary for Rural Development. In this role, she oversaw loans and grants to provide infrastructure improvements; business development; affordable housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, Tribal, and high-poverty areas. During her leadership, USDA Rural Development secured $2 billion to support rural broadband through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Prior to joining USDA, Torres Small was a United States Representative for the fifth largest district in the country. As Representative, Torres Small served as a member of the House Agriculture Committee, the House Armed Services Committee and as chairwoman of the Oversight, Management, and Accountability subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee. Torres Small was the first woman and first person of color to represent New Mexico’s second congressional district.

The granddaughter of farmworkers, Torres Small grew up in the borderlands of New Mexico. She has worked as a field representative for Senator Tom Udall, a clerk for United States District Court Judge Robert C. Brack, and an attorney practicing water and natural resources law. Torres Small has a law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law, an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and an international baccalaureate from Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa. She’s married to New Mexico State Representative Nathan Small.

Sheila D. Herrera

Executive Director | Tiwa Lending Service

Sheila D. Herrera is the Executive Director of Tiwa Lending Services with over 35 years’ experience in the lending industry and with experience in coordinating and directing the implementation of economic/community development. As Tiwa Lending Services’ Executive Director, Ms. Herrera operates and manages Tiwa Lending Services, performing all home loan activities, including the origination and underwriting of loans, providing financial and homeownership counseling, preparing loan documents, closing loans, monitoring construction, disbursing payments and tracking the loan capital. Ms. Herrera is one of the founding members of Tiwa Lending Services. She was instrumental in developing the incorporation documents to establish Tiwa Lending Services and in developing the organizational and developmental capacity of Tiwa Lending Services. Ms. Herrera’s duties include planning, budgeting, financial reporting, bringing in private capital, as well as long-range planning to provide business lending and other financial related products and services.

Prior to coming to work with Tiwa Lending Services, Ms. Herrera managed the Isleta Pueblo Housing Authority’s Home Loan Program and served as a Homeownership Counselor. Ms. Herrera owned a mortgage brokerage business for seven years and worked in the banking industry. Ms. Herrera is a certified Homeownership Counselor and provides one-on-one counseling to applicants and borrowers. She also conducts Homeownership and Financial Literacy and Education workshops for Isleta Pueblo community members.

Robert J. Miller
Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma

Professor of Law at Arizona State University | Author | Reservation Capitalism

Robert J. Miller is a professor at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University where he is also the Willard H. Pedrick Distinguished Research Scholar and the Director of the Rosette LLP American Indian Economic Development Program. He is the Chief Justice for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe Court of Appeals and an appellate judge for other tribal courts. He graduated from Lewis & Clark Law School in 1991 and then clerked for Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1991-92. He practiced litigation and Indian Law from 1992-99. Bob was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2014, the oldest learned society in the United States. He has written dozens of articles on Indian Law issues and has authored and co-authored five books, including Reservation “Capitalism”: Economic Development in Indian Country (Praeger Publishers 2012) and Creating Private Sector Economies in Native America (Cambridge University Press 2019). Bob is a citizen of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe.

Robin Danner
native Hawaiian

CEO & Co-Founder -Homestead Loan Fund | Chairwoman – SCHHA | NCN National Policy Chair

Robin Puanani Danner (native Hawaiian) is the CEO and Co-Founder of the Homestead Community Development Corporation (HCDC) operating the Homestead Loan Fund, and affordable housing and community facility projects, including a certified kitchen, marketplace, and enterprise center. As a 501c3 incorporated in 2009, the HCDC mission is to create affordable housing, jobs and capacity building on or near Hawaiian Home Lands.

Ms. Danner is also the elected chairman of the oldest and largest coalition of self-governing homestead associations – the Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations (SCHHA). She is a former bank executive, tribal housing authority executive, a county housing and economic development director and the founder of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA). She has been awarded numerous national leadership and housing awards, as well as small business awards including the SBA Minority Business Advocate of the year, twice – once for the State of Alaska and another for the State of Hawaii. A nonpartisan, Ms. Danner advocates for good public policy regardless of party or identity of a policy-maker, and instead focuses on the implementation of goals that achieve priorities of an agency or government leaders (state, federal, tribal and homestead associations).

She is from the island of Kauai, born and raised in Niumalu, and attended public schools on the Navajo and Hopi Indian reservations, as well as the north slope of Alaska. She is the product of life-long educator parents specializing in Native children and built a successful career in banking and Native solutions to housing and economic development. She is well versed in both private sector and public sector agencies, each of which play vital roles in the well-being of Native peoples. Ms. Danner resides on Kauai with her husband where they raised four children.

Pilar M. Thomas
Pascua Yaqui Tribe

Partner | Quarles and Brady, LLC

Pilar Thomas is a partner in the firm’s Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Practice Group. She focuses her practice on tribal renewable energy project development and finance, tribal economic development, federal Indian Law, and natural resource development.

Pilar assists clients with strategic legal advice on tribal energy policy and planning; clean energy and infrastructure project development and finance; federal and state energy regulatory, programs, and policy efforts; and federal requirements for tribal lands development. She has negotiated or assisted with agreements related to transmission lines, landfill gas, solar projects, a natural gas power plant, and mineral development on tribal lands. She serves as general counsel for several tribes, Section 17 and tribal business entities.

Representative Matters

Negotiate leases and right of ways for utility scale renewable projects
Shepherd through federal regulatory process for land into trust decisions and related environmental reviews
Draft HEARTH Act leasing regulations
Draft tribal laws, regulations, and policies related to economic development, land use, and environmental review
Tribal consultation practices
Monitor, review, and draft comments on federal and state agency actions
Monitor, review, and draft federal legislation related to tribal energy development

Prior to entering private practice, Pilar was the Deputy Director for the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs at the US Department of Energy, where she was responsible for developing and implementing policy and program efforts within the department and federal government to achieve the office’s policy objectives related to the promotion of energy development, electrification, and infrastructure improvement on tribal lands. She also is the former Deputy Solicitor of Indian Affairs for the US Department of the Interior; served as the Interim Attorney General and Chief of Staff to Chairwoman Herminia Frias of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe; and was a trial attorney in the US Department of Justice, Environmental and Natural Resources Division, Indian Resources Section.

Mel Willie
Navajo Nation

Director of Native Partnerships and Strategy | NeighborWorks

Mel Willie leads NeighborWorks America’s Native work to expand its investment in tribal communities. He is a national leader in Indian Country with more than 23 years of experience in nonprofit management, government, political, public and intergovernmental affairs and has represented tribal interests at the local, tribal, state and national level. He is a member of the Navajo Nation, born and raised on the reservation in northeast Arizona.

Before joining NeighborWorks, he served as principal of Chee Consulting, working with a range of clients to advance and strengthen tribal communities. Having served as past executive director of the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC) and as special advisor to one of the nation’s largest public housing authorities, he is intimately familiar with providing affordable housing through highly regulated federal programs. Kennedy school.

Gary Cunningham

Consultant | Cunningham & Associates, LLC

Gary L. Cunningham is a consultant and the former President and CEO of Prosperity Now, a national organization dedicated to advancing racial and ethnic economic justice headquartered in Washington, D.C. He lead the organization from 2019 to 2023. Under his direction, Prosperity Now strengthened its strategic focus, centering those most directly impacted by injustice and expanding its approach from simply mitigating the effects of a broken, racist system to testing, investing, and scaling systems-change solutions that will completely transform our economy.

For more than 20 years, Gary has served as a top leader of philanthropic, health care, public policy, and educational organizations. In addition to leading NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center, he was Associate Superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools, the Deputy Director of Civil Rights for the City of Minneapolis and CEO of the Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA) — a minority entrepreneurial organization — and Chaired the Community and Economic Development Committee for the Metropolitan Council the Twin Cites Planning and transportation agency.

Gary is a recognized and respected expert on entrepreneurship, job creation, racial wealth equity, housing and economic development and is a sought-after thought leader on building a more inclusive economy. A native of Minneapolis, MN, he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Policy from Metropolitan State University and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Michou Kokodoko

Project Director – Community Development and Engagement |Minneapolis Federal Reserve | Center For Indian Country Development

Michou Kokodoko is a project director in the Minneapolis Fed’s Community Development and Engagement department. He leads the Bank’s efforts to promote effective community-bank partnerships by increasing awareness of community development trends and investment opportunities, especially those related to the Community Reinvestment Act.

Jodie Harris

Director |U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund

Jodie Harris is the Director of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund). The CDFI Fund generates economic growth and opportunity in some of our nation’s most distressed communities. By offering tailored resources and innovative programs that invest federal dollars alongside private sector capital, the CDFI Fund serves mission-driven financial institutions that take a market-based approach to supporting economically disadvantaged communities.

Jodie has worked in both the public and private sectors for over 25 years. Following her start as a commercial real estate and community development credit analyst, Jodie served as president of a small non-profit consulting firm providing technical assistance and education to small businesses and entrepreneurs. She spent several years in the Strategy and Business Architecture division of Accenture, LLC, working with a range of clients including financial institutions, nonprofits and technology companies. Jodie has extensive experience in policy research, and worked as a policy analyst with New York University’s Institute for Education and Social Policy, and with the U.S. Department of Agriculture where she focused on low-income food programs.

Jodie joined Treasury in 2007 as an Associate Program Manager with the CDFI Fund, and later served as Senior Advisor to the Director of the CDFI Fund. During her time with Treasury, she has managed grant programs and developed legislative and policy proposals for a wide range of issues with a focus on access to capital, community development banking, and financial inclusion. Most recently, as the Director of Treasury’s Office of Small Business, Community Development and Affordable Housing Policy, Jodie led a team of policy analysts in the development of policies and programs that support community and economic development nationwide.

Jodie originally hails from Philadelphia and completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Maryland. She holds a MBA and MPA from New York University.

Chrystel Cornelius
Ojibwe; Oneida

CEO & President | Oweesta

Chrystel Cornelius is the President & CEO of the Oweesta Corporation, a national Native CDFI intermediary predominantly serving Native communities across the United States, Alaska, and Hawaii.

Ms. Cornelius has worked with Native communities for most of her professional career, with more than 23 years of experience working in the Native economic development field. She is an enrolled member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians located in North Dakota. Ms. Cornelius has dedicated her career to capitalizing Native communities upholding tribal sovereignty and self-determination measures through the issuance of capital and organizational capacity building efforts.

Chrystel Cornelius is a founding steering committee member and previously held the position as the Board Secretary for the Native CDFI Network (NCN). Ms. Cornelius is also a former board member of Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), is a current board member of the Community Reinvestment Fund (CRF) and holds the position of Treasurer for the Red Feather Development Group. She is a BALLE Fellow and Skoll Fellow.

Ms. Chrystel Cornelius attained a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota.

Angie Main
Fort Belknap Gros Ventre Tribe

Executive Director | NACDC Financial Services, Inc.

Professional background includes over 30 years’ experience in grants administration & management, fund raising, business and financial literacy education, training and technical assistance for small business, and community development in Tribal communities. Since 2011, Executive Director for NACDC Financial Services, Inc., a Native Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), located in Browning, MT, providing training, technical assistance and capital access to the eight (8) Montana Reservation communities. Since 2010, fundraised over $15 m in lending and operating capital.

Experience includes leveraging resources for housing, community and organizational development; business; non-profit; strategic and business planning; and resource development.

Former employment includes Executive Director, Montana Tribal Business Information Network, Missoula, MT; and Vice President, Fort Belknap College, Fort Belknap, MT. Current board member for Blackfeet Reservation Development Fund, Montana Nonprofit Association and Montana Community Foundation. Received the 2017 Visionary Leader Award at the annual Native CDFI Awards Reception and Ceremony, OFN Conference in Washington, D.C. Enrolled member of the Montana Fort Belknap Gros Ventre Tribe.

Casey Lozar
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes

Vice President/Director | Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank | Center For Indian Country Development

Casey is responsible for leading all aspects of the work of the Center for Indian Country Development (CICD). In this role, he helps to identify research and policy priorities, and to increase CICD’s visibility, impact, and relevance. Based at our Helena Branch, Casey, an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, is also deeply involved in the Bank’s early childhood development work in Montana.

Before assuming leadership of the CICD, Casey was assistant vice president/outreach executive in the Bank’s department of Public Affairs, and the leader of our Helena Branch.

Prior to joining the Minneapolis Fed in 2018, Casey served in economic development and higher education roles for the state of Montana. Additionally, he held executive leadership positions in national Native American nonprofits, including the American Indian College Fund and the Notah Begay III Foundation.

Casey received degrees from Dartmouth College and Harvard University and an MBA from the University of Colorado-Denver. He serves as the chair of the board of regents of the Montana University System.

Casey is the 2021 recipient of the Janet L. Yellen Award for Excellence in Community Development and a 2022 recipient of the Honorary Leadership Award from the Native American Finance Officers Association.

Janis Bowdler

Counselor to the Secretary (Racial Equity) | U.S. Treasury

Janis Bowdler has spent the last two decades advancing economic equity solutions for communities of color and breaking down the barriers that underpin the disparities in wealth and financial security by race and gender.

Janis’ career has spanned local service, national advocacy, and international philanthropy. She launched her career in her native Northeast Ohio with Famicos Foundation, a community development corporation working in the Hough and Glenville neighborhoods of Cleveland, Ohio. As a Project Manager she developed and preserved affordable homeownership and rental opportunities for the residents of these historically African American neighborhoods.

She then spent 10 years at UnidosUS, then National Council of La Raza, advocating for economic mobility opportunities for Latino families. As the Director of Economic Policy, she led research, advocacy, and policy development in the areas of job creation and job quality, retirement security, housing, banking, community development and consumer protection.

Most recently, Janis served the President of the JPMorgan Chase & Co. Foundation. Under her leadership, the firm launched several critical initiatives that have expanded capital for entrepreneurs of color, improved access to banking products and services, expanded access to new job skills, and built more inclusive neighborhoods. Janis played a critical role in developing the firm’s incremental $30 billion racial equity commitment.

Janis has authored a number of publications on financial opportunity and economic mobility. Most recently, she co-authored “Building Equitable Cities: How to Drive Economic Mobility and Regional Growth” with Henry Cisneros and Jeff Lubell.

Janis received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Malone College in Canton, Ohio and a Master of Science degree from Cleveland State University. She is a proud Latina, a yoga instructor, mom to one daughter, two dogs, and a bunny. She lives with her husband and her family in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Jesse Van Tol

President & CEO | National Community Reinvestment Coalition

Jesse Van Tol is NCRC’s President and CEO. He has been with NCRC since 2006 and has held a variety of leadership positions, most recently as Chief Operating Officer, as well as senior positions in the organizing and membership, communications, policy and research teams. His work championing fair and responsible banking has resulted in $548 billion in new investments in low- and moderate-income communities through Community Benefits Agreements with 20 banking institutions. He is a popular speaker and lecturer, and has appeared on NPR, in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and many other outlets.

Jesse serves on the board of the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition, and the executive committee of Americans for Financial Reform. He was a Senior Fellow with Humanity in Action, an international human rights group, and a communications institute Fellow with Opportunity Agenda. He also sits on a variety of advisory boards, including the Federal Reserve Board’s Consumer Advisory Council, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s Affordable Housing Advisory Councils. He is a member of the consumer advisory councils of Bank of America, Fifth Third, Huntington National Bank, IBERIABANK, JP Morgan Chase, KeyBank, Quicken Loans and Santander.

Jesse received his bachelor’s degree in History and International Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is part of the current NeighborWorks Achieving Excellence cohort at Harvard’s Kennedy school.

Sharice Davids
Ho-Chunk Nation

U.S. House of Representatives · Kansas

U.S. Representative Sharice Davids was raised by a single mother, who served in the Army for 20 years. After graduating from Leavenworth High School, she worked her way through Johnson County Community College and the University of Missouri-Kansas City before earning a law degree from Cornell Law School. As a first generation college student who worked the entire time she was in college, Rep. Davids understands the importance of quality public schools and affordable higher education. It is that foundation that allowed her to go on to a successful career, focused on economic and community development, which included time as a White House Fellow under President Barack Obama.

When she was sworn into the 116th Congress, Rep. Davids became one of the first two Native American women to serve in Congress. Rep. Davids has centered her work in office on putting Kansans first, fighting to limit the influence of special interests and make health care more affordable and accessible to everyone. She is a resident of Roeland Park.

Andrew Gordon

Executive Advisor | Clearinghouse CDFI

Mr. Gordon serves as Executive Advisor to Clearinghouse CDFI as well as collaborates on special projects including activities specific to Arizona, Native American communities and the Fvlcrum Fund. He is on CCDFI’s executive team, supports the Impact Team and the Native American Advisory Board. Mr. Gordon currently serves on the Investment Committee of the Arizona Community Foundation’s Community Impact Loan Fund.

Prior to joining Clearinghouse CDFI in 2015, Mr. Gordon was the founding President of Arizona MultiBank Community Development Corporation, the heritage nonprofit CDFI that was established in 1991 and evolved into Arizona MultiBank, a Division of Clearinghouse CDFI. Mr. Gordon was Senior Vice President of the legacy economic development bank to New York City Economic Development Corporation. He served as Chair of the Phoenix Local Advisory Committee of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and Chair of its Credit Committee. Mr. Gordon was a founding Advisory Board member of a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) licensed Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) and the SBA has recognized Mr. Gordon as a “Small Business Financial Services Champion of the Year”.

Joel Smith
Caddo Nation of Oklahoma

Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer | Native American Bank

Joel Smith (Caddo Nation of Oklahoma) has served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer of Native American Bank since 2013. He has worked in financing for 14 years. He holds a M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Colorado Denver, and a dual B.B.A in Finance and Accounting from the University of Oklahoma. Joel is also an alumnus of the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado, and holds a RMA Credit Risk Certification designation. Joel was named “40 Under 40” Native Business Lenders in 2015 by National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.

David Black

Community Development Expert | Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

David Black is a Community Development Expert in the Community Affairs Department of the Office of the Comptroller of Currency. In that role, he is responsible for a range of community development finance policy areas, including small business finance, minority and community development financial institutions, lending and investing in Indian Country, and community development tax credits. Prior to joining the OCC, Mr. Black conducted research in entrepreneurship and community development finance at The Aspen Institute and managed efforts to support community development in Pittsburgh. His formal education includes a B.A. in Studio Arts and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Pittsburgh.

Fern Orie
Oneida

Chief Programs Officer Executive Vice President of Advocacy & Strategic Partnerships |
Oweesta

Fern Orie is the Chief Programs Officer and Executive Vice President of Advocacy & Strategic Partnerships. She recently served as the founding CEO of the Wisconsin Native Loan Fund, a statewide housing Native Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). Fern is the Chair of the Wisconsin Indian Business Alliance since inception and the Vice Chair of the national Native CDFI Network.

She serves on the Board of Directors and Loan Committee of Bay Bank, a tribally owned bank, and serves on the Forward Community Investments New Markets Tax Credit Advisory Board. She was appointed by the Governor to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Committee, and the Governor’s Council on Financial Literacy and Capability. She also serves on the Wisconsin Economic Development Association Board of Directors.

Fern serves on the Program Advisory Committee for the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Community College and also the Community Advisory Committee for Associated Bank.

She has worked in the Native housing and community development industry for 20 years and holds a B.A. in Business Administration and is a certified Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) through the National Development Council. She is an enrolled member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin.

Candace Herring

Senior Community Development Oversight Analyst |Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Candace Herring is a Senior Community Development Oversight Analyst with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. In this role, Candace supports the Board’s oversight of Federal Reserve Bank community development programs and initiatives. Candace also leads the Board’s participation in the Central Bank Network for Indigenous Inclusion, a collaborative formed to better understand and promote economic and financial outcomes for Indigenous populations and communities.

Prior to joining the Board, Candace was an Associate Program Manager with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund). Candace led strategy and policy development, program design and implementation, and oversaw all aspects of the grants management lifecycle for the CDFI Fund’s flagship programs – the CDFI Program and the Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) Program. Candace began her career with non-profit and private sector organizations focused on community development and affordable housing finance.

Candace earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Studies from New York University and a Master of Business Administration degree from George Washington University.

Steven Shepelwich

Senior Community Development Advisor Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Steven C. Shepelwich is a Senior Community Development Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Oklahoma City Branch. Steven leads the Bank’s efforts to promote economic development and fair and impartial access to financial services in Oklahoma’s low- to moderate-income communities and manages the District’s workforce development program area. In this role, Steven has lead research and outreach initiatives on the District’s unbanked market, innovations in consumer financial services, asset-based approaches to rural development and workforce development strategies. Steven co-authored the bankers’ guide Engaging Workforce Development: A Framework for Meeting CRA Obligations.

Prior to joining the Federal Reserve Bank, Steven worked with national organizations focused on expanding the roles of financial institutions in low-income communities including leading banks and credit unions, microenterprise funds, and affordable housing loan funds throughout the country. Steven began his career by working internationally with microfinance, rural development, and refugee programs in Kenya, Burundi, and India for over six years.

A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Steven holds a B.B.A in Marketing from Texas A&M University and an M.S. in Resource Development from Michigan State University. He is a graduate of the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Ammar Askari

Director for Community Affairs Outreach | Office of the Comptroller of Currency

Ammar Askari is the director for Community Affairs Outreach within the Bank Supervision Policy Department at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). In this role, Mr. Askari supervises a team of Community Affairs Officers who serve as liaisons among the agency, OCC-supervised banks, and the community on issues related to the Community Reinvestment Act and community development. Before joining the OCC, Mr. Askari worked in banking for nine years and in academia for 6 years.

Mr. Askari holds a master’s degree in social and applied economics from Wright State University and master’s and doctorate degrees in economics from Indiana University at Bloomington.

Ronald L. Milsap

Director | BMO Harris Bank

Ronald L. Milsap is Director, Business Banking, Industry Vertical Team, where he is responsible for managing and leading programming for under-represented and underserved, specialty programs, as well as developing specialized strategy, customized products, training and education for different industry segments across BMO Harris Bank, N.A. U.S. footprint. Ron has over 17 years of blended banking experience in commercial underwriting, business banking relationship management and sales, and retail banking management. Prior to joining BMO, Ron served as the CRA Officer for Providence Bank & Trust overseeing its lending, services, and investments into low-to-moderate income communities. Ron is passionate about serving the diverse needs of communities, non-profits and small businesses and leveraging his skills to deliver innovative, industry-specific financing and cash management solutions to help BMO clients realize their vision for success. Ron earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. Ron is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow and a graduate of the Chicago Urban League’s IMPACT Leadership Development Program. Ron serves on the boards of My Block, My Hood, My City, E.G. Woode and the South Shore Chamber of Commerce, is an advisory board member of Community Desk Chicago and a volunteer and mentor with several youth-based organizations. Ron currently resides in Chicago with his wife, son and daughter.

Letticia Flores Poole

Co-Head for Black and Latinx Small Business BMO Harris Bank

I have been in banking for over 20yrs. Joined BMO Harris Bank in 2016 current role of Co-Head for BMO for Black and Latinx Small Business Program. Recently awarded the Best Small Business Product amongst 700 others- showcasing the resiliency and the commitment for our local communities. I have the pleasure of providing financial education and solutions to Small Businesses. I enjoy educating and helping people in our communities reach their financial goals through teaching, coaching and connecting. I am viewed as a trusted advisor to the businesses I work with. Recently I had the opportunity to work with our State of Minority Small Business group, where I helped our minority businesses voices be heard. I have been a part of multiple organizations from Non-profits to resource groups throughout my career, where I held multiple positions on the board from President to Treasurer to Member at Large. To name a few Supporting Professionals Network Association, South Chicago Chamber, Northwest Connection Chamber, Latinas in Childcare, North side Latinos Progress.

Letticia is married with one son and one bonus daughter and 2 grand kids. Born and raised in Chicago. Loves to bike ride and explore new bike paths.

Chad S. Marchand
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation

Sr. Program Manager/Tribal and Indigenous Communities | Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Born and raised in Omak, Washington, Chad is a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. Chad earned his Bachelor of Arts (’05) in Political Science and History and his Master’s Degree (’14) in Public Administration from the University of Arizona. In May 2019, Chad received his Master’s in Professional Studies in Applied Intelligence with a concentration in Homeland Security. Chad is now a Ph.D. student at St. John’s University pursuing a degree in Homeland Security.

Chad joined the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in August and serves in the position of Sr. Program Manager for Tribal and Indigenous Communities. Previously, Chad was with The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED) and served in the role of Vice-President of NCAIED and Interim Executive Director of Native Edge Finance, Inc. from October 2018 to December 2021. Chad also currently holds the role of Chairman of the Colville Tribal Gaming Commission.

For his work, Chad was the recipient of the Arizona Daily Star 40 Under 40 Award 2009, Omicron Delta Kappa Community Service Recognition Award in February 2011, the Children & Family Services Champions for Children & Families Award in April 2011, the University of Arizona Outstanding Young Alumni Volunteer Award in May 2011, and most recently received the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development Native American 40 Under 40 Award in October 2016. In his spare time, Chad coaches his daughter, Reagan’s softball team and loves to spend his time in the outdoors.

Megan Cruz
Osage Nation

Senior Economic Education Specialist | Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Megan Cruz is with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and leads the Federal Reserve’s Native Economic and Financial Education Empowerment (NEFEE) program. In her role she focuses on working with tribal nations and Native communities across the United States on implementing culture-based economic and personal finance education programs to support economic and financial wellbeing. NEFEE conducts research, in partnership with Native communities, to address barriers to financial capability and inclusion. Megan also serves as the Federal Reserve’s lead representative to the Central Bank Network for Indigenous Inclusion workgroup, supporting the Federal Reserve Board’s participation in the Network. She joined the Federal Reserve System with the San Francisco Reserve Bank and has assumed a variety of roles including in credit risk management, currency operations and security.

Megan began her career at Merrill Lynch in investment banking where she assisted tribal nations, pueblos and their enterprises in raising more than one billion dollars in financing for their economic development and reservation infrastructure projects. She graduated from Oklahoma State University with a B.S. in Economics.

Megan is a citizen of the Osage Nation from the Grayhorse District.

Rollin Wood
Cherokee

Executive Director| Native Partnership for Housing

Rollin Wood is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation and has served as Executive Director of NPH since 2014. Under his leadership and vision, NPH has been successful in expanding NPH operations in lending, housing counseling, and construction services, to provide clients of NPH with quality services grounded in NPH’s non-profit mission of increasing access to homeownership and contributing to economic development within Native communities.

Prior to joining NPH, Mr. Wood owned and operated Sierra Vista Resources, Inc., located in Tucson, Arizona, developing business plans and financial projections for start-up businesses, including a Navajo-owned company in the natural resource industry. His previous work experience has included providing management and field operations for several large scale mine exploration projects, as well as a lengthy prior career in the broadcast industry serving at the executive level and devoting his expertise in the areas of sales, marketing, and management throughout broadcast offices located in Phoenix, Seattle, Sacramento, Portland, and Fresno.

Rollin Wood has business training in strategic planning, sales, human resources and management through the Belo Corporation and the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth: Building Successful Native-American Businesses. Rollin also serves on an advisory committee for Native CDFI Network, Board member on the Nation NeighborWorks Association, served on Oweesta’s Housing Committee, and on the city of Gallup, New Mexico’s Housing committee.

Courtney Haynes

Department of Energy | Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations

Courtney has been working to elevate economic opportunity and prosperity over the last 18 years, covering large-scale policy initiatives to direct service. She has worked on coalition development and policy formulation across corporate favoritism, housing, and more deeply in healthcare, education and workforce, while continuously returning to community-based organizations to understand social determinant complexities and opportunity. More recently, Courtney was the Coal Communities Lead with the Economic Development Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce helping to build the programming, capacity, and funding opportunities under the American Rescue Plan for Coal Communities across the country. Courtney now joins the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations with the U.S. Department of Energy and serves as the Stakeholder Engagement Specialist for the Clean Energy on Mine Lands and Energy Improvements in Rural and Remote provisions working to bring stakeholders together locally to ensure long-term, regional economic development.

Rohit Chopra

Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Rohit Chopra is Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. As Director, Chopra is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Financial Stability Oversight Council. In 2018, Chopra was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a Commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission, where he served until assuming office as CFPB Director. During his tenure at the FTC, he successfully worked to strengthen sanctions against repeat offenders, to reverse the agency’s reliance on no-money, no-fault settlements in fraud cases, and to halt abuses of small businesses. He also led efforts to revitalize dormant authorities, such as those to protect the Made in USA label and to promote competition. Chopra holds a BA from Harvard University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Tawney Brunsch
Oglala Sioux Tribe

Executive Director of Lakota Funds

Tawney Brunsch, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, is the Executive Director of Lakota Funds, a Native community development financial institution (CDFI) serving the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Prior to joining Lakota Funds in 2008, Tawney worked with the Black Hills Federal Credit Union for eight years as a Branch Manager/Lead Lender. At Lakota Funds, Tawney has successfully led the organization’s achievement of key organizational benchmarks, including the chartering of the Lakota Federal Credit Union, expanding Lakota Funds’ lending area to the Rosebud Reservation, efforts to become an FSA-Guaranteed ag lender, and launching the Child Development Account (CDA) program, one of the first such programs in Indian Country. Nationally known for her community development efforts, Tawney serves on a number of boards and advisory committees including the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines Advisory Council, the Community Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Board, and the Native CDFI Network’s Policy Committee.

Tawney remains committed to economic development on the Pine Ridge Reservation in her roles as Lakota Federal Credit Union Board Chairman, and the Board Treasurer of Mazaska Owecaso Otipi Financial, a fellow CDFI focused on homeownership lending. She has been a leader of the South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition since its creation in 2013, and currently serves on the Executive Committee, Policy Committee, and Veteran’s Committee and chairs the Physical Issues Committee.

Jim VanWinkle

AVP/Mortgage Loan Officer | Chickasaw Community Bank

Jim VanWinkle has been originating mortgages for thirty years. Over the last ten years, his work has focused on Native American Home Loans both on and off the reservation. VanWinkle has originated single close construction loans, rehab loans, purchases, refinances, swaps, and assumptions.

Denise Zuni
Isleta Pueblo

Owner | Sh’eh Wheef Law Offices

Denise Zuni owns Sh’eh Wheef Law Offices in Isleta Pueblo, New Mexico. Denise is from Isleta Pueblo and has been a practicing attorney for 33 years. She represents Indian Tribes, Tribally Designated Housing Entities, and Native Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) in New Mexico. Denise developed mortgage codes and home loan programs for many of the Pueblos in New Mexico and was instrumental in creating Tiwa Lending Services, Inc., a Native CDFI located in Isleta Pueblo, who provides mortgage lending. She represented the New Mexico Pueblos in obtaining congressional sponsorship and subsequent passage of the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership Act (HEARTH), which allows tribes to enact their own leasing laws in lieu of following the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) leasing regulations. Denise also served as a former tribal appellate judge and a tribal court judge in Isleta Pueblo. She holds a BBA from the University of New Mexico Anderson School of Management and a JD from the UNM School of Law. Denise does trainings on a national level on mortgage lending, tribal leasing laws, and housing development on Indian lands.

Jessie Huff

Arizona Energy Coordinator and VAPG Contact | USDA Rural Development

Jessie Huff works as Arizona’s Energy Coordinator and Value Added Producer Grant contact for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development office. Jessie has helped develop sustainability projects in rural and remote places, in various capacities, for the last 16 years, mostly in the state of Alaska and a little in Oregon, before moving to Arizona about a year ago. She has a bachelor’s in renewable energy and a master’s in applied resource economics, energy being the resource.

Marilynn Malerba
Mohegan Tribe

Treasurer of the United States

Chief Mutáwi Mutáhash (Many Hearts) Marilynn “Lynn” Malerba became the 18th Chief of the Mohegan Tribe on August 15, 2010, and is the first female Chief in the tribe’s modern history. The position is a lifetime appointment made by the Tribe’s Council of Elders. Lynn follows in footsteps of many strong female role models in the Mohegan Tribe, including her mother, Loretta Roberge, who was a member of the Tribal Council that achieved Federal Recognition for the Tribe and held the position of Tribal Nonner (elder female of respect) as well as her great-grandfather Chief Matagha (Burrill Fielding). Prior to becoming Chief, she served as Chairwoman of the Tribal Council, and served in Tribal Government as Executive Director of Health and Human Services. Preceding her work for the for the Mohegan Tribe, Lynn had a lengthy career as a registered nurse ultimately as the Director of Cardiology and Pulmonary Services at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital. She earned a doctor of Nursing Practice at Yale University, named a Jonas Scholar. She was awarded an honorary Doctoral degree in Science from Eastern Connecticut State University and an honorary Doctoral Degree in Humane Letters from the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford, CT. She earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Connecticut, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the College of St. Joseph and her diploma in nursing from Hartford Hospital School of Nursing.

Lynn was appointed by President Biden and is currently serving as the Treasurer of the United States.

Prior to her current role, she served as the United South and Eastern Tribes Board of Directors Secretary. She formerly served as Chairwoman of the Tribal Self-Governance Advisory Committee of the Federal Indian Health Service (IHS), a member of the Justice Department’s Tribal Nations Leadership Council, a member of the Tribal Advisory Committee for the National Institute of Health, a member of the Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee and a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Center for Indian Country Development Leadership Council.

Locally she served as a Trustee for Chelsea Groton Bank, Board Chair for the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, and on the Provost’s Advisory Committee Member for the Harvard University Native American Program

She published “The Effects of Sequestration on Indian Health Funding” in the Hastings Center Report, Nov-Dec. 2013 and authored two chapters in “American Indian Health and Nursing” Ed. Margaret P. Moss, Springer Publishing Company.

She lives in Niantic with her husband Paul. They are the parents of two adult daughters, Elizabeth and Angela and grandparents of granddaughters Taylor and Charlotte and grandson Connor.

Nancy Bainbridge

Executive Vice President & Director of Tribal and Construction Lending | Chickasaw Community Bank

Nancy Bainbridge has been with Chickasaw Community Bank since inception, roughly tens years ago, and has closed over 1200 loans to Tribes and TDHES across Indian Country for SFR, Duplexes, Tri-plexes and Quadplexes as well community centers, HA buildings, park, playgrounds, etc.. Bainbridge uses her 40 years of Commercial and Construction lending experience to help tribes find solutions to housing challenges. She also directs the Single Close Construction programs for the bank. Over her career, she has held several positions at banks- President and CEO, CFO, COO, and Chief Lending Officer. She was a trustee on the Board of FaithShares Trust, an ETF, traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Nancy has an Economics Degree from Northwestern University, Evanston IL. She was on the Board of the OBAs Commercial Lending School. Bainbridge attended numerous lending trainings programs as trainer and trainee and holds several Native American Lending Certificates including -HUD 184 -Title VI.

David Westfall

Affordable Lending Initiatives Senior | Freddie Mac

David Westfall is an Affordable Lending Initiatives senior in Freddie Mac’s Single-Family Mission and Community Engagement division. He supports the development of solutions that address some of the nation’s most persistent housing challenges, with a focus on rural housing, manufactured housing, shared equity homeownership and home energy efficiency.

Mr. Westfall joined Freddie Mac in 2002, holding positions in customer education, marketing and communications and loan servicing.

Mr. Westfall holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration in marketing from West Virginia University.

Freddie Mac provides liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation’s residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Today, Freddie Mac is making home possible for one in four home borrowers and is one of the largest sources of financing for multifamily housing. For more information, please visit www.FreddieMac.com and follow us on Twitter @FreddieMac.

Catherine Houlihan

Manager of Single-Family Affordable Lending Strategy and Initiatives | Freddie Mac

Catherine Houlihan is a Manager of Single-Family Affordable Lending Strategy and Initiatives in Freddie Mac’s Mission and Community Engagement Division. She manages the rural housing initiative that supports Freddie Mac’s underserved markets plan.

Ms. Houlihan joined Freddie Mac in 2022 and previously worked in the nonprofit and government sectors as a researcher, grant writer, and grant manager specializing in community development, climate change mitigation, public safety, and historic preservation.

Ms. Houlihan earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Florida International University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University.

Freddie Mac provides liquidity, stability, and affordability to the nation’s residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Today, Freddie Mac is making home possible for one in four home borrowers and is one of the largest sources of financing for multifamily housing. For more information, please visit www.FreddieMac.com and follow us on Twitter @FreddieMac.

Pete Upton
Ponca Tribe of Nebraska

CEO | Native CDFI Network & Executive Director | Native 360 Loan Fund

In addition to serving as NCN’s CEO and Chairperson, Pete Upton (Ponca Tribe of Nebraska) is the Executive Director of Native360 Loan Fund, a certified Native Community Development Financial Institution that focuses on entrepreneurship and financial literacy development for Native Americans. Serving as Executive Director since 2011, Mr. Upton has built the organization from its start-up phase into a successful lending organization that continues to experience growth while ever increasing its community impact.

Mr. Upton has been involved with the Native CDFI Network since it was a grassroots movement. From 2011-2012, he served on the steering committee that was instrumental in the Native CDFI Network’s initial organizational development steps. In 2012, Mr. Upton became a founding board member and served as the Chairperson for the Peer Learning Committee.

As Native360 serves Native communities in three states, Mr. Upton understands the challenges of serving both rural and urban areas in various different jurisdictions. He values strong networks and cultivates partnerships to deliver technical assistance throughout a vast service area. Mr. Upton is a powerful advocate for equal access to capital.

Kris Beecher
Navajo Nation

Attorney | Dickinson Wright Law Firm

Kris Beecher is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and is a graduate of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and holds a Juris Doctor/MBA joint degree. Beecher is a member of the Navajo Nation Bar Association and served a 3-year term as Chairman of the Board of the largest public housing authority in Indian Country, and nearly the 8th largest in the United States.

Beecher also holds a BA in Political Science from ASU where he graduated summa cum laude with a Minor in Communication and holds a certificate in Indian Law from ASU Law. Beecher is currently an attorney at the law firm Dickinson Wright, where his practice areas include Business & Commercial litigation and Indian law. He is the current Chair of the Executive Council for the Indian Law Section of the Arizona State Bar.

Wava White
Navajo Nation

Principal Economic Development Specialist | Navajo Nation

Wava White is a Principal Economic Development Specialist at the Navajo Nation Division of Economic Development-Project Development Department. Her overall primary responsibility is to secure businesses that create jobs and services primarily focused within the small business, commercial and some service areas of the Navajo Nation. In addition, White works as Project Manager that includes performing technical duties in all areas of construction management to develop major economic development projects. Having worked in the economic development area for over 30 years, White has extensive experience to provide the technical assistance needed to assist Navajo communities to promote and implement their economic development plans. Some of the development projects Ms. White worked on include Navajo Pine Shopping Center, Tuba City Shopping Center Expansion, Dilkon Shopping Center, White Cone Convenience Store, Karigan Child Care Center and Karigan Estates Private Home Development. In 2002, her work in the development of Dilkon Shopping Center was recognized as a major achievement in business development by the United States Department of Commerce. Originally from White Cone, Arizona, Wava has a Business Management Degree from Northern Arizona University and a Masters in Business Administration Degree from the University of Phoenix.

Lisa Hasegawa

Regional Vice President | NeighborWorks America

Lisa has more than 30 years of community development, housing and public health experience centered on racial equity. Prior to NeighborWorks, she led the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development for 15 years, then served in several capacities at the University of California, Los Angeles, including Activist in Residence at the Institute for Inequality and Democracy, Policy Advisor at the Asian American Studies Center, and Assistant Director of Federal Relations. She currently serves on boards of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and Asian Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation. She also worked at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Primary Health Care, Office of Minority Health and White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, and also at 2 community health centers serving low income AANHPIs. She is a fourth generation Japanese Californian residing in the Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Clara Pratte
Navajo Nation

Founder & Managing Director of Operations | Navajo Power

Clara Pratte is a member of the Navajo Nation and formerly served as the Chief of Staff for the Navajo Nation and Interim CEO of Nova Corporation. Clara was the lead for tribal consultation for the U.S. Small Business Administration and the lead for the Navajo Nation tribal governments federal affairs office in Washington DC. Clara is a Founder & Managing Director of Operations at Navajo Power.

Ellen White Thunder
Ogalala Sioux Tribe

Deputy Director | Lakota Funds

Ellen White Thunder, Deputy Director for Lakota Funds, since January 2023, helped to create the South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition’s workforce development program for the residential construction industry to increase housing stock on South Dakota’s nine reservations. This program is funded by a $5 million grant from the Economic Development Administration.

Much of Ellen’s previous professional experience has been in the construction industry, and she is an International Code Council-certified residential inspector. Previously, she worked at the Oglala Lakota College where she served as an assistant archivist, vocational education director, and eventually the registrar. Prior to that, Ellen worked as a construction control inspector for Indian Health Services.

Ellen has a B.S. in Construction Engineering Technology from the University of Southern Mississippi and an M.S. in Construction Engineering and Management from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. She is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Deborah Webster

Principal | Concept Consulting Group, LLC

As Principal of Concept Consulting Group, LLC, Ms. Webster provides assistance to TDHEs and Tribes on planning, financing, and project management for affordable and mixed income housing development. In this role, she has collaborated with CDFIs, HUD ONAP, state agencies and GSEs, such as Fannie Mae, to help secure over 190 million dollars for tribal housing since 2007. As an experienced on-the-ground developer, she helps her clients design and implement programs and housing projects and financing tools that are realistic and practical. Ms. Webster has 37 years’ experience in housing beginning in Baltimore, Maryland in 1986 and in 1995 co-founded the Enterprise Community Partners national Native American Program based in New Mexico, serving as its director until 2006.

Ellen White Thunder
Oglala Sioux Tribe

Deputy Director | Lakota Funds

Ellen White Thunder, Deputy Director for Lakota Funds, since January 2023, helped to create the South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition’s workforce development program for the residential construction industry to increase housing stock on South Dakota’s nine reservations. This program is funded by a $5 million grant from the Economic Development Administration.

Much of Ellen’s previous professional experience has been in the construction industry, and she is an International Code Council-certified residential inspector. Previously, she worked at the Oglala Lakota College where she served as an assistant archivist, vocational education director, and eventually the registrar. Prior to that, Ellen worked as a construction control inspector for Indian Health Services.

Ellen has a B.S. in Construction Engineering Technology from the University of Southern Mississippi and an M.S. in Construction Engineering and Management from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. She is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Phil Gover
Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah

Policy Fellow | Center for Indian Country Development | Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Phil Gover is a Policy Fellow at the Center for Indian Country Development at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis where he focuses on policy research and projects related to tribal enterprise and government development, housing access and the Community Reinvestment Act. Prior to serving at the Fed he was a consultant and social entrepreneur who worked on tribal development projects and helped grow a movement for educational sovereignty through the direct authorization of tribally-run, state-funded public charter schools. He also currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Multiplier organization, a California-based non-profit incubator and accelerator. He has an MBA in Strategy & Operations from the Darden School of Business and a BA in Political and Social Thought, both from the University of Virginia. Phil is an enrolled member of the Cedar Band of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah and descends from the Northern Paiute, Pawnee and Comanche people.

Patricia Dominguez

State Director of New Mexico | U.S. Department of Agriculture – Rural Development

Patricia Dominguez has worked with rural communities for many years to advance policies and initiatives that will help them flourish. She grew up in a rural community and after receiving a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of New Mexico, she worked for various state and county government agencies. Patricia has served as a congressional staffer for US Senators Jeff Bingaman and Martin Heinrich for thirteen years. Her congressional service in Senator Heinrich’s office was especially meaningful because her geographic region of coverage included rural northern New Mexico where she was raised. Her firsthand experience of living in a rural community helps her understand the challenges facing rural America and also the resources that will be needed to build capacity in these areas. Patricia has experience building networks and implementing successful strategies that help rural communities develop scale appropriate ventures that will thrive and have the best chance at success. Patricia has a deep appreciation for New Mexico and will continue to be an advocate for rural communities and strive to improve quality of life and opportunities in underserved areas.

Adrian John
Navajo Nation

IDA Coordinator & Credit Counselor | Native Partnership for Housing, Inc.

Adrian John is an enrolled Member of the Navajo Nation. Adrian currently is responsible for Individual Development Account (IDA) by intake loan applications for native clients needing mortgage, credit builder and/or consolidation loans. As a HUD housing counselor candidate and NeighborWorks America homebuyer education specialist, in his role Adrian assists in providing Credit counseling to our Native clients with emphasis in Home Site Leases.

Prior to joining Native Partnership for Housing, Adrian served as a Projects Specialist with the Navajo Nation, assisting in public service to the Navajo Communities in infrastructure projects. He served as a board member for the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) and Gallup Indian Health Service governing Navajo Nation tribal, State and Federal Funds. Adrian continues to be deeply involved in the Navajo Community by serving on the Community Land Use Planning Committee for Red Rock Chapter, Navajo Nation. Most recently, Adrian coordinated with the Navajo Nation Administration of the Navajo Nation President in hosting the Navajo Nation Housing Fair.

Adrian’s customer service presents his passion in helping families obtain homeownership on or off the reservation and helps native families maintain a positive future throughout the loan process. The most important, and is his goal is to see Natives families become homeowners, and to be financially stable. His role at Native Partnership for Housing is to see more economic development in Natives communities for future generations.

Brett Isaac
Navajo Nation

Founder & Executive Chairman | Navajo Power

Brett Isaac is a member of the Navajo Nation and has worked with local chapters in the Nation to execute on numerous community development initiatives. Brett collaborated with the Navajo Community of Shonto in the development of Community Owned enterprises leading to the creation of a solar company on the Nation called Shonto Energy. Brett’s company has deployed over 200 off-grid solar systems to serve households without grid electricity. Brett is a Founder & Executive Chairman at Navajo Power.

Aparna Ramesh

Executive Vice President – Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer | Farmer Mac

Aparna leads the Farmer Mac finance team in developing innovative financial solutions and executing plans to enable the company to grow and thrive in a safe and sound manner as it carries out its important mission. She guides the company’s finance functions, including treasury, asset/liability management, financial planning & analysis, pricing, debt and equity investor relations, financial reporting and accounting, and ensures the timely and accurate communication of goals and successes to various stakeholders.

Aparna’s career, spanning over two decades, has been marked by significant successes in mission-oriented finance roles. In her most recent role, serving as the Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, she led efforts to make the finance function more proactive and strategic, with a focus on incorporating new technologies and data analytics, including the FedNow real-time payment and settlement service. In 2017, she was one of 22 executives globally to be selected for the Aspen Institute Finance Leaders Fellowship for enlightened leadership in finance and society-at-large. Prior to joining the Boston Fed, she spent ten years in commercial banking at Cambridge Savings Bank and M&T Bank in roles spanning product management, asset-liability management, and profitability.

Aparna holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. She also holds a master’s in finance from the Rochester Institute of Technology and integrated masters degrees (economics, management, and engineering) from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science. She is also a graduate of the America’s Community Bankers National School of Banking.

Sandy Martini
Cherokee

Associate CEO | Native American Agriculture Fund

Sandy Martini, a member of the Cherokee Tribe, is a trained agricultural economist and serves as NAAF’s Associate CEO.

She has spent the last 15 years teaching record keeping, financial management, business planning and food safety to Native farmers and ranchers. Prior to working for NAAF, she was the program administrator for the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative (IFAI) where she was responsible for program and budget management for projects totaling $8 million.

Before her role with IFAI, she was the grants program coordinator for the Southern Extension Risk Management Education Center at the University of Arkansas, where she managed over 112 grant projects totaling $4.5 million across the southern region. While there, she coordinated and conducted six BarCamp colloquia for 132 socially disadvantaged agricultural producers. The results were provided to high-level advisors at the U.S. Department of Agriculture for producer program development.

Ms. Martini’s first role as an agricultural economist consisted of research on the success rates of the Farm Service Agency Direct and Guaranteed Loan Program for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. She co-authored a published report that received one of the most prestigious awards in her field. From 2004 through 2009, she also assisted with a Risk Management Agency-funded project, where she researched the economics of exporting poultry litter from the Illinois watershed area to the Arkansas Delta Region as a fertilizer.

She received her master’s degree in agricultural economics in 2002. Her thesis focused on the impact of food safety recalls for ready-to-eat meat sales during the rollout of the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP). Prior to that time, Ms. Martini spent 10 years in western wear retail sales, managing 11 regional locations.

She and her family operate a 150-acre farm, where they produce beef and rehabilitate former racehorses.

Zachary Carpenter

Executive Vice President – Chief Business Officer | Farmer Mac

As Executive Vice President – Chief Business Officer, Zack leads the vision, development, and strategy for all Farmer Mac products and businesses. He oversees the company’s agriculture, agribusiness and rural infrastructure activities, including business development and strategy for its foundational products and segments as well as new lines of business. Farmer Mac looks to provide financial institutions and lenders across the country with financial solutions and risk mitigation tools that allow farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses, and rural infrastructure borrowers access to flexible and affordable credit. In this role, he oversees the company’s expansive portfolios, develops customer and business strategies, product innovation and standardization, and business line strategy, research & analytics.

Zack has devoted much of his career to facilitating dependable credit and financial solutions for American agriculture and rural communities. A respected executive with a reputation for building high-performing teams who share his same passion for and dedication to rural America, Zack has accumulated deep expertise developing and innovating financial solutions across the agribusiness value chain while developing strong relationships with other providers of capital. Before joining Farmer Mac, Zack spent nearly a decade in various management positions at CoBank, most recently as a Managing Director and Sector Vice President of its Corporate Agribusiness Banking Group, and previously as Executive Director of its Capital Markets division. He has also served as a vice president in finance and corporate strategy at Goldman Sachs.

Zack earned a bachelor of science degree in economics with a concentration in corporate finance from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA with specializations in corporate finance, accounting and business law from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Todd Batta

Vice President – Government Affairs | Farmer Mac

As Farmer Mac’s Vice President, Government Affairs, Todd leads the company’s public policy agenda and regulatory engagement on a range of policies to advance the company’s public mission.

In his work for Farmer Mac, Todd draws upon an extensive body of knowledge from 20 years of experience in agricultural policy and politics. He previously served as the executive assistant and senior policy advisor to the Farm Credit Admiration (FCA) Chairman Dallas Tonsager.

Prior to joining FCA, Mr. Batta was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In that role, he served as the principal political adviser to the secretary and subcabinet on legislative, budget, and regulatory issues. He also served as Senior Policy Advisor to Secretary Tom Vilsack while at USDA. In that role, he was responsible for rural economic development issues, leading the White House Rural Council’s policy agenda and crafting the department’s $160 billion annual budget.

Before joining USDA, Todd worked on Capitol Hill for over a decade, serving as a legislative assistant in the office of U.S. Senator Herb Kohl. He served as legislative advisor on the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee for Chairman Tom Harkin, where he helped develop the rural development, credit, and forestry titles of the 2008 fam bill. Todd is a graduate of Winona State University in Winona, Minn., where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in history.

Thomas Steirer

Program Manager, Technical Assistance & Project Finance | Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy

Thomas Steirer, a member of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation (Turtle Clan), has enjoyed a 20+ year, multi-faceted financial industry career focused on Native American finance and economic development. Since graduating from Santa Clara University with a degree in finance, Thomas has gained the experiences of working for investment banks on Wall Street, commercial banks serving tribes, then working directly and indirectly with dozens of tribal nations throughout Indian Country as a consultant and advisor, tribal enterprise board member and social entrepreneur.

Thomas has been a licensed securities professional, certified financial literacy trainer of trainers, certified homeownership HUD 184 advisor, and a multi-industry entrepreneur. Through his role as Program Manager of Technical Assistance and Project Finance with the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy, his mission is to bring crucial resources to tribal nations to foster the development of renewable energy projects for the benefit of our communities.

Empowering tribal leaders with the knowledge and resources to facilitate the transition to renewable, sustainable energy is a key priority for Thomas, not only to directly benefit tribal communities but also to help tribes explore opportunities to pursue for-profit energy ventures. In his personal life, Thomas enjoys traveling the world (with a special fondness for Southeast Asia), exploring one tropical island paradise after another, scuba diving and learning about other Indigenous cultures. At home in Lake Tahoe, Thomas is an avid fitness enthusiast who enjoys a wide range of outdoor activities in and around the lake and is especially happy shredding trails on his mountain bike.

Wendolyn Holland

Senior Advisor, Policy & Tax | Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy

Wendolyn Holland leads the critical policy and tax advocacy work of the Alliance. She has spent the last seven years of her career supporting tribes in achieving their clean energy goals by serving as an interface with federal and state agencies. She served as Senior Advisor for Commercialization in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy from 2008 through 2011. The position fostered national lab stewardship and was designed to carry these ideals from the Bush Administration into the Obama Administration. Holland served in 2012 as Director for Strategic Development and Technical Partnerships at Savannah River National Lab, which serves DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. Prior to federal service, she worked with clean energy and water start-up firms as either an owner or consultant. She responded to the terrorist attacks of 2001 by joining Global Options, a Washington, D.C. security, investigations, and counter-terrorism start-up, later serving as Vice President. Holland received her MBA in Finance and Strategy from Kellogg School of Management in 2001 and her BA in History and Studies in the Environment from Yale in 1991.

Donna Gambrell

President & CEO | Appalachian Community Capital

As President & CEO of Appalachian Community Capital, Donna J. Gambrell is responsible for attracting and directing investments to Community Development Financial Institutions (or CDFIs) and other mission-driven lenders in Appalachia. These lenders, in turn, use the investments to make loans to small business owners, including to minority- and women-owned businesses, in underserved communities throughout the region. Since it began lending in 2015, ACC has deployed over $32 million to help finance renewable energy projects, manufacturing sites, elder care facilities, restaurants, ecotourism, and downtown redevelopment, among other projects.

Ms. Gambrell serves on several CDFI boards. She is also the board chair of the African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs, a 501(c)(3) organization comprised of over 70 executives that was formed in 2018 to identify solutions to closing the racial wealth gap in the communities served by the members.

Cynthia Lummis

U.S. Senator for Wyoming

Cynthia Lummis was sworn into the United States Senate on January 3, 2021, becoming the first woman to serve as United States Senator from the great State of Wyoming.

Born on a cattle ranch in Laramie County, Senator Lummis has spent her entire career fighting for Wyoming families, communities, businesses and values. From the halls of the Wyoming House to the halls of the U.S. House, her time in public service has always been focused on advocating for Wyoming’s future.

First elected to the U.S. House in 2008, Senator Lummis quickly earned her reputation as a no-nonsense conservative and principled policymaker. She was a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, a group consisting of the most unflinching conservative Members of the House of Representatives. She fought throughout her tenure in Congress to rein in spending and reduce the federal deficit, working with the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and ultimately co-sponsoring several bipartisan budget proposals.

In the House of Representatives, Senator Lummis effectively elevated western issues, pushing through the first Interior and Environment (EPA) Appropriations bill to pass the House in seven years under her chairmanship. This marked a significant milestone for the Western Caucus and the rural communities across the West they represent. She also worked to keep public lands open to the public and available for multiple use. She successfully passed the National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act in 2016, a bipartisan effort led by Cynthia to maintain over 157,000 miles of trails within our national forests.

Senator Lummis is a dedicated champion of Wyoming’s mineral and energy resources. In Washington, she fought off attacks from the environmental left while advocating for market opportunities both at home and abroad. She is the proud godmother of the ANSAC Wyoming, a commercial shipping vessel transporting trona from the U.S. to Southeast Asia and is the recipient of the lifetime achievement award from the Washington Coal Club.

Prior to serving in the House of Representatives, Senator Lummis spent eight years as Wyoming State Treasurer and 14 years as a member of the Wyoming State House and Senate. She also worked as general counsel to Wyoming Governor Jim Geringer and Director of the Office of State Lands and Investments, as well as a law clerk at the Wyoming Supreme Court.

After departing U.S. House of Representatives in 2016, Senator Lummis operated her family’s cattle ranches and the Sweetgrass development in Laramie County, with her brother and sister. She is a three-time graduate of the University of Wyoming in animal science, biology and law. She and her late-husband, Al Wiederspahn, have one daughter, Annaliese, son-in-law Will Cole and grandsons Gus, Al and Bennett.

Tina Smith

U.S. Senator for Minnesota

Since coming to the Senate in 2018, U.S. Senator Tina Smith has been a fierce advocate for Native and Tribal communities in Minnesota and beyond.

With more than 50 bills and provisions signed into law, her successful bipartisan legislative record has benefited the state’s economic development, housing and financial access, and under-resourced communities.

As a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Senator Smith has made access to housing and financial services for Native communities a top priority. She has led numerous bipartisan pieces of legislation to expand access to capital and financial services in underserved communities, outlaw discrimination in the financial services industry, institute common sense regulations for manufactured homes, and make credit unions safer for employees and members.

Additionally, as Chair of the Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation and Community Development, Smith has chaired hearings focused on supporting CDFIs and addressing disparities in access to capital in Tribal and underserved communities. She is the lead sponsor, along with Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), of the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program Improvement Act, which would make a key CDFI capital access program available to smaller CDFIs.

She has also introduced bipartisan legislation to help Native families access affordable home loans and achieve homeownership. In the months ahead, Senator Smith is working to pass federal bipartisan legislation that would expand financial services and capital investment in communities of color, on Tribal lands, and in rural communities.

Vincent Logan
Osage Nation

Board Chairman & CEO | Farm Credit Administration

Vincent G. Logan was appointed to the FCA board by President Joseph Biden on Oct. 3, 2022. He was designated board chairman and CEO on Oct. 21. The agency’s first openly LGBT person and Native American board member, he is serving a term that expires on May 21, 2026.

Chairman Logan is also a member of the board of directors of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation, an independent U.S. government-controlled corporation that insures the timely payment of principal and interest on obligations issued jointly by Farm Credit System banks.

Prior to joining FCA, Chairman Logan was chief financial officer and chief investment officer for the Native American Agriculture Fund, which is the largest philanthropic organization dedicated solely to serving the Native American farming and ranching community.

Nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2014, Chairman Logan served as the Special Trustee for American Indians at the U.S. Department of the Interior. During his tenure, he was appointed to the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Literacy Education Commission, which seeks to develop a national strategy on financial education.

Chairman Logan has worked in New York both as a lawyer, practicing in aircraft, shipping, and equipment finance, and as an investment advisor, focusing on institutional asset management and permanent fund development.

Chairman Logan previously served as a director to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Little Rock Branch, and as an Oklahoma State University Foundation governor. He was educated at Oklahoma State University; the University of Oklahoma College of Law; Queen’s College, Oxford University; and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

Isabel Guzman

Administrator | U.S. Small Business Administration

Isabel Guzman is the 27th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration and serves in President Biden’s Cabinet as the leading advocate for America’s 33 million small businesses and innovative startups.

Guzman has made advancing entrepreneurship her life’s work. Growing up, she worked alongside her father in his chain of veterinary hospitals, an experience that shaped her understanding of entrepreneurship and its transformative effect on customers and on communities. She went on to launch her own businesses across a range of industries and advise other founders in paving their way to the American Dream of business ownership. She served as SBA’s Deputy Chief of Staff in the Obama-Biden Administration and then led the California Office of the Small Business Advocate. In early 2021, President Biden asked her to lead the SBA, and her nomination was confirmed by a bipartisan vote in the U.S. Senate.

Under Guzman’s leadership, the agency manages a $500 billion portfolio and deploys $40 billion in funding annually to America’s small business owners. As administrator, she spearheaded key agency initiatives to deliver essential pandemic assistance to the most vulnerable small businesses and underserved communities. She has also implemented effective strategies that help small businesses and innovative startups gain unprecedented access to capital, contracting, professional networks, technical training, digital tools and disaster support. As a result, more than ever before, millions of America’s entrepreneurs have the resources they need to start, grow and build resilient businesses.

Chris James
Eastern Band Cherokee

President & CEO | National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development

Chris James is the President and CEO of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, the largest business development and technical assistance training organization in the country for American Indian and Alaska Native-owned businesses. A former Associate Administrator at the U.S. Small Business Administration and U.S. Treasury official, Mr. James has doubled the National Center’s revenue during his tenure, expanding procurement and training programs throughout the country while boosting attendance to the annual Reservation Economic Summit by nearly 30% in the last five years.

Mr. James manages a team of nearly 30 staff and contractors based in seven offices across the country, all focused on enhancing the resilience of small and medium enterprises, promoting holistic community planning, and supporting tribal governments and small business owners in developing a strategic approach to economic development.

Fostering strong relationships with supplier diversity offices at Fortune 500 companies such as Lockheed Martin, Nike, Google, Square Inc; Northup Grumman, Alaska Airlines, Microsoft and IBM, the National Center has grown the number of businesses it supports from 200 per year, to more than 1,000.

Mr. James also leads the National Center’s advocacy work, coordinating with allies and tribal governments to hold local, state, and federal government officials accountable and constructively promoting policy changes that support access to capital and resources for small business incubation and growth. Under his leadership, the National Center has launched a Native Edge Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), and the National Center now boasts over $4 billion in procurement it has helped National Center clients secure.

From 2011 – 2016, Mr. James was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as Associate Administrator at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), where he led the Office of Field Operations, and the Office of Native American Affairs, and where he established the SBA’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Managing a workforce of over 800 people with an annual operating budget of more than $200 million, Mr. James oversaw programs and services that affected all 50 states and every U.S. territory, and served as a liaison to domestic and international corporate partners and stakeholders. Mr. James was also the officer on record for Tribal Consultation.

Among his accomplishments at SBA was the creation of Startup in a Day, which worked with cities and Native American communities to create streamlined platforms to allow entrepreneurs to apply for all relevant business permits in an expedited manner. Mr. James was also the agency lead on the SupplierPay program, which worked with nearly 50 Fortune 500 companies to speed up payments to suppliers.

Harold Pettigrew

President & CEO | Opportunity Finance Network

Harold Pettigrew currently serves as president and CEO of Opportunity Finance Network, the leading national network of community development financial institutions serving rural, urban, and Native communities. Before that, he was CEO of Wacif, one of the Washington, DC, area’s leading CDFIs focused on access to capital and technical assistance to low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs of color. Mr. Pettigrew has spent his career in economic development, with nearly 20 years of experience in small business development, venture capital investing, transportation and transit, workforce development, and public sector management. Prior to Wacif, Mr. Pettigrew was the director of entrepreneurship at Prosperity Now, where he led the organization’s national efforts to advance policies and programs that increase business success for low-and moderate-income microbusiness owners throughout the United States. In addition, he has served as an advisor to the World Bank on private sector, small business development, and business licensing strategies and to the National League of Cities on equitable development strategies. His fellowships include OFN Opportunity Fellowship (2017) and Common Future Local Economy Fellowship (2016). He was a 2015 Next City Vanguard and is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Mr. Pettigrew has a master’s degree in urban planning from New York University and a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University, where he served as a member of the university’s Board of Trustees.

Joel Blaine

Director of Business & Project Development | GRID Alternatives

Joel Blaine brings 15 years of experience developing clean energy projects both domestically and internationally, including the last 4 years at GRID Alternatives with the Commercial and Community solar programs. He supports full cycle development with a focus on financing for low-income and BIPOC dedicated projects. He leads the raise of $8M in impact investments to GRID Alternatives and placement of $7M for project finance. Previously he worked for the US Department of Energy managing a $40M grant portfolio to state and local governments for clean energy implementation.

Krystal Langholz

Director of Strategy | Calvert Impact

Krystal Langholz is a Director of Strategy for Calvert Impact, supporting new product and program development. She assists the design and launch of new products that are built in response to market gaps. Krystal oversees the implementation of new programs and ensures that the lessons learned from these programs are disseminated with partners. She also supports syndicated transactions and provides general thought leadership to inform future strategy.

Before her time at Calvert, Krystal served as the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Strategy and Capitalization of the Oweesta Corporation, a national Native Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) intermediary. Before her tenure at Oweesta, Krystal served as the founding Executive Director of Hunkpati Investments, a certified Native CDFI on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation in South Dakota. She holds a MA in cultural anthropology from Colorado State University and BA from Luther College. Krystal lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, with her husband, two children, and a golden doodle.

Gary Matteson

SVP Beginning Farmer Programs and Outreach | The Farm Credit Council

Gary Matteson works for Farm Credit’s trade association in Washington, DC as Senior Vice President, Beginning Farmer Programs and Outreach. This includes policy work on local foods, sustainable agriculture, and direct-to-consumer agriculture.

He is an advocate for young, beginning, small, and minority farmer outreach programs. This includes work on emerging opportunities in local foods, direct-to-consumer agriculture, and generational transition of farm businesses. He has researched, designed curricula, and taught financial and business planning skills for more than fifteen years to thousands of beginning farmers in conferences, seminars, webinars, and college classrooms. Mr. Matteson specializes in making basic business concepts approachable and relevant to beginning farmers.

For thirty years Gary was a small farmer raising greenhouse wholesale cut flowers marketed in the Northeast and beef cattle for local sales. He has served on numerous boards of directors including Farm Credit, Farmer Veteran Coalition, Farmers Market Coalition, and many other non-profits.

Mr. Matteson holds a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and biology from the University of Connecticut.

Kristen Wagner

National Program Director | Native CDFI Network

Kristen Wagner serves as the Native CDFI Network’s National Program Director. In this role, Wagner manages NCN grant funded programs, Membership Programs, and oversees the design and delivery of capacity-building supports to NCN members. Dr. Wagner built her 25-year career with a commitment to building more equitable economies in Native communities across the country and Indigenous communities globally.

Ian Record

Consultant | Native CDFI Network

Ian Record is an independent consultant with expertise in tribal governance, economic development, workforce development, constitutional reform, federal Indian policy, and related areas. He provides consulting services to Tribal Nations and Native organizations in the United States and Canada consisting of strategic planning development and implementation, tribal governance and policy analysis, executive education for tribal and organizational leaders, and research on trends and best practices in tribal governance and development.

From 2014 to 2021, he served as Vice President of Tribal Governance and Special Projects at the National Congress of American Indians. In this capacity, he led NCAI’s efforts to develop, coordinate, and share the knowledge, tools, and resources that Tribal Nations and leaders need to strengthen their governance systems and more effectively exercise their sovereignty. He also served as a policy lead on tribal workforce and economic development, and oversaw several NCAI projects, including its Ending “Indian” Mascots Initiative, Tribal Climate Action Initiative, Tribal Food Sovereignty Advancement Initiative, and Building Tribal Economies Initiative. From 2004 to 2014, Record served as Manager of Educational Resources for the Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy (NNI) at the University of Arizona. Dr. Record obtained his Ph.D. in American Indian Studies from the University of Arizona.

Dave Tovey
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

Executive Director | Nixyáawii Community Financial Services

Dave Tovey (Umatilla) is the Executive Director of the Umatilla Tribes’ Nixyáawii Community Financial Services, a developing Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). He is also the former executive director for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in northeast Oregon. He has also served in top executive roles with the Siletz Tribal Business Corporation, Cayuse Technologies, the Coquille Indian Tribe, and the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Economic Development Corporation (ATNI-EDC). Named Economic Development Leader of the Year for the State of Oregon by former Governor John Kitzhaber in 2001. He currently serves on the boards of two CDFI’s—the President of the ATNI-EDC and the Secretary/Treasurer of the Indian Land Capital Company. He spent the majority of his early career with the Umatilla Tribes as economic development director and executive director during their period of dramatic growth throughout the 1990’s.

Karen Williams

Consultant

Karen Williams has been involved in the NMTC program as a lawyer, consultant, and trainer for about 20 years, and has participated in over $850 million in NMTC transactions. She advises clients including tribes and Native Hawaiians on NMTC allocation applications and transactions as well as community and economic development plans, public private partnerships, and infrastructure financing.

Cindy Logsdon

CEO | Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation

Cindy Logsdon is the CEO of the Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation. In this role she oversees the loan servicing, internal systems management, administers the reporting and relationships with funding entities, as well as oversees the financial reporting for the organization.

Ms. Logsdon came to the Citizen Potawatomi Nation in 2003 after a 15-year career in banking. She is proud to have implemented new programs and has assisted in making over $45 million in loans to Native American entrepreneurs. She has laid the groundwork for introducing multiple products to her tribal community, such as: an Employee Loan program, Financial Education Initiatives, Credit Builder Loan, Jumpstart Auto Loan, Tornado Shelter, CSA and IDA programs. She is honored to have secured funds through the 2015 CDFI Bond Program for $16 million.

Ms. Logsdon currently serves as secretary on the local Tecumseh FFA Booster Club, is a board member of the Oklahoma Native Asset Coalition, is an advisory member of Midwest Renewable Capital, and is the Board Treasurer of the Native CDFI Network.

Lori Pourier
Oglala Lakota

President & CEO | First Peoples Fund

Lori Lea Pourier (Oglala Lakota), an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, has served as the President of First Peoples Fund (FPF) since 1999. FPF honors and supports the Collective Spirit of Native artists and culture bearers through fellowships, grants and community based partnerships, FPF’s deeply rooted Indigenous Arts Ecology model and movement building strategies. FPF’s Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Awards honors Native culture bearers who selflessly give of themselves and bring spirit back to the community.

Lori’s early work began at First Nations Development Institute and as the Executive Director of the International Indigenous Women’s Network (IWN). She is a 2017 Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow, a recipient of the 2013 Women’s World Summit Foundation Prize for Creativity in Rural Life, and a 2013 Louis T. Delgado Distinguished Grantmaker Awardee. As an alumnus of the Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO) American Indian Ambassadors Leadership Program, she stands with more than 300 Indigenous leaders.

Lori serves on the Board of Directors of the Jerome Foundation and the Library of Congress American Folklife Center Board of Trustees. She served two terms on the board of directors of the Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) and Native Americans in Philanthropy. Lori also contributed to the National Endowment for the Arts’ publication, How to Do Creative Placemaking.

Lori is a Core Partner with Arts in a Changing America, the Cultural New Deal and the Intercultural Leadership Institute (ILI), a collaboration between First Peoples Fund, Alternate ROOTS, the PA’I Foundation, and National Association of Latino Arts and Culture.

Nancy Pindus

Senior Fellow | Urban Institute

Nancy Pindus is a Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute. Her work focuses on economic and community development, housing, food assistance, and employment. She codirected the first evaluation of the New Markets Tax Credit Program, completed in 2010. She directed a 6-year national study of Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian housing needs and a national study of the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations. She currently co-Directs the Economic Development Administration’s Community of Practice and Research Challenge to Support Indigenous Communities. She often serves as an advisor on proposals and evaluations; on program implementation in Indian Country and in rural areas; and on federal and tribal research review requirements.

Patrice Kunesh
Standing Rock Lakota

Commissioner | Administration for Native Americans (ANA)

Patrice H. Kunesh, of Standing Rock Lakota descent, is the commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans, at the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In her role as Commissioner, she serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Native Affairs and as Chair of the HHS Intradepartmental Council on Native American Affairs.

Kunesh has worked at the Native American Rights Fund, where she began her legal career, and has served as in-house counsel to the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. She also served on the faculty at the University of South Dakota School of Law.

Kunesh held appointments as the deputy undersecretary for rural development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and as the deputy solicitor for Indian affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior. In addition, she established the Center for Indian Country Development, an economic policy research initiative, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

She founded Peȟíŋ Haha Consulting, a social enterprise committed to fostering culturally-centered Native economic development, and she was appointed to the U.S. Treasury Community Development Advisory Board (CDFI Fund) as the representative for Native communities.

Kunesh holds a J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law and an M.P.A. from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Kevin Klingbeil

Managing Director | Big Water Consulting

Kevin Klingbeil is the Managing Director of Big Water Consulting in Seattle, Washington. Big Water Consulting is currently conducting the CDFI Fund’s New Markets Tax Credit Program Native Initiative as well as the Economic Development Administration’s Indigenous Economic Development Community of Practice (in partnership with the Urban Institute and the National American Indian Housing Council). Big Water designs and implements tribal community economic development-focused research and data collection projects, including needs assessments, market analysis and feasibility studies, throughout the country in furtherance of its mission to support tribal data sovereignty and self-determination. Big Water also advises tribes, philanthropic organizations, and local, state, and federal agencies on the efficacy of programs, data sources and funding formulas involving tribes, tribal programs, and Native populations.

Clifford Rosenthal

Author

Cliff Rosenthal joined the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (now, Inclusiv) in 1980 and served as CEO until 2012. He drafted the original concept paper calling for a CDFI fund and served in the leadership of the CDFI Coalition for two decades. After leaving the Federation, he launched and managed the Office of Financial Empowerment of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), developing initiatives to improve access to financial services for economically vulnerable consumers.

Trained as an historian, in 2018 he published Democratizing Finance: Origins of the Community Development Financial Institutions Movement (FriesenPress). His other works included Organizing Credit Unions: A Manual; “Credit Unions, Community Development Finance, and the Great Recession” (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, 2012); and “People’s Credit: A Study of the Lending of the Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union, 1986-89.

He received the Herb Wegner Award of the National Credit Union Foundation (2005), as well as the highest awards of the Opportunity Finance Network; the Insight Center for Community Economic Development; the Lawyers Alliance of New York City; and in 2011, the Network of Latino Credit Unions and Professionals. The ASI Federal Credit Union in New Orleans named the “Clifford N. Rosenthal Community Resource Center” to honor his assistance after Hurricane Katrina. In 2019 he was inducted into the African-American Credit Union Hall of Fame.

In 2022 he served as consulting producer for the award-winning public television reality series, Opportunity Knocks$, which helps people improve their financial lives by linking them to credit unions, CDFIs, and other nonprofit organizations.

Cliff holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Columbia University in New York City. With a colleague, Barbara Engel, he translated and edited a collection of memoirs of 19th-century Russian women revolutionaries, Five Sisters: Women Against the Tsar, which has been used in university courses since 1975. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York.

Jeff Bowman
Mohican

President & CEO | Bay Bank

Jeff Bowman is the President and CEO of Bay Bank, Green Bay, Wisconsin. Bay Bank is owned by the Oneida Nation is a Native CDFI bank. Jeff has 40 years of banking experience with the majority spent in commercial lending and management roles. He is the co-founder and the current Board President of First American Capital Corp (“FACC”), a Native CDFI formed in 2002. FACC was Wisconsin’s very first certified Native CDFI. Jeff is also a Board member of Bay Bank, the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Native Loan Fund Inc (a Native CDFI) and Oweesta Corporation. Jeff is an enrolled tribal member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians. He has a degree in Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His passion is supporting small businesses and helping tribal communities with access to capital.

Pooja Patel

Program Manager | CDFI Fund | U.S. Department of the Treasury

Pooja Patel is the Program Manager for the CDFI Program and Native Initiatives. Pooja has nearly 20 years of experience related to federal affordable housing and community economic development programs. Prior to joining the CDFI Fund, Pooja was a Senior Director at ICF. In this role, she managed a portfolio of projects focused on the successful design and administration of federal community development programs, including establishing and evaluating policies, guidelines, and methodologies that guide program operations.

Marcia Sigal

Acting Director | CDFI Fund | U.S. Department of the Treasury

Marcia Sigal currently serves as Acting Director of the CDFI Fund and is the Deputy Director for Policy and Programs for the CDFI Fund. In this role, she implements the CDFI Fund’s strategic vision through the design and management of the CDFI Fund’s assistance programs. She previously served as the Program Manager of the CDFI Fund’s Capital Magnet Fund and as Director of the Program Policy Division for the Office of Affordable Housing Programs in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. During her federal career, she led the development and administration of nearly $40 billion in federal community development programs. Ms. Sigal is a recognized expert in affordable housing and community development policy that has also served in senior policymaking roles with the Council of State Community Development Agencies and the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials. In these roles, Ms. Sigal shaped national outcome measurement metrics for community development programs, designed and launched new community development and affordable housing policies and programs, and developed capacity building and technical assistance programs for non-profit organizations, as well as state and local governments. She is an experienced executive with a demonstrated history of achievement in community development finance and affordable housing, policy analysis, government relations and business development skills. She has a Master’s Degree in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and attended Cornell University, where she studied community services and social work.

Drew Mattison

Director Wholesale Lending | AgriBank

As Director Wholesale Lending at AgriBank, Drew leads a team responsible for underwriting wholesale loans to Farm Credit Associations and Other Financing Institutions in the AgriBank District with loan commitments that exceed $100 billion. In addition to loan underwriting, Drew also provides leadership to loan review and appraisal review functions. He sits on AgriBank senior loan committee. AgriBank is one of four Farm Credit Banks that provide funding to the Farm Credit System with a mission to support rural communities and agriculture with reliable, consistent credit and financial services, today and tomorrow. The Farm Credit System provides more than 40 percent of the credit needed by U.S. agriculture. Prior to his current role, Drew managed a syndicated loan portfolio with AgriBank for ten years that covered multiple industries including capital markets, egg layers, row crop production, and ethanol.

Prior to joining AgriBank in 2011, Drew spent five years with CoBank in a credit officer function primarily serving the grain and farm supply industry.

Drew earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from University of Northern Iowa as well as an MBA from University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business.

Brad Nordholm

President & CEO | Farmer Mac

Brad Nordholm is the President & Chief Executive Officer of Farmer Mac, the largest secondary market lender for American agriculture, where he leads the company’s efforts to successfully deliver on its core mission of increasing the availability and affordability of credit for the benefit of American agriculture and rural communities.

With a career that spans over four decades, Brad is a seasoned executive with a wealth of experience in the financial services environment, including his involvement in agricultural and energy finance, capital markets, and credit. He has built a reputation for high-integrity leadership, collegiality, consistent results, and purpose of mission. He is well respected for his financial and business acumen and has devoted his career to solving complex problems, creating opportunities, and delivering value on a broad scale in the agriculture, banking, and energy and power sectors.

Brad joined Farmer Mac in October 2018 from Starwood Energy Group Global, LLC, a leading private investment firm specializing in energy infrastructure, where he served as the company’s first CEO from 2006 to 2016 and, more recently, as Vice-Chairman. Prior to his time at Starwood Energy, Brad founded and served as CEO of an energy and power-focused investment firm, Tyr Energy, after serving as General Manager at Aquila, Inc., a leading merchant energy company. He spent the first half of his career in banking focused on agriculture and cooperative organizations, including serving as CEO at U.S. Central and as Managing Director at National Cooperative Bank (NCB), as well as working in various management positions at Federal Land Bank of St Paul and Interregional Service Corporation of Minneapolis, both of which were acquired by successor organizations of the Farm Credit System.

Brad was born and raised in Cloquet, Minnesota and completed his undergraduate degree in Economics at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. Today, he and his wife, Alison, own and operate a 134-acre family farm in Southern Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

Janie Hipp
Chickasaw Nation

President & CEO | Native Agriculture Financial Services

Janie Simms Hipp, J.D, LL.M. currently serves as the founding CEO of the Native Agriculture Financial Service (NAFS), a nonprofit organization which will focus on providing and also leveraging others to address the capital access needs of Native farmers, ranchers, fishers, and forest land operators. NAFS will be part of the Farm Credit system of lending institutions in the United States and through that partnership will be able to leverage additional resources into Native agriculture.

Prior to leading NAFS she served as the General Counsel of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), after being nominated by President Joseph R. Biden and confirmed by the United States Senate. She was only the fourth woman in the United States and was he first Native woman to serve as General Counsel at USDA since 1905.

The Office of General Counsel (OGC) is responsible for providing legal advice and policy analysis to the Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas J. Vilsack, as well as all agencies, boards and commissions of USDA which has presence in over 3000+ counties in the United States and over 70 embassies around the world. OGC supports USDA through twelve field offices and offices in Washington DC. She previously served Secretary Thomas J. Vilsack during the Obama-Biden administration as a Senior Advisor, and was the founding director of the Office of Tribal Relations at USDA. She also previously served as a National Program Leader at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and a senior official within the Risk Management Agency.

Prior to joining USDA in the Biden-Harris administration, she served as the founding CEO of the Native American Agriculture Fund, the nation’s largest philanthropic organization focusing solely on improving Native food and agriculture. She was also the founder of the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative at the University of Arkansas School of Law which focuses on developing the law and policy frameworks needed by Tribal governments in supporting the resiliency and strength of Native food systems and Native farm and ranch economies.

She has over 35+ years of experience in agricultural law, having begun her work during the 1980s farm financial crisis. She is a recognized expert in agricultural law and in the intersection of agricultural law and Indian law. She has been honored by University of Arkansas and Oklahoma City University where she received her LL.M. in agriculture and food law, and her J.D., respectively, and by numerous other organizations for her expertise and leadership.

She has served as a professor on multiple campuses teaching a variety of courses relevant to agricultural law, authored dozens of publications, served as an agriculture advisor and consultant in international and domestic venues, and has spent almost forty years presenting on countless topics related to agriculture and food policy. She also served as an Assistant Attorney General in the State of Oklahoma and early in her career served as a lawyer to numerous state agencies and in private practice as a commercial litigator.

She is a proud citizen of the Chickasaw Nation and was raised in a small rural town in southeast Oklahoma and her permanent home is in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Ravi Malhotra

Founder & President | ICAST

Ravi is an experienced engineer and social entrepreneur who has established a variety of enterprises in India, Africa and the US with an emphasis on sustainable technologies. He has led both award-winning research & development efforts and successful new product launches. Ravi holds a Bachelor’s in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and a Master’s in both Engineering and Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin. Most recently, he has led ICAST in its programs that have helped hundreds of entrepreneurs and businesses with technical assistance, fundraising, and marketing.

Outreach Lead | State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) | U.S. Department of the Treasury

Ronald Kelly is Outreach Lead, State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) in the Department of the Treasury, working with states, territories, the District of Columbia, and tribal governments as they implement credit support and investment programs. Previously, he was Senior Director, Impact Strategy and Innovation at Capital Impact Partners, a national community development financial institution (CDFI). There, he oversaw organizational strategy, innovation and impact measurement workstreams. Ron’s work in the CDFI sector includes time with ShoreBank, National Community Investment Fund, and reviews of CDFI Fund applications for the CDFI Fund. In a voluntary capacity, he has served on the board of Washington Area Community Investment Fund (Wacif), the supervisory committee of Alternatives Federal Credit Union, and helped to establish a credit union. Other previous work includes nearly 8 years with Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC), where Ron served as Vice President, Technical Assistance and Training, and worked with federal, state and regional clients on community, economic, and workforce development issues. During his time at CREC he consulted extensively on the initial iteration of the SSBCI program. He holds a master’s in city and regional planning from Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Stacey McQuade-Eger
Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribe

Executive Director | Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Economic Development Corporation

Stacey McQuade-Eger, J.D.is an enrolled tribal member of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribe of the Flathead Reservation located in western Montana. She has worked for her Tribe for many years as a legal representative as well as serving in Executive Management for different tribal ventures. She has also represented Tribes and Native American initiatives at the local, state and federal level, advocating for increased awareness and representation of Indigenous People. Stacey has volunteered her time and resources in support of tribal youth related initiatives and serving on panel discussions on economic development, energy development, and Indian Law and its century’s long impact and how that translates to present day for Indigenous People.

In December of 2022 Stacey joined the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Economic Development Corporation as Executive Director. The organization’s focus is on building and promoting generational wealth and prosperity through sustainable intertribal economies. The foundation for which will be achieved through culturally relevant strategies and financing practices meeting the needs of Native American communities across 57 tribes in the Northwest region.

In her personal time, Stacey spends a great deal of time actively competing in equestrian events, specifically in Reining. Additionally, she enjoys doing traditional beadwork, constructing moccasins, and traditional outfits, working to refurbish and upcycle furniture, as well as traveling when she can with her husband who is a professional musician.

Heidi Frechette

Deputy Assistant Secretary | Public and Indian Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Heidi J. Frechette serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Native American Programs in HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing. In her capacity, she manages a number of programs dedicated to Native American communities – including one that is the largest source of housing assistance – and leads a team of professionals in Washington, D.C., and eight other offices located throughout the country. Ms. Frechette, who is Menominee and Brothertown from Wisconsin, has over 20 years of experience in Native American law, policy, and legislative affairs. Prior to joining HUD, Ms. Frechette provided legal counsel, advice, and representation to Tribal, Federal, and State governments and the private sector. As Senior Counsel to the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, she drafted and managed passage of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2008. Ms. Frechette earned her Juris Doctor and Master of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Brian Edwards

Associate Editor | Tribal Business News

Brian Edwards is Associate Editor of Tribal Business News. He covers policy and law, finance, and economic development.

Fatima Abbas
Haliwa Saponi

Director | Office of Tribal and Native Affairs | U.S. Department of the Treasury

Fatima Abbas (Haliwa Saponi) serves as the first director of the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Tribal and Native Affairs. In this role she works with U.S. Treasurer Lynn Malerba, chief of the Mohegan Tribe, and the Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee to address needs identified by tribal leaders.

Prior to this role, Abbas served as senior advisor to the Treasury Department in the Office of Recovery Programs, where she worked on the implementation of over $22 billion in relief funds to tribal governments to support their public health and economic recovery.

Previously, Abbas served as the vice president of government relations for the National Congress of American Indians, where she supervised a seven-person policy team with a portfolio covering economic development and taxation. Abbas also served as the first in-house general counsel for the Karuk Tribe located on the California-Oregon border. During her service at Karuk, Abbas worked on a range of commercial matters, including financing, construction, and operation of the tribe’s first gaming facility and multiple tax-credit projects. Additionally, she served as a supervisory attorney for the Karuk Berkeley Collaborative, a tribal student clinic at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law that conducted research on natural resources and cultural resource issues.

Prior to her service to the Karuk Tribe, Abbas served as deputy attorney general for the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) located in Western Arizona and Eastern California, where she worked on civil matters and prosecuted crimes on the reservation.

Prior to working for CRIT, Abbas was a commercial litigation associate at Fox Rothschild, LLP, in the Philadelphia area. She is originally from urban Philadelphia and is a graduate of the Community College of Philadelphia, Temple University, and the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. During law school, Abbas interned with numerous organizations, including the Native American Rights Fund. She is a licensed attorney in California, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

4th Annual

Policy & Capacity

Building Summit

December 3-5 2023

Hyatt Regency Washington

on Capitol Hill

Session Speakers

Fatima Abbas Haliwa Saponi

Todd Batta

Joel Blaine

Jeff Bowman Mohican

Zach Carpenter

Sharice Davids Ho-Chunk Nation

Brian Edwards

Tyler Fish Muscogee-Creek/Cherokee

Heidi Frechette

Donna Gambrell

Andrew Gordon

Isabel Guzman

Janie Hipp Chickasaw Nation

Chris James Eastern Band Cherokee

Ronald Kelly

Kevin Klingbeil

Michou Kokodoko

Patrice Kunesh Standing Rock Lakota

Krystal Langholz

Vincent Logan Osage Nation

Cindy Logsdon

Casey Lozar Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes

Cynthia Lummis

Marilynn Malerba MOHEGAN TRIBE

Ravi Malhotra

Sandy Martini Cherokee Tribe

Gary Matteson

Drew Mattison

Stacey McQuade-Eger Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribe

Ronald L. Milsap

Mary Miner

Brad Nordholm

Pooja Patel

Harold Pettigrew

Nancy Pindus

Lori Pourier Oglala Lakota

Aparna Ramesh

Ian Record

Tim Rios

Clifford Rosenthal

Marcia Sigal

Joel Smith Caddo Nation of Oklahoma

Tina Smith

Thomas Steirer Tonawanda Seneca Nation (Turtle Clan)

Dilawar Syed

Pilar M. Thomas PASCUA YAQUI TRIBE

Dave Tovey Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

Dave Uejio

Pete Upton Ponca Tribe of Nebraska

Jesse Van Tol

Karen Williams

Kristen Wagner

Additional speakers will be announced soon!

Dave Uejio

Dilawar Syed

Mary Miner

Ben Navarro

Onna LeBeau Omaha Tribe of Nebraska

Tim Rios

Nick Tilsen Oglala Lakota

Ben Sanders Northern Cheyenne Tribe

Jeff Tickle

Xochitl Torres Small

Sheila D. Herrera

Robert J. Miller Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma

Robin Danner native Hawaiian

Pilar M. Thomas Pascua Yaqui Tribe

Mel Willie Navajo Nation

Gary Cunningham

Michou Kokodoko

Jodie Harris

Chrystel Cornelius Ojibwe; Oneida

Angie Main Fort Belknap Gros Ventre Tribe

Fatima Abbas
Haliwa Saponi

Jeff Bowman
Mohican

Sharice Davids
Ho-Chunk Nation

Tyler Fish
Muscogee-Creek/Cherokee

Janie Hipp
Chickasaw Nation

Chris James
Eastern Band Cherokee

Patrice Kunesh
Standing Rock Lakota

Vincent Logan
Osage Nation

Casey Lozar
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes

Marilynn Malerba
MOHEGAN TRIBE

Sandy Martini
Cherokee Tribe

Stacey McQuade-Eger
Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribe

Lori Pourier
Oglala Lakota

Joel Smith
Caddo Nation of Oklahoma

Thomas Steirer
Tonawanda Seneca Nation (Turtle Clan)

Pilar M. Thomas
PASCUA YAQUI TRIBE

Dave Tovey
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

Pete Upton
Ponca Tribe of Nebraska

Onna LeBeau
Omaha Tribe of Nebraska

Nick Tilsen
Oglala Lakota

Ben Sanders
Northern Cheyenne Tribe

Robert J. Miller
Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma

Robin Danner
native Hawaiian

Pilar M. Thomas
Pascua Yaqui Tribe

Mel Willie
Navajo Nation

Chrystel Cornelius
Ojibwe; Oneida

Angie Main
Fort Belknap Gros Ventre Tribe

Casey Lozar
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes

Sharice Davids
Ho-Chunk Nation

Joel Smith
Caddo Nation of Oklahoma

Fern Orie
Oneida

Chad S. Marchand
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation

Megan Cruz
Osage Nation

Rollin Wood
Cherokee

Tawney Brunsch
Oglala Sioux Tribe

Denise Zuni
Isleta Pueblo

Marilynn Malerba
Mohegan Tribe

Pete Upton
Ponca Tribe of Nebraska

Kris Beecher
Navajo Nation

Wava White
Navajo Nation

Clara Pratte
Navajo Nation

Ellen White Thunder
Ogalala Sioux Tribe

Ellen White Thunder
Oglala Sioux Tribe

Phil Gover
Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah

Adrian John
Navajo Nation

Brett Isaac
Navajo Nation

Sandy Martini
Cherokee

Vincent Logan
Osage Nation

Chris James
Eastern Band Cherokee

Dave Tovey
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

Lori Pourier
Oglala Lakota

Patrice Kunesh
Standing Rock Lakota

Jeff Bowman
Mohican

Janie Hipp
Chickasaw Nation