The NCN team participated in the 2023 Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) Conference in Washington, D.C. from October 15-18. NCN CEO, Pete Upton, addressed the Native convening session, providing an update on policy advocacy wins of 2023 to date, submission of the only exclusively Native-serving application to the EPA’s Clean Communities Investment Accelerator program, and information about NCN’s upcoming Native clean energy finance market study.
Upton noted the significance of the historic opportunities for capital access that are available for Native CDFIs in 2023 stating, “The current resources available to Native CDFIs are transformational and will allow us to create an ecosystem that supports sustainable, healthy Native economies. Competition for these resources is historically embedded in our economic systems, but as connectors we can work together and create lasting change for our communities.”
NCN hosted an expo table at the even that served as a gathering place for NCN members and an opportunity to connect with others and share the story of Native CDFI “Difference Makers” across Indian Country.
First image: Krystal Langholz, Director of Strategy at Calvert Impact Capital with NCN’s CEO Pete Upton and Programs Director Kristen Wagner
Second image: Andrew Gordon, Executive Advisor for Clearinghouse CDFI with Pete Upton and Kristen Wagner
Third image: Kahaunani Mahoe-Thoene, Lending Director for Hawaii Community Lending with NCN’s CEO Pete Upton
Fourth image: Ron Maldonado, Board President of Native Partnership for Housing, Rollin Wood, CEO of Native Partnership for Housing, Julia Nelmark, President and CEO of Midwest Minnesota Community Development Corporation and CEO of White Earth Investment Initiative, Pete Upton, CEO of NCN, Ben Sanders, CFO of the Native American Development Corporation