Two Credit/Asset-Building & Financial Ed Trainings in Minneapolis Will Prepare Instructors to Assist Native American Communities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LONGMONT, Colorado (February 12, 2013) – Two important training sessions for financial-education professionals who deal with Native American communities have been scheduled in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They are “Credit as an Asset/Credit Builder 5-Step^© Training” on April 23-24, followed immediately by certified instructor training for the “Building Native Communities: Financial Skills for Families” program April 24-26.

The trainings are designed for Native CDFIs (community development financial institutions), financial coaches, housing counselors, financial-education trainers, workforce development specialists, and any community members who work with clients to build credit needed to achieve financial self-sufficiency and wealth.

The back-to-back sessions will be held at The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Individuals can register to attend either or both training sessions. The event is co-hosted by First Nations Oweesta Corporation (Oweesta), Credit Builders Alliance (CBA), KeyBank, USDA-Rural Business/Rural Business Opportunity Grant, Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, and The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

CBA’s “Credit as an Asset/Credit Builder 5-Step^© Training” will provide an overview of today’s credit-reporting industry and then dive into tools, strategies and information to help you and your organization build and integrate credit-building activities and products into your work and outcomes.

CBA’s training provides financial coaches an introduction to CBA’s asset-based approach to improving credit and financial capability. It will help practitioners improve their delivery of financial education by integrating product strategies for helping low-income individuals build savings, build credit, manage debt and make better financial decisions to build assets, including improved career prospects, access to education, homeownership and other factors.

Oweesta’s certified instructor training for its “Building Native Communities: Financial Skills for Families” program offer state-of-the-art instruction and a certification program to help Native American CDFIs (community development financial institutions), tribes and other Native organizations establish and sustain financial-education programs in their communities. 

Made possible by a grant from KeyBank Foundation, member FDIC, this two-day training will provide: 

• Effective training techniques and resources
• An in-depth look at the “Building Native Communities: Financial Skills for Families” curriculum
• Access to a new, innovative evaluation approach that will assist in the gathering of impact data
• Extra assistance: By attending, you will be eligible for follow-up technical assistance from Oweesta to create and sustain your financial education program.  This assistance may be offered through an online help desk or via other means.

Upon completion, participants will be prepared to successfully pass the “Building Native Communities” certification exam, becoming certified financial education trainers. Participants must attend and complete both days of training, participate in an oral presentation, and pass the exam to be certified as an instructor.

Applications for the trainings will be accepted until Friday, March 15, 2013.  Please contact Jaci Ree at jaci@oweesta.org or 303-774-8838 for more information.

As noted, both trainings will take place at the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown Minneapolis.  However, a block of sleeping rooms has been reserved at The Depot Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel, 225 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55401. For hotel information, please contact Jaci Ree of Oweesta at jaci@oweesta.org before reserving a room. To register for the CBA Training, please sign up here. To register for the BNC: Financial Skills for Families, please sign up here. You must register for each training you wish to attend separately.

About First Nations Oweesta Corporation

First Nations Oweesta Corporation is dedicated to growing the Native Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) industry, and it has directly contributed to the availability of needed debt capital in tribal communities. Oweesta is a CDFI intermediary that helps build strong Native American institutions and programs through professional services designed to enhance local capacity and provide tools for Native community development.  Oweesta’s primary programs include capitalization of Native CDFIs plus training, technical assistance and consulting. For more information, visit www.oweesta.org.  

About Credit Builders Alliance

Credit Builders Alliance (CBA) was created as a nonprofit organization in 2006 in response to demand among nonprofit financial-service providers for (1) improved data flow with the credit bureaus, including furnishing loan-repayment data to the credit bureaus and pulling data from the bureaus; (2) new financial-education strategies and tools relevant to changes in the financial and credit economy; and (3) stronger understanding and voice within the changing credit-reporting system around the impact that nonprofits make in helping underbanked populations move towards economic inclusion. CBA has been offering credit-building training workshops for nonprofit practitioners since 2008. CBA has developed a comprehensive training program to build the capacity of nonprofit practitioners to deliver financial literacy and credit building initiatives to disadvantaged individuals.

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