First Nations Development Institute

Employees:

16

Description

First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) and our sister organization, First Nations Oweesta Corporation (Oweesta), is at the forefront of national and international efforts to develop products to address the key issues facing Native communities in terms of financial education and asset-building. With the 2000 publication of the original Building Native Communities: Financial Skills for Families (BNC) curriculum, funded by the Fannie Mae Foundation, First Nations drew upon two decades of work to strengthen community-based Native organizations to develop what has become the preeminent Indigenous financial education curriculum.

Our partnership with the Annie E. Casey Foundation led to the development in 2003 of a BNC consumer workbook focused on assisting Native community members in accessing the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) - the largest federal aide program for working families. The workbook has been tested in numerous communities around the country and has helped hundreds of Native families claim an average of $1,700 per tax return that was previously left unclaimed. The current workbook comes with a partner handbook (developed in 2004-05) targeted at assisting tribal and community leaders in developing outreach campaigns to promote the EITC.

A third addition to the BNC curriculum is a workbook for participants in Native Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), produced in 2005. The workbook, Saving for the Future, Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) for Native Families, was developed as part of the Expanding Native Opportunities: Native IDA Initiative of the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund of the US Department of Treasury. The initiative is a multi-year training and technical assistance program co-directed by First Nations, Oweesta and CFED.

The most recent addition to the Building Native Communities publications is an investor manual titled Building Native Communities: Investing for the Future. Investing for the Future teaches general investment principles in an intuitive and culturally focused course curriculum. The curriculum illustrates how to identify personal or business related goals and outlines various ways of achieving them. Easy to read and teach, each session offers exercises and insights through story shorts that take place in a tribal community setting.

Oweesta offers regular train-the-trainer workshops on financial education and EITC to provide community practitioners with the necessary skills to adapt and teach these products in their community.

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OBAMA ADMINISTRATION CONTINUES NAMING STATE DIRECTORS FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT US Fed News Service, Including US State News; 7/18/2009 ...and was recently the CEO/President of First Nations Oweesta Corporation (OWEESTA) a subsidiary of First Nations Development Institute. OWEESTA provides investment capital, technical assistance and training to help Native communities develop... ...more

Ameriprise Financial Announces Grants to Nonprofits. Women's Health Weekly; 7/30/2009 ...Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio, Educational Foundation of Lake County, Feed My Starving Children, First Nations Development Institute, Goodwill Easter Seals, Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver, House of Charity, Junior Achievement of... ...more

IDAHO STATE UNIVERSITY'S JASON PRETTY BOY AWARDED FIRST NATIONS LEADERSHIP FELLOWSHIP US Fed News Service, Including US State News; 11/7/2009 ...delighted that the First Nations Development Institute has recognized the...activities." The First Nations Development Institute is funded by a consortium...Potlatch Fund or the First Nations Development Institute. He will also attend... ...more