Helping Native CDFIs Access Capital, Build Local Economies

About this Project

Oweesta Corporation is the nation’s longest-standing CDFI intermediary with more than 70 members. Its affiliates provide capital and essential tools for job creation, small business development, commercial real estate development, affordable housing, and homeownership in Native communities that have been historically neglected by mainstream financial institutions. 

A $5 million loan and $500,000 companion grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation allow Oweesta to expand its lending programs to Native CDFIs. 

Learn more: www.oweesta.org

Challenge

Indian Country includes 574 federally recognized tribes in 35 states and produces more than $130 billion in economic activity each year. Yet public- and private-sector investors, including mainstream financial institutions, often don’t provide products and services to these communities, making it hard for them to thrive or for their residents to build wealth by buying a home or starting a business.  

Native CDFIs can fill the gap by providing access to fairly priced loans and credit and key services such as financial education, homebuyer education, credit counseling, and business development assistance.  Yet they are often underfunded. 

Some of the capital barriers that Native CDFIs face:

1. Small Size: The majority of Native CDFIs have asset sizes below $10 million, which excludes them from financial institution lending limits of $50 million and above.
2. New Entities: Some tribal nations have recently started CDFIs within the last few years, which means they have a short track record.
3. Unique Attributes: Because tribal land is held in trust by the U.S. government, it is treated differently in traditional lending because it cannot be used as collateral. However, since Oweesta began lending in 2002, it has experienced 100% repayment from borrowers and never experienced a loss of investor capital.

Solution

RWJF’s loan to Oweesta will allow it to expand its offerings of loans and lines of credit to Native CDFIs. This will help those CDFIs integrate into mainstream capital markets and will also help Native people buy homes and start businesses that build wealth and strengthen their communities. 

According to Oweesta, every dollar of seed capital invested in Native CDFIs multiplies to $8.48 disbursed to Native communities. 

“Indian Country is rich with innovation, resilience, and opportunity. For too long, we’ve lacked access to capital—but that’s changing,” says Chrystel Cornelius, President and CEO of Oweesta Corporation.

RWJF has built a portfolio of Native CDFIs investments that address perceived risk and structural bias in community development lending. 

In the Spotlight

Oweesta joined eight other CDFIs to help finance the Blue Mountain Mill, a regenerative flour mill on the Umatilla Indian Reservation, showing how Indigenous-led lenders can pool resources to take on projects too large for any single CDFI. Operated by Cairnspring Mills, the new facility replaces milling capacity lost when a Pendleton mill burned down and will create more than 20 jobs while advancing tribal economic development and food sovereignty.

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation are deeply invested in the project, contributing $5 million in equity and leasing land for 50 years. The mill will ease capacity constraints at Cairnspring’s existing Washington facility, serve as a regional hub for regenerative agriculture, and greatly expand production—from under 7 million pounds of flour per year to 110 million.

Beyond boosting supply, the project helps revive regional milling in a highly consolidated industry and includes plans to partner with Blue Mountain Community College on workforce training, reinforcing its long-term community impact.

Impact Goals

• Bridge capital gaps with direct financing to Native Nations and Native-led organizations. 
• Catalyze energy sovereignty, resilience, and climate response in Native communities. 
• Drive scalable, community-owned development that honors Indigenous values. 
• Fuel economic independence and generational wealth-building in Native communities.
• Empower Native CDFIs to expand infrastructure and renewable energy projects nationwide.