WASHINGTON — Indian Country’s next wave of investment takes center stage at a December summit connecting Native lenders, tribal leaders, investors and policymakers to expand capital access and finance larger projects.
The Native CDFI Network’s seventh annual Policy & Capacity Building Summit, Dec. 6-9 at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, will bring together an industry of more than 100 certified and emerging Native community development financial institutions and the partners who can help expand their work.
The gathering also welcomes tribal leaders, bankers, lenders, finance and wealth management professionals, philanthropic foundations, investors and policymakers. Its focus: building the relationships, financing capacity and policy support needed to move more capital into Native communities.
“Native CDFIs are growing in number and financing bigger projects, with more capital reaching Native businesses and families,” said Pete Upton, CEO of the Native CDFI Network. “We have the relationships and local knowledge. Banks, foundations and investors bring capital and expertise that can help us do more. This summit is where we put those pieces together.”
Native CDFIs finance businesses, homeownership and community development across American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities, pairing lending with financial education, business assistance and knowledge of local markets.
Upton said their financing capabilities now include bridge loans, mezzanine financing and “capital weaves” combining tribal equity, bank debt and other investment. Native CDFIs also use New Markets Tax Credits to attract private investment into community facilities and deploy federal housing and small-business capital through locally managed lending programs.
Together, these activities create multiple points of entry for partners: participating in loans, supplying long-term capital, investing in tax credit transactions, supporting emerging lenders or helping borrowers prepare for financing.
“Native CDFIs bring lending experience and community relationships that capital alone can’t buy,” Upton said. “With more lending partners and philanthropic investment, we can finance more businesses, put more families in homes and move community projects forward. That’s how we turn institutional growth into lasting benefits for Native communities.”
The summit’s program will examine how to build those partnerships and what institutions need to sustain them.
A discussion with Calvert Impact’s Krystal Langholz will address the “missing middle” of CDFI capitalization: long-term, equity-style capital that can strengthen balance sheets and support growth. A Deal Room session featuring Mission Driven Finance’s Ted Piccolo and Oweesta’s Florence Sterling Ludka will explore project financing. Other sessions will examine Native housing, bank partnerships, philanthropic relationships and Indigenous finance in Canada.
The gathering also comes at a consequential policy moment. Reliable federal funding, CDFI certification, grant requirements and Community Reinvestment Act policy influence Native lenders’ ability to attract and deploy capital.
NCN is advocating for $50 million in annual funding and permanent statutory authorization for the Native American CDFI Assistance Program. The summit will give participants an opportunity to connect those federal decisions to the businesses, homes and community facilities they finance.
Scheduled speakers include U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach; Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn.; Jesse Van Tol, president and CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition; and Fatima Abbas, a Holland & Knight partner and former director of Treasury’s Office of Tribal and Native Affairs.
Erik Stegman, CEO of Native Americans in Philanthropy, will deliver the opening dinner keynote Dec. 6. Two days of programming follow, with congressional visits Dec. 9. The single-track format allows participants to attend every session.
General admission is $750 and includes programming, scheduled meals and networking receptions. Limited travel scholarships are available for eligible NCN members and emerging Native CDFIs. The hotel group-rate deadline is Nov. 16.
Registration, lodging information and the preliminary agenda are available at https://nativecdfi.net/events/ncn-7th-annual-policy-capacity-building-summit/
About the Native CDFI Network
The Native CDFI Network strengthens Native community development financial institutions through policy advocacy, capacity building and access to capital to support economic prosperity in American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities.