Building financial capacity in Indigenous communities with NACDC Financial Services
Founded in 2010, NACDC Financial Services is a nonprofit Native community development financial institution (CDFI) located in Browning, Montana, on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. One of the founding members, executive director Angie Main, has been guiding the organization through their continued growth since 2011.
Angie Main has spent most of her working life serving Native communities and pursuing education and economic sovereignty for Indigenous people. She spent years as vice president at Fort Belknap College (now Aaniiih Nakoda College) in Harlem, Montana, and has been executive director at NACDC since 2011, where she focuses on small-business development and local capacity building. For more than a quarter century, she’s contributed to major initiatives promoting financial prosperity for tribal communities in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and South Dakota. She’s overseen the growth of NACDC’s portfolio to $12.7 million in loans and has expanded her team from three staff members to 15.
Main was brought to this work by Elouise Cobell who recruited her as small-business coordinator in 2005. Later in 2010, Cobell hired Patty Gobert, then branch manager at Native American Bank (the first American bank owned by a tribe), to join Main in founding NACDC, the bank’s nonprofit affiliate. Main’s deep experience in business training and Gobert’s lending expertise was a winning combination, and NACDC Financial Services became a certified Native CDFI in 2012.
The important role of Native CDFIs
Main is an enrolled member of the Gros Ventre Tribe and has worked directly with community members in and around Indian reservations for decades. She knows well that access to traditional banking and financing in Indian Country is limited at best, and nonexistent or predatory at worst. Native CDFIs are more nimble and creative than mainstream banks in their financing options, and NACDC can prioritize individual credit building and financial literacy for community members.
More than just financial investments, long-term relationship building is the foundation of their work. NACDC started with small-business loans to support local entrepreneurs in Indigenous communities, and since has expanded to include agricultural loans, a Native artist line of credit, the Native Cash program for the unbanked, the youth-focused Mini-Bank program, and now home loans to meet the needs of community members.
“Angie has always seen the benefit of making data-informed decisions, and a culture of learning is central to her organization. I believe this has enabled NACDC to pivot and be responsive to their community in a way that others might not.”
—Andrea Mader, Sweet Grass
NACDC’s collaboration with Sweet Grass started in 2015 with an impact measurement project funded by Oweesta Corporation. This project sparked a broader partnership that has continued to grow over the years, including a campaign stemming from the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations that was initiated after Cobell’s landmark case against the US government in 2010. The Land Buy-Back Program allows the US government to purchase fractionated land interests from sellers, then transfer the consolidated land ownership to tribal governments, helping restore tribal control over lands within their reservations.
To ensure Blackfeet tribal members made informed financial decisions with their settlement funds, NACDC partnered with Sweet Grass on the Piikani Money Awareness Campaign. Funded by the Blackfeet Tribe, the Native CDFI Network, and other foundations and financial institutions, the campaign addressed financial readiness and fraud awareness to support fund recipients and their families. The success of the campaign resulted in a model toolkit that was developed and shared with 12 other tribal nations.
NACDC attended the 2023 OFN conference in Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of NACDC.
NACDC was one of the pilot partners of Opportunity Through Impacts System (OTIS), a data collection, management, and reporting system Sweet Grass (in partnership with Oweesta Corporation) designed with and developed for Native CDFIs. Since then, Sweet Grass has partnered with NACDC on everything from workforce development studies to impact measurement to trauma-informed financial literacy. NACDC views Sweet Grass as an integral part of their team and says Sweet Grass’ focus on centering community voices and values has been a critical factor in the success of the partnership.
“Sweet Grass has respected and been committed to how we work in our communities, and not only with us but with other tribal entities and Native CDFIs. They work with us in the way that we want to work—they’re not telling us what to do.”
—Angie Main, NACDC
Reflecting on NACDC’s growth, Main notes the organization’s unexpected success: "I’m surprised by our rate of growth over the years, and I’m so pleased with the amount of money we’ve put into the communities—over $22 million into Native communities in Montana." Sweet Grass has played an important role in documenting and highlighting NACDC’s achievements, strengthening their ability to attract additional capital and facilitate ongoing program development.
Looking forward, NACDC and Sweet Grass have numerous initiatives in the works. They’re currently conducting a Blackfeet local food study and advancing trauma-informed financial literacy programs. "Every survey that Sweet Grass has done for us has helped us improve and change something—that’s the reason behind this work," Main explains. The partnership continues to evolve, with Sweet Grass providing data and insights that fuel NACDC’s innovative financial solutions, and NACDC remaining a cornerstone of financial capacity building in Indian Country.
A comprehensive workforce development project helped NACDC document their staffing needs, which is now driving the creation of a tailored curriculum for Indigenous finance professionals.