The Native CDFI Network (NCN) developed the “Native CDFIs: Difference Makers for Indian Country” interview series to cast a much-needed spotlight on the many positive benefits that Native community development financial institutions (CDFIs) create for tribal communities and the leaders who help make Native CDFIs the transformational success stories they are.

Interview #39: Alicia Burns | Westwater Financial, Inc.

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Alicia Burns, who serves as Executive Director of Westwater Financial, Inc....

Interview #38: Pamela Boivin | NiiJii Capital Partners, Inc.

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Pamela Boivin, who serves as Executive Director of NiiJii Capital Partners, Inc. (NiiCaP)....

Interview #37: Nancy Jordan | Lummi CDFI

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Nancy Jordan, who serves as Interim Executive Director of Lummi CDFI (LCDFI), a certified Native CDFI based in Bellingham, Washington. ...

Interview #36: Jeff Gilbreath | Hawai’i Community Lending

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Jeff Gilbreath, who serves as Executive Director of Hawai’i Community Lending (HCL), a federally certified Native CDFI headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii....

Interview #35: Kim Pate | NDN Fund

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Kim Pate, who serves as Managing Director of NDN Fund, the investing and lending arm of NDN Collective. ...

Interview #34: Chris James | National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Chris James, who serves as President and CEO of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED), which recently launched Native Edge Finance (NEF), an emerging Native CDFI....

Interview #33: Jacqueline Pata | Haa Yakaawu Financial Corporation

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Jacqueline Pata, who is President & CEO of the Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority, which oversees Haa Yakaawu Financial Corporation, a federally certified Native CDFI based in Juneau, Alaska....

Interview #32: Leonard Smith | Native American Development Corporation

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Leonard Smith, who serves as Chief Executive Officer and founder of the Native American Development Corporation (NADC), a federally certified Native CDFI headquartered in Billings, Montana....

Interview #31: Charlene Virgilio | Four Directions Development Corporation

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Charlene Virgilio, who serves as Executive Director of Four Directions Development Corporation (FDDC), a federally certified Native CDFI based in Orono, Maine. Established in 2001 by the Penobscot Indian Nation, FDDC was the first Native CDFI in northern New...

Interview #30: Chrystel Cornelius | Oweesta Corporation

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Chrystel Cornelius, who serves as President & CEO of Oweesta Corporation, a federally certified national Native CDFI intermediary predominantly serving Native communities across the mainland United States, Alaska, and Hawaii. Based in Longmont, Colorado, Oweesta provides investments, training, technical...

Interview #29: Tamra Marlowe | Chehalis Tribal Loan Fund

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Tamra Marlowe, who serves as Executive Director of Chehalis Tribal Loan Fund (CTLF), a federally certified Native CDFI based in Oakville, Washington. Established in 2007, CTLF serves the Chehalis Tribal people and surrounding community through multiple forms of assistance...

Interview #28: Colleen Steele | Mazaska Owecaso Otipi Financial

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Colleen Steele, who serves as Executive Director of Mazaska Owecaso Otipi Financial, a federally certified Native CDFI located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Serving members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe living on or near Pine...

Interview #27: Robert Aitken | Leech Lake Financial Services

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Robert Aitken, who serves as Executive Director of Leech Lake Financial Services (LLFS), a federally certified Native CDFI based in Bemidji, Minnesota. Leech Lake promotes the economic wellbeing of Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe members and their families by...

Interview #26: Jonathan Zurek | Seneca Nation of Indians Economic Development Company

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Jonathan Zurek, who serves as Executive Director of the Seneca Nation of Indians Economic Development Company (SNIEDC), a federally certified Native CDFI based in Salamanca, New York. Chartered in 1993 by the Seneca Nation of Indians Tribal Council, SNIEDC...

Interview #25: Cindy Logsdon | Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Cindy Logsdon, who serves as CEO and Executive Director of the Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation (CPCDC), a federally certified Native CDFI based in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Chartered by the Citizen Potawatomi Nation (CPN), CPCDC provides capital and technical assistance...

Interview #24: Alissa Charley | Hopi Credit Association

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Alissa Charley, who serves as Executive Director of the Hopi Credit Association (HCA), a federally certified Native CDFI that serves enrolled members of the Hopi Tribe in northeastern Arizona. Established in 1952 by a group of Hopi ranchers as...

Interview #23: Rollin Wood | Native Partnership for Housing

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Rollin Wood, who serves as Executive Director of the Native Partnership for Housing, Inc. (NPH), a federally certified Native CDFI in Gallup, New Mexico. The Partnership serves the housing and homeownership needs of Native and also non-Native clients in...

Interview #22: Rjay Brunkow | Indian Land Capital Company

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Rjay Brunkow, who serves as CEO of Indian Land Capital Company (ILCC), which is based in Little Canada, Minnesota. A federally certified Native CDFI, ILCC provides alternative loan options to Native nations for land acquisition projects. Creating customized, flexible...

Interview #21: Mary Miner | Alaska Growth Capital

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Mary Miner, who serves as Vice President of Community Development for Alaska Growth Capital BIDCO, Inc., in Anchorage, Alaska. Alaska Growth Capital (AGC) is a federally certified Native CDFI that was founded in 1997 as Alaska’s first Business and...

Interview #20: Jeff Tickle | Cook Inlet Lending Center

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Jeff Tickle, who serves as General Manager of Cook Inlet Lending Center, Inc. (CILC) in Anchorage, Alaska. Formerly known as NaQenq’a, CILC is a federally certified Native CDFI that was created in 2001 as a social enterprise of the...

Interview #19: Alana Peterson | Spruce Root

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Alana Peterson, who serves as Executive Director of Spruce Root, Inc., which serves 23 predominantly Native communities across southeast Alaska. A federally certified Native CDFI, Spruce Root provides local entrepreneurs with access to business development and financial resources in...

Interview #18: Sean Winters | Chi Ishobak

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Sean Winters, who serves as Executive Director of Chi Ishobak, Inc. Meaning “Big Cabbage” in the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi’s language, Chi Ishobak is a certified Native CDFI serving the Pokagon Potawatomi community and other Native people in Michigan...

Interview #17: Lakota Vogel | Four Bands Community Fund, Inc.

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Lakota Vogel, who serves as Executive Director of Four Bands Community Fund, Inc., a federally certified Native CDFI based on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota whose mission is to create economic opportunity by helping Native people...

Interview #16: Julia Nelmark | White Earth Investment Initiative

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Julia Nelmark, who serves as President and CEO of Midwest Minnesota Community Development Corporation (MMCDC) and CEO of White Earth Investment Initiative (WEII), a MMCDC subsidiary. A federally certified Native CDFI, WEII helps create jobs and improve community life...

Interview #15: Barbara Schmitt | Black Hills Community Loan Fund

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Barbara Schmitt, who serves as Interim Executive Director of Black Hills Community Loan Fund (BHCLF) in Rapid City, South Dakota. A federally certified Native CDFI, BHCLF creates opportunities for Native families to strengthen their financial wellbeing in the He...

Interview #14: Dave Tovey | Nixyáawii Community Financial Services

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Dave Tovey, who serves as Executive Director of Nixyáawii Community Financial Services, a federally certified Native CDFI owned and operated by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) in northeast Oregon. Nixyáawii has merged the services of...

Interview #13: Amber Schulz-Oliver | Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Economic Development Corporation

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Amber Schulz-Oliver, Executive Director of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Economic Development Corporation....

Interview #12: Stephen Highers | Cherokee Nation Economic Development Trust Authority

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Stephen Highers, who serves as Director of the Small Business Assistance Center with the Cherokee Nation Economic Development Trust Authority (CNEDTA). Federally certified in 1998, CNEDTA is a Native CDFI that provides Cherokee Nation citizens and employees with consumer...

Interview #11: Skya Ducheneaux | Akiptan, Inc.

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Skya Ducheneaux, who serves as Executive Director of Akiptan, Inc. A federally certified Native CDFI based in Eagle Butte, South Dakota on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, Akiptan serves and supports Native agricultural producers nationwide....

Interview #10: Sara Barbour | The Alliance CDFI

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Sara Barbour, who serves as Deputy Director of the Yurok Economic Development Corporation (YEDC) and Acting Executive Director of the Yurok Tribe’s The Alliance CDFI. A federally certified Native CDFI located in northern California, Alliance’s mission is to “promote...

Interview #9: Sheila Herrera | Tiwa Lending Services

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Sheila Herrera, who serves as Executive Director of Tiwa Lending Services, Inc. (TLS), a federally certified Native CDFI whose mission is to provide innovative products, education, and development services to improve the social and economic growth of Pueblo of...

Interview #8: Angie Main | NACDC Financial Services, Inc.

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Angie Main, who serves as Executive Director of NACDC Financial Services, Inc., a federally certified Native CDFI based on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana....

Interview #7: Dave Castillo | CEO of Native Community Capital

In this latest edition of Difference Makers, NCN sits down with Dave Castillo, who serves as CEO of Native Community Capital (NCC), a federally certified Native CDFI that maintains offices in New Mexico and Arizona....

Interview #6: Tawney Brunsch | Lakota Funds

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Tawney Brunsch, who serves as the Executive Director of Lakota Funds, a federally certified Native CDFI serving the Pine Ridge Reservation and other Native communities in South Dakota....

Interview #5: Jeff Johnson | Wisconsin Native Loan Fund

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Jeff Johnson, who serves as Interim CEO and Board Chairman of the Wisconsin Native Loan Fund (WINLF), a Native CDFI located in Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin that serves Native people statewide. WINLF is a revolving loan fund that supports...

Interview #4: Jonelle Yearout | Nimiipuu Fund

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Jonelle Yearout, who is Executive Director of Nimiipuu Fund, a federally certified Native CDFI that serves the Nez Perce Reservation and traditional territories of Nez Perce in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Jonelle also was recently appointed Northwest Regional Delegate...

Interview #3: Russ Seagle | CEO of The Sequoyah Fund, Inc.

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Russ Seagle, who has served since 2013 as CEO of The Sequoyah Fund, Inc., a Native CDFI serving the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and surrounding rural communities in Western North Carolina. The Sequoyah Fund provides small business start-up...

Interview #2: Tonya Plummer | Montana Native Growth Fund

In this latest edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Tonya Plummer (Assiniboine, Sioux and Cree), who serves as executive director of the Montana Native Growth Fund (MNGF), a Native CDFI based on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana....

Interview #1: Christopher Coburn | Mvskoke Fund

In this first edition of “Difference Makers,” NCN sits down with Christopher Coburn (Muscogee Creek and Cherokee), who has served as CEO of the Mvskoke Fund since 2017. Christopher has spearheaded the Mvskoke Fund’s rapid growth over the past five years as this federally certified Native CDFI has expanded beyond...