PRESS RELEASE

Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition, Inc.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                               CONTACT: Christy Finsel

January 15, 2016                                                                             (405) 401-7873

OKLAHOMA NATIVE ASSETS COALITION RECEIVES GRANT FOR ASSET-BUILDING POLICY AND PRACTICE PROJECT

The Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition, Inc. (ONAC) recently received a $120,000 grant from the First Nations Development Institute, with support of the Ford Foundation.  First Nations is located in Longmont, Colorado.  This award will support Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition’s Asset-Building Policy and Practice Project.

With this grant, the Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition, Inc. (ONAC) will receive funding  for constituency building, educating policymakers, and building asset building programs.

“This grant will support ONAC as our coalition hosts our annual conference, provides funding for Children’s Savings Accounts and mini grants in Oklahoma, and offers free technical assistance to our partners who are designing and implementing asset building programs the state.   This funding will also help ONAC to continue to work with tribal, federal, and state policymakers, and administrative staff, to provide information about the unique challenges associated with the racial wealth gap in American Indian communities including the need to respect tribal sovereignty and understand what program designs have worked in American Indian communities to build family economic security.  We appreciate First Nations Development Institute’s investment in our coalition.  ONAC is excited about this opportunity to help Native families build their assets by working with tribes and Native nonprofits to increase the numbers of asset building programs,” said Christy Finsel (Osage), Executive Director of the Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition, Inc.

The Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition Inc. (ONAC), founded in 2001 and now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is a Native asset building coalition that works with tribes and partners interested in establishing asset-building initiatives and programs in Native communities, for the purpose of creating greater opportunities for economic self-sufficiency of tribal citizens. 

The mission of ONAC is to build and support a network of Native people who are dedicated to increasing self-sufficiency and prosperity in their communities through the establishment of comprehensive financial education initiatives, Individual Development Accounts, and other asset-building strategies.  For more information about the coalition, visit http://oknativeassets.org.            

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