Click to edit Master title style Native Asset Building Coalitions: A Mechanism to Strengthen Partnerships and Leverage Native Asset Building Resources Prepared by Christy Finsel ONAC Executive Director HUD-ONAP 2014 Asset Building Summit November 12-13, 2014 St. Paul, MN

Click to edit Master title style What is the Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition (ONAC)? The Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition, ONAC, represents a consortium of Oklahoma tribes and partners interested in establishing asset- building initiatives and programs in Native communities. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition2

Click to edit Master title style Native Asset Building Coalitions ONAC and other Native asset building coalitions, provide constituents with an opportunity to enhance their asset building efforts, through partnerships and with additional resources. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition3

Click to edit Master title style When We Talk About Assets, What Do We Mean? Native communities may think about assets broadly. Assets are not just money. Assets can be thought of as what we value-kinship, family, natural resources, community, language, sovereignty, spirituality, education, etc. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition4

Click to edit Master title style Native Asset Building with ONAC Constituents We believe that tribes have been building assets for generations. This is not new to us. What is new to some Native communities is the information about mainstream asset building programs and how to design customized programs that meet the needs of our tribal citizens. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition5

Click to edit Master title style When We Mention Native Asset Building Programs In Oklahoma, What Are We Talking About? Native financial education programs Voluntary Income Tax Assistance sites Credit builder programs Native small business resources Homeownership assistance programs Children’s Savings Account programs Native Individual Development Account programs 6

Click to edit Master title style What Are Some of the Purposes of Asset Building Programs? Asset building programs can help individuals, families, and communities to: – Plug their leaking economies – Increase their financial literacy – Pass along intergenerational assets such as land – Change savings habits – Think about their future differently Continued, next slide Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition7

Click to edit Master title style What Are Some of the Purposes of Asset Building Programs? – Purchase assets such as homes, post- secondary education, dance regalia, etc. – Repair and build credit – Hold land in common – Teach tribal history, values, and language, etc. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition8

Click to edit Master title style Example of Native Asset Building and a Cultural Fit Choctaw Nation IDA Program (a matched savings account program with a 2 to 1 match for small business). Kaben Smallwood, IDA graduate and Choctaw Nation citizen, runs an aquaponics business that has a social entrepreneurship bent. He works with his brother and another colleague in the Kiowa Public Schools and grow produce and raise fish with the students. The students then eat the produce in their school cafeteria. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition9

Click to edit Master title style Example of Native Asset Building and a Cultural Fit Symbiotic Aquaponics is also now working with Eastern Oklahoma State College with a farm to school program. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition10

Click to edit Master title style ONAC’s Involvement with Native Asset Building in Oklahoma What ONAC Provides Constituents: Asset building resources, models, and strategies An Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition Conference to be held annually A forum to talk about any tribal, local, state, or federal asset building policies Opportunities to connect to Native and non-Native asset building practitioners in Oklahoma and around the country, for partnership Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition11

Click to edit Master title style What ONAC Provides Constituents: Outreach to Oklahoma tribal leaders, tribal government programs, and other Oklahoma- based Native organizations/businesses to provide information about asset building Training and technical assistance for those wanting to design and implement asset building programs Mini grants for Native asset building projects Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition12

Click to edit Master title style ONAC’s Target Constituents: 39 tribes in Oklahoma and their citizens Tribal leaders Tribal government program directors and staff Native nonprofits Asset-building practitioners Local, county, state and federal programs that serve the tribes of Oklahoma Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition13

Click to edit Master title style Constituent Snapshot Constituents range from tribal leaders, tribal program directors, Native-owned banks, Native Child Support Directors, to those from the Native Caucus, American Indian Chamber of Commerce, FDIC, HUD, IRS, Office of the Special Trustee, FNDI, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, SBA, the Federal Reserve Bank, Extension, Community Action Agencies, State Treasurer’s office, Administration for Children and Families, Native nonprofits, etc. who are working with us to increase Native asset building programs in the state. 14

Click to edit Master title style We Welcome Your Involvement Join our listserv Participate in upcoming events ONAC membership Assist with networking/peer learning We will share information about your upcoming asset building events relevant to Native communities in the state and region. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition15

Click to edit Master title style Other Native Asset Building Coalitions Arizona Native Assets Coalition Great Plains Native Asset Building Coalition Ho`owaiwai Network Northwest Native Asset Building Coalition Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition Minnesota Asset Building Coalition Initiative (has a Native group connected) Others we are missing? Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition16

Click to edit Master title style Native Asset Building Policies Administrative Policy Guidance, Tribal TANF AFI Reauthorization (not just 501(c)(3)s as eligible applicants, money for administration of projects, expanded list of allowable purchases) Children Savings Accounts (not just for post- secondary education) Alternatives to payday lending and concerns about swipes to tribal sovereignty with payday eradication efforts Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition17

Click to edit Master title style Funding Realities Philanthropy not funding as much in Indian Country Asset building coalitions can be difficult to fund Native coalitions in a position to apply for funding with a 501c3, can bring different resources into a state or region for Native communities Concerns about non-Native intermediaries and efforts to position themselves to provide TA and training (instead, fund the coalitions directly as they have capacity and are working in their local communities) Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition18

Click to edit Master title style Opportunities to Work Together Existing Native coalitions try to offer opportunities to those not in their state or region to join their webinars, conferences, and peer learning calls, as well as their distribution list. Informal sharing among coordinators of the coalitions Other opportunities? Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition19

Click to edit Master title style For Further Information About ONAC: Please contact Christy Finsel, ONAC Executive Director, at or at (405) Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition20