Washington, DC – On October 20, 2021, NCN Board Chair Pete Upton joined the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Roundtable titled, “Investing in Economic Sovereignty: Leveraging Federal Financing for New and Sustained Development in Native Communities.”
Upton highlighted some of the challenges and opportunities facing Native CDFIs across the country in this unprecedented time. The Roundtable was a free-flowing conversation with panelists and Senators on the topic of Investing in Native communities. NCN Chair Upton used the opportunity to highlight several relevant issues for Native CDFIs including the need for Native CDFIs to receive at least 20% of the $1.75 billion Minority Lending Institutions (MLIs) funding. Other panelists included Kuhio Lewis of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, Clint Hastings of the CDFI Fund, Fatima Abbas of the Department of Treasury, Casey Lozar of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Chairman Arlen Melendez of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Carl Mars of the Old Harbor Native Corporation, Richard Frias of the Native American Finance Officers Association, and Denise Edwards of the Department of the Interior.
You can read the submitted prepared testimony which include a call for creating a Native CDFI Assistance (NACA) advisory committee at the Treasury. Special thanks to the Oweesta Corporation for sharing data on the projected $85.6 million shortfall in loan capital the upcoming year for 28 Native CDFI revolving loan funds.
Read Written Statement Here