- Details
- By Levi Rickert
President Joe Biden on Friday appointed Janie Hipp (Chickasaw) to be a member of the Community Development Advisory Board within the U.S. Department of Treasury.
The Community Development Advisory Board serves to advise the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. The Community Development Advisory Board’s mission is to promote access to capital to underserved communities. The CDFI Fund, in partnership with the Board, partners with and invests in local lenders and financial service providers around the country. Since inception, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $5.2 billion dollars to its partners.
Hipp is the president and CEO of Native Agriculture Financial Services, a lending institution focused on economic development for tribal communities.
Prior to this, Hipp was nominated by President Biden and confirmed by the Senate to serve as the General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture. She is the first enrolled tribal citizen to hold that role, as a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. Hipp has worked in agricultural law and economic development for nearly 40 years, including serving as the CEO of the Native American Agriculture Fund and as a senior advisor to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and Director of the USDA Office of Tribal Relations.
Hipp holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in social work from the University of Oklahoma, a J.D. from Oklahoma City University’s School of Law and a LLM in agricultural law from the University of Arkansas School of Law.
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