PRESS RELEASE

Contact:          Kim Hayes, (301) 585-1131; kim@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 (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."  

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About Oweesta

Oweesta (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.