Native Finance Development Corporation

Project Update:Timeline:Project Duration: 36 monthsCurrent Stage: 18.5 months (as of 3/31/2025) Progress Summary:Year 2 Goals: On track. Between October 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025, we made 13 presentations to 102 community members from seven tribes (Campo, Jamul, La Jolla, La Posta, Manzanita, Pauma, and Viejas) and one Native community organization (Southern Indian Health Council). Not only are they now aware of our Native CDFI project, but all of them also signed a statement of support to build one in our community. Though we had anticipated 20-40 participants for our financial development services when we wrote our proposal in 2023, we actually have 51 participants, 5 of whom were referrals from the people who attended our presentations.Hired all key personnel including project manager, coordinator, financial planner, finance manager, program evaluator, and program reviewer.Community Engagement:Recruitment: Achieved 170% of target population for program development through presentations at 7 tribes and an Indian health clinic.Institutional Support: Secured support from three Tribal education committees (La Jolla, La Posta and Pauma) and the Jamul Casino with 1,300 employees.External Contributors:Secured ongoing technological support and introductions to Fortune 1000 insiders from Salesforce volunteers,a human-centric product design expert to assist with program design and delivery.Data Collection:Culturally Sensitive Interviews: Designed and vetted culturally sensitive, digitally secure quantitative information in collaboration with an Institutional Review Board certified consultant.Data stored in a secured and customized Salesforce cloud with assistance from a Salesforce volunteer.Marketing Strategy:Grassroots Approach: Employed a successful word-of-mouth strategy targeting individual tribal members based on banking status (fully banked, underbanked, unbanked).Social Media Outreach: Created content with videos and short posts for Linkedin, Tiktok, Instagram, and Facebook, in addition to our website.Stakeholder Engagement:Individual and Institutional Outreach: 7 tribes and an Indian health clinic as stated above.Grant Applications Though unsuccessful in obtaining additional grant funding, we have applied to San Manuel Cares (San Manuel Band of Mission Indians), and San Diego Chinese Womens Association.Awards: Selected as one of 36 semi-finalists among 1,600 global entrants in the 2024 MIT Solve Indigenous Communities Challenge.Financial Industry Recognition: Invited into and joined Save-On San Diego, a national Coalition of banks, financial institutions, and nonprofits committed to safe banking products and services.Staff Development:Staff strengthened their expertise in social impact investing, thought leadership, public relations, scaling growth, and digital marketing through Harvard Alumni Entrepreneur Academy programs.?Leveraged these programs to build relationships with international experts, strategically positioning Native Finance as a leading CDFI partner for Indian Country.Oweesta: Board Chairman, staff, and volunteer attended Native CDFI Practitioner trainings to enhance internal knowledge. Opportunity Finance Network: Board received training to strengthen the understanding of ethics and business model for CDFIs.Landmark Worldwide: Board and staff received training and development in communication and professional growth to sharpen listening and interpersonal skills.