Policy and Markets Program Manager | State of Maine Governor’s Energy Office

Clean Energy Partnership Program Manager | State of Maine Governor’s Energy Office

Tagwongo Obomsawin is the Clean Energy Partnership Program Manager for the State of Maine Governor’s Energy Office. In this role, she administers programs that support clean energy workforce development and innovation to advance Maine’s clean energy, climate, economic development, and workforce goals – including Governor Janet Mills’ goal of more than doubling Maine’s clean energy and energy efficiency jobs by 2030.

Chief of Staff | Rural Business Cooperative Service | USDA RD

Leroy Garcia serves as the Chief of Staff to the USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service Administrator Betsy Dirksen Londrigan. USDA’s RBCS offers programs to help businesses grow as well as job training for people living in rural areas. RBCS programs help provide the capital, training, education and entrepreneurial skills that can help those living in rural areas start and grow businesses or find jobs in agricultural markets and in the bio-based economy.
 
Prior to joining USDA, Garcia was the Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs at the Department of Defense. In 2014, Garcia was elected to represent Colorado’s 3rd State Senate District, covering Pueblo, Pueblo West, and part of Salt Creek. He became Assistant Minority Leader at the start of the 2017 Legislative Session and Senate President at the start of the 2019 Legislative Session. In 2020, he was unanimously re-elected to continue in his role as Senate President for the 73rd General Assembly. During the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden selected Senator Garcia to serve on his national Latino Leadership Committee, as well as a co-chair of Colorado’s Latino Leadership Committee. Prior to the Colorado Senate, Senator Garcia served in the Colorado House of Representatives. From 2001 to 2007, Garcia served in the U.S. Marine Corps and deployed to Iraq as a mortuary affairs specialist in 2003. Garcia is a first-generation college graduate with a master’s degree in organizational management from Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa, a bachelor’s in management from the University of Phoenix, and an associate degree in emergency medical services from Pueblo Community College.

Executive Director | 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.

Board Member | Maine Association of Nonprofits

Jayne is an independent consultant. She previously served as Development Director for Broadreach Family and Community Services and CEO of Mainestream Finance, the Community Development Finance Institution of Penquis Community Action Program. She was former Vice President of Commercial Banking at Machias Savings Bank, as well as a Vice President & Market Manager at Camden National Bank, and a Senior Vice President at Key Bank. Jayne also served for four years as a State Representative for House District #43 and served on the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committees.

Wabanaki Cultural Bearer/Storyteller/Singer

John Bear Mitchell is a citizen of the Penobscot Nation from Indian Island in Maine. He presently works in higher education at the University of Maine and is a lecturer of Wabanaki Studies and Multicultural Studies. He has served on numerous museum and educational boards throughout the state with missions based on Maine’s Wabanaki people. He is a singer and storyteller that has presented traditional and contemporary programs in Native American Stories and Song. His is featured in many Maine PBS, tribal-sponsored awareness videos, independent film, HBO Lionsgate TV, and many documentaries with topics on Maine’s Native People.

Senior Vice President and Chief Bank Operations Officer | Federal Home Loan Bank of New York

Mr. Volpe is Senior Vice President and Chief Bank Operations Officer of the FHLBNY. In this role, he directs and oversees Bank Operations as well as FHLBNY’s housing mission through the Community Investment department. Additionally, he served as Interim Community Investment Officer from December 2022 through December 2023. Mr. Volpe joined FHLBNY in January 1989 serving in various roles including First Vice President and Director of Bank Operations, Director of Member Services Operations, Director of Collateral and Correspondent Services, and Director of Collateral Operations. From 1998 to 2006, Mr. Volpe took a hiatus from FHLBNY where he held various positions at The Bank of New York’s application architecture group.  He received a B.S. in Finance and M.B.A. in International Finance from St. John’s University (NY) and is also a graduate of the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking.

Finance & Loan Analyst | Policy, Analysis, and Communications Division | Single-Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program | USDA Rural Development

I began my career with USDA Rural Development over 18 years ago, working as a student intern while attending Fort Valley State University (FVSU). For the past 3 years, I have specialized in the Guaranteed Loan program. Throughout my time at the agency, I have gained valuable experience across many of Rural Development’s programs including housing, multi-family housing, community programs, and business and industry loans. As a Finance & Loan Analyst, one of my primary duties is keeping the SFH Guaranteed Loan Program Technical Handbook up-to-date by reviewing and revising policies to ensure they remain current. I also develop program-related workplans and draft rules and guidance. In addition, I respond directly to general questions from the public submitted via email and through the CALL USDA phone line. I take pride in helping people access Rural Development’s resources and in furthering the agency’s mission.

Relationship Manager for Native CDFIs | Fahe

Susan Hammond is the Relationship Manager for Native CDFIs at Fahe, a CDFI serving in rural and Native communities with a mission to building the American Dream of homeownership.  Her main focus is to develop strong partnerships with Native CDFIs by providing training and support in accessing the secondary mortgage market, which will increase access to capital for NCDFIs while also addressing the severe housing needs faced by Native families and communities.  Susan is a citizen of the Penobscot Nation, a tribe in central Maine.  She has dedicated her career to growing investments in Native economies and serving Native communities.

Singers/Drummers

The Burnurwurbskek Singers are a men’s drum group from the Penobscot Nation at Indian Island, Maine. This group has been performing traditional Wabanaki songs for audiences across Maine and other states for many years.
 
Core members of the group are Ron Bear, his two sons Nick Bear and Cree Neptune Bear, and Nyle Sockbeson. The group is also often accompanied by traditional Native American dances, performed by Ron’s daughter Selena Neptune Bear and others. The Burnurwurbskek Singers are honored to continue to share their Native American drumming, singing and dances with Indian Country and others.

Executive Director | Four Directions Development Corporation

Matthew is a citizen of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik with comprehensive expertise in non-profit sectors and community development financial institutions. He is the Executive Director at Four Directions Development Corporation. In this role, Matthew champions the preservation of Wabanaki culture and traditions through economic development efforts. Matthew has over a decade of experience working alongside Municipal, State, Tribal, and Federal Governments, administering revolving loan funds and executing community development projects. Outside of his professional life, he enjoys crafting intricate Excel formulas, tinkering with electronics to automate household tasks, and exploring the scenic Maine woods with his wife.

Native Chef | James Beard Nominee

Penobscot Chef Joe Robbins is catalyzing change within and beyond indigenous foodways with a deep-rooted connectedness to the land and water and a vision for the future of contemporary Indigenous culture that knows no bounds. In his life and work, Robbins is changing the conversation to put Native American food on the map in ways that transcend its complex history as a source of survival to show that cultural preservation is not locked in the past, but is emerging and evolving in dynamic ways. When he’s not in the kitchen, Robbins is creating a ripple effect with the next generation by collaborating to develop indigenous-based educational programming in the classroom and community to shift the paradigms of the past toward a new vision for the future.

Director of Homeownership | cdcb

Linda Marin is the Director of Homeownership for cdcb.  Linda has been with cdcb for 25 years.  Linda holds a B.B.A. degree in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin, and previously worked for the Washington Mutual as a DE Underwriter. She is responsible for underwriting all loans and issuing loan commitments for all cdcb loan products as well as coordinating cdcb’s entire mortgage lending operations from loan application through closing.

Rio Grande Valley Multibank CDFI Operations Manager | cdcb

Nadia Erosa is the Rio Grande Valley Multibank CDFI Operations Manager for cdcb.  Nadia has been with cdcb for 15 years & administers the cdcb Loan Servicing Department, the RGV Multibank CDFI and its subsidiary The Community Loan Center (the Small Dollar Loan Program) and its nationwide CLC Franchises.  Nadia oversees loan origination process, program compliance for both the mortgage and SDLP servicing.   She was an integral part of a unique, proprietor loan servicing software used by their SDLP and its Franchises.

Lender and Partner Activities Team | USDA Rural Development

Ed grew up on a farm in rural south Georgia and graduated from the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!) with a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics. 
 
A thirty-five+ year employee of USDA Rural Development, he has served in numerous roles, including Loan Officer, Appraiser, Underwriter, Collecting Agent, and Construction Inspector in USDA RD Local Offices across Georgia. He has also held positions as Specialist and Program Director for the Single Family Housing programs in Georgia’s USDA State Office. He now serves on USDA’s National Headquarters staff serving on the Lender and Partner Activities team focusing on partner training and outreach.
 
He lives in Blackshear, Georgia with his wife of 39 years – together, they have three grown children.