Welcome to the Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition Annual Conference June 11, 2012

1. Welcome to the Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition Annual Conference June 11, 2012 Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

2. 2012 ONAC Annual Conference Overview Information about the Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition and the Current State of Native Asset Building in Oklahoma Christy Finsel  June 11, 2012

3. Welcome • Thank you for attending the 2012 ONAC Conference. • We are looking forward to great day filled with information sharing about Native asset building opportunities! • Thanks to the attendees and speakers, FNDI and the Ford Foundation, the Ford Foundation resource grantees and partners, and to our sister orgs Oklahoma Assets and Oklahoma Policy Institute. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

4. What is the Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition (ONAC)? ONAC represents a consortium of Oklahoma tribes and partners interested in establishing asset-building initiatives and programs in Native communities, for the purpose of creating greater opportunities for economic self-sufficiency of tribal citizens. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

5. Oklahoma Asset Building Policy and Practice Initiative (OABPP) STRUCTURE

6. How ONAC Connects to OABPP ONAC is a partner of the First Nations Development Institute’s Oklahoma Asset Building Policy and Practice Initiative (OABPP), along with the Oklahoma Policy Institute and Oklahoma Assets, and is supported by a volunteer leadership team, FNDI, and the Ford Foundation. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

7. ONAC’s Mission To build and support a network of Oklahoma Native people who are dedicated to increasing self-sufficiency and prosperity in their communities through the establishment of comprehensive financial education initiatives, Individual Development Accounts, and other asset-building strategies.

8. ONAC’s Target Constituents: • 39 tribes in Oklahoma and their citizens • Tribal leaders • Tribal government programs • Native nonprofits • Asset-building practitioners • Local, county, state and federal programs that serve the tribes of Oklahoma Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

9. History of ONAC In 2001, a meeting supported by First Nations Development Institute (FNDI) was held to determine interest in the development of an intertribal consortium or coalition of tribes having initiated (or about to initiate) asset-building programs. It took until 2007 for a group of tribal representatives to meet, at the Cherokee Casino and Resort in Tulsa, agreeing to become an organized Native-focused asset-building group, along the lines of those developed in some other states. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

10. Constituents Established Three Objectives at the 2007 Meeting: • Identify and bring together Oklahoma tribes that are implementing or planning to implement asset-building programs, for networking and learning purposes; • Create and support a venue for Oklahoma tribes to share information on issues related to creating and implementing asset-building programs; and • Sustain a Native-led asset-building group – made up of tribal and tribal-related entities – designed specifically to address unique asset-building circumstances of Oklahoma tribes. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

11. ONAC Goals from 2007 Engage tribal leaders and state and federal policy makers in expanding asset-building opportunities for Native people in Oklahoma through policy changes; Create an information conduit for tribes on financial education, IDAs, EITC, CDFIs, and other asset-building strategies and opportunities; and Develop local leadership, expand membership, and work to make the coalition self-sustaining.

12. What Types of Asset Building Might ONAC Members Involved In? ONAC members might be engaged in a number of asset-building initiatives including: • Homeownership assistance programs • Entrepreneurial activities • Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) • Financial education • EITC and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites • Youth trust accounts • Scholarship programs • Small loan programs • Credit building/credit repair programs • Native language programs, etc. • Bank On Initiatives • Credit counseling • Foreclosure prevention programs • Microlending programs • Land trusts • Cooperatives • Other communal asset building activities • Children’s Savings Accounts (CSAs) • Exploring asset building with a cultural fit in mind • Other

13. Other Related Asset Building Activities ONAC Members Might Be Engaged In: • Seeking funding for asset building projects • Evaluating asset building programs • Drafting case studies highlighting best practices and lessons learned • Addressing asset building policies with tribal leaders, Native non-profits, etc. and at local, state, and national levels • Engaging in peer learning and sharing in the state, nationally, and globally

14. There are Various Ways to Interface with ONAC. Here is What ONAC Can Provide to Constituents: • A portal with asset building resources, models, and strategies available on the ONAC website. • An ONAC Conference to be held annually. • A forum to talk about any tribal, local, state, or federal asset building policies. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

15. What ONAC Provides Constituents, Continued: • Opportunities to connect to Native and non-Native asset building practitioners in OK and around the country, for partnership. • Outreach to OK tribal leaders, tribal government programs, and other OK-based Native organizations/businesses to provide information about asset building. • Training and technical assistance for those wanting to design and implement asset building programs. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

16. Guidance for ONAC • From listening sessions, ONAC constituents want ONAC to maintain its Native identity as it expands; this desire guides our work. • With these realities in mind, we will be working to help tribes deliver services and scale programs. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

17. ONAC Leadership Team • Kristi Coker, Native CDFI Consultant • Anna Knight, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma • Dawn Hix, Choctaw Nation • Ed Shaw, Osage Financial Resources, Inc. • Cindy Logsdon, Citizen Potawatomi CDC • Shay Smith, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma

18. Conference Goals • To build from the feedback from past ONAC events and to examine the current state of Native asset building in Oklahoma; • Have opportunities for peer learning; • Share information about Native asset building models, funding sources, partnership opportunities, research, training and technical assistance; and • Learn about ONAC next steps and ways to be involved in the Coalition. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

19. Invited Broad Range of Native Asset Builders • We invited Tribal leaders, Tribal program directors, Native nonprofits, Native asset building practitioners and researchers, state representatives, students, cultural advisors, policy organizations, funders, financial institutions and financial institution regulatory bodies, national asset building organizations, inter-tribal organizations, representatives from the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians, IRS, and Administration for Children and Families, and others interested in tribal asset building in Oklahoma to attend today.   Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

20. Conference Folder Contains • Agenda • Brochure • Overview info about ONAC • Membership info • General info about Children’s Savings Accounts and Individual Development Accounts • Info from the Credit Builder’s Alliance about an upcoming webinar • Conference evaluation form Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

21. When We Talk About Assets and Native Asset Building, What Do We Mean? •  Native communities can 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 Coalition

22. 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. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

23. What is the Purpose 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 • 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 Coalition

24. What is the Current State of Affairs of Native Asset Building in Oklahoma? • Native financial education programs • Voluntary Income Tax Assistance sites • Credit builder programs • Community Development Financial Institutions • Native small business resources • Homeownership assistance programs-HUD 184 loan and Fair Housing Act information • Children’s Savings Account programs • Native Individual Development Account programs Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

25. ONAC’s Connection to Native Asset Building in OK • ONAC is working from a variety of directions to get information out about asset building and asset building programs. • We are also working to develop more local and national partnerships, funding sources, and research for you so you will have more resources and tools to continue to build assets for our communities. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

26. Resources and Opportunities • Asset building resources, research, program samples, models, etc. will be posted on the ONAC portal on the ONAC website: www.oknativeassets.org. • If we have examples of Native families and communities coming together, where we pool our resources, we could highlight these innovations/activities through The Family Independence Initiative and try to attract funding to match our efforts. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

27. Resources and Opportunities • Kiva is interested in expanding their North American microfinance portfolio and is open to working with tribes and Native nonprofits as their Field Partners. If you are interested in further information, please join a call hosted by Kiva and ONAC on Wednesday, July 18th, at 3:00 p.m. CDT. This could be an interim step for tribes that want to make loans but do not have a Native CDFI yet. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

28. Resources and Opportunities • The Credit Builders Alliance will provide an informational webinar to ONAC constituents about the credit services they provide on Tuesday, July 10th at 1:30 p.m. CDT. • Oweesta may hold a webinar entitled, “Does My Community Need a Native CDFI” for ONAC constituents in the future. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

29. Resources and Opportunities • The Choctaw Nation and Veronica Hix of the Oregon Native American Business and Entrepreneurial Network (ONABEN) are hosting an entrepreneurship training in Idabel, OK, on Thursday, July 12th from 1-4 p.m. You are welcome to attend. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

30. Resources and Opportunities • We held an ONAC Round Table Discussion in March 2012 as part of the Closing the Gap Series: Race, Wealth, and Homeownership in Oklahoma. Materials from that event are posted on the ONAC website, under the “Our Work” tab. We are working with Dr. Angela Gobar on a follow-up research on HUD 184 loans and foreclosure rates, based on feedback from ONAC constituents. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

31. Resources and Opportunities • From speaking with Cynthia Campbell, the President of OK Jump$tart, Native financial education programs could present information about their programs at an upcoming OK Jump$tart meeting. • ONAC could work to bring a Building Native Communities: Financial Skills for Families train-the-trainer to Oklahoma in Fall 2012. We could invite participants from the OK Council on Economic Education, Team WIN grant, and tribal financial education practitioners in OK and the region.Date TBD. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

32. Resources and Opportunities • The Insight Center for Community Economic Development has a Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative. They have offered to come to speak with ONAC constituents to talk about opportunities for working together (such as possibly providing opportunities for OK Native asset building practitioners to share information about their work in relation to the racial wealth gap). We are thinking about adding some meeting time with them to the proposed BNC train-the-trainer event for this meeting with the Insight Center. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

33. Resources and Opportunities • We invite you to share resources, research, models, sample asset building program forms, etc. on the ONAC portal. • Also, if you have information you wish to share with ONAC constituents about your programs in OK, via a call or webinar, etc., let us know. Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

34. Resources and Opportunities • Also, please be in touch if you want to: • Participate in peer learning calls about asset building programs • Work on policy Initiatives with ONAC constituents (could be policy in the state or to try to get national asset building program policies adjusted to benefit Native communities) • Work on asset building grant applications that would benefit tribes in certain geographic areas of the state or throughout Oklahoma Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition

35. ONAC Contact Christy Finsel, ONAC Program Manager • cfinsel@oknativeassets.org • Tel. 405.401.7873