[CircleUp] Oweesta Pledges Long-Term Commitment to Native Economic Growth; Clinton Global Initiative Commitment Empowers Native Communities

[Staci Lacroix]

PRESS RELEASE


 

Contact:          Kim Hayes, (301) 585-1131; kim at oweesta.org
<mailto:kim at oweesta.org> 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Oweesta Pledges Long-Term Commitment to Native Economic Growth; 

Clinton Global Initiative Commitment Empowers Native Communities

 

March 4, 2009, Rapid City, SD // As its ten year anniversary of Native
community development and asset building quickly approaches, First
Nations Oweesta Corporation (Oweesta) is making a bold, new long term
commitment to investment and growth in Native communities, which seeks
to empower Native people through financial education, savings programs,
small business development and homeownership.  

 

In a new 10-year "Commitment to Action" made to the Clinton Global
Initiative (CGI), Oweesta is  promising to assist Native communities
with building assets for the future and creating an environment in which
First Americans achieve true economic sovereignty. Through training,
capacity building and technical assistance services, Oweesta is at the
forefront of the movement to increase the number of Native community
development financial institutions (CDFIs) and asset building programs
serving Native peoples across the country. 

 

As part of its Commitment, Oweesta will create new, innovative and
unique financial products and capacity building services for Native
communities in the areas of institution, program and systems
development.  During this 10-year period Oweesta expects to: 

 

*         Incorporate 80 new Native CDFIs;

*         Establish 400 new financial education programs in Native
communities;

*         Certify 300 new financial education trainers; and

*         Facilitate 100 new loans to Native CDFIs and related
institutions.

 

"Over the next ten years Oweesta commits to reaching new Native
communities and people and assist them with the development of asset
building institutions, programs and systems to address poverty and
education issues," said Oweesta's President and CEO Elsie Meeks.
"Oweesta will do this through new loan products, new capacity building
programs and services, and new online resources. "

 

Specifically, Oweesta and its partners, clients and constituencies will
address the "Four Sectors of Challenge"(tm) in Native communities that
prevent the creation of jobs, new businesses, homeowners and financially
savvy Native people and nations.  These challenges include Physical
Infrastructure; Financial Infrastructure; Governmental and Legal
Infrastructure; and Social and Cultural Infrastructure.

  




New and Expanded Programs

"Oweesta is an innovator in training and technical assistance provision
and now it is developing full-fledged activities and programs in the
areas of research, policy and advocacy," Meeks said. "This includes
information, education and advocacy on behalf of our constituents and
clients, who often have very little voice, from the grassroots level
up." 

 

To create long-term systemic and institutional change in Native
communities Oweesta is expanding and improving current efforts like the
Native Financial Education Coalition (www.nfec.info) and the Our Native
Circle Online Resource Center (www.ournativecircle.org
<http://www.ournativecircle.org> ). In addition, Oweesta will add:

 

*         Additional online and in-person training courses and technical
assistance;

*         New and expanded financial education training-of-trainer
curricula; and 

*         New and expanded local needs assessment and market study
capacity that includes broader infrastructure analysis.

 

Oweesta will also develop a Policy and Advocacy Department and Research
Department to address community development and nation building
activities for Native communities. "We are hoping to inspire and
motivate partners to join us in our long term effort to create change in
Native communities," stated Meeks.  "We have not done it alone and we
cannot do it alone in the future, so our Commitment to Action is really
a call to action to our current, new and potential partners and
supporters to join us over the next ten years to help meet these
important goals."

 

CGI Panel Set the Stage for Commitment

Oweesta's involvement as panelist and exhibitor at the CGI Annual
Meeting in September of 2008 set the stage for this official Commitment
to Action. Meeks was a panelist on the Global Impact of Rural Innovation
plenary session, and was able to provide a unique perspective to the
issue of poverty in Native communities and offer strategies for the
future.  

 

CGI was started by former President Bill Clinton and the William J.
Clinton Foundation in 2005 as "... a call for action that brings
together a community of global leaders from various backgrounds to
devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most
pressing challenges."  

 

###

About Oweesta 

Oweesta (http://www.oweesta.org <http://www.oweesta.org/> ) is a
certified Native CDFI intermediary, providing Native communities with
loans, investments, technical assistance, training and community
development information.  Its mission is to provide opportunities for
Native people to develop assets and create wealth by assisting in the
establishment 

of strong, permanent institutions and programs, leading to economic
independence and strengthening sovereignty for all Native communities.

 

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