News

ONAC 2016 Mini Grant Final Report

Prepared by Christy Finsel, ONAC Executive Director

December 2016

ONAC is a nonprofit Native asset building coalition that works with Oklahoma 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.

In January 2014, ONAC released its first-ever request for proposals (RFP) to fund Native asset building projects in Oklahoma.  ONAC received seven excellent applications from tribal governments and tribal programs based in Oklahoma.  At that time, ONAC had funding for four projects.  Thus, ONAC awarded a total of $14,000 in mini grants to four ONAC constituents.  Those awardees have since completed their projects.  ONAC eventually secured an additional $10,500 in mini grant funding, from First Nations Development Institute, and in November 2015, ONAC announced that they had award those funds to the remaining three applicants (the Mvskoke Loan Fund, Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation, and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma).

As of December 2016, those three latter grantees have completed their mini grant projects.  With the use of their grant funds, each grantee grew their own capacity to provide asset building programs for their citizens.  Through their projects, the grantees reached a minimum of 110 tribal citizens.  While this impact was immediate and impressive, ONAC anticipates that the positive effects of these initiatives will continue into the future.  For example, one of the grantees, the Mvskoke Loan Fund, through this project, now has a certified credit counselor available to work with their clients. We believe these investments in tribal citizens will strengthen these nations.

Grantee Projects and Outcomes

The Mvskoke Loan Fund had planned to enroll one of their staff members in the credit counseling certification program offered by Rural Dynamics, Inc. in Montana.  Rural Dynamics, Inc. was instead able to offer the program in Oklahoma, which allowed the Mvskoke Loan Fund to send three staff members to the training as their travel costs were greatly reduced.   As of the end of the grant period, one of the three staff members had passed the Credit Counseling Certification test and the two additional staff members had plans to take the exam.  This grant funding increased the capacity of the Mvskoke Loan Fund to directly offer certified credit counseling services to Native entrepreneurs to improve their credit rating and help prepare them to receive business loans from the Mvskoke Loan Fund (awarded $3,500).

Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation (CPCDC) offered Shonya Mbwaka (Money Smart) to stimulate sustainable economic opportunity for the Citizen Potawatomi tribal community and all past and current clients.  Through this project, funded by ONAC, the CPCDC held a reunion for twenty-eight of their Individual Development Account (IDA) program graduates.  During the reunion, held on October 11, 2016, participants attended a Financial Empowerment workshop presented by CPCDC staff and an Investment 101 presentation by Rhonda Godwin, Director of Administrative and Investment Operations at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.  On November 16, 2016, the CPCDC held a Lunch and Learn event entitled, “Can Credit Cost Your Retirement?”, presented by CPCDC staff member, Tina Pollard.  The session addressed how your credit habits impact your retirement and ability to contribute to a retirement account.  Additionally, with mini grant funds, CPCDC provided thirty one-on-one individual credit sessions with clients, seen individually from November 23, 2015 to November 23, 2016.  During those sessions, the clients received assistance with basic credit counseling, budgeting, goal setting, credit report review, and planning for retirement. 100% of participants reported that they increased their investing and financial knowledge as indicated on pre- and post-testing and evaluations for workshops. Individual credit session participants were gauged on increased credit scores, comparison to past habits and financial wellness questionnaire. 98% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the information given was helpful and beneficial (awarded $3,500).

The Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma provided employees of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma (ESTO), tribal youth, and tribal families the opportunity to become educated and self-sufficient as they learned from Dave Ramsey’s class entitled, “Financial Peace University.” Through video teaching, class discussions, and interactive small group activities, this financial education program presented culturally appropriate and practical steps toward economic self-sufficiency. Participants were taught how to get rid of debt, manage money, spend and save wisely, and plan for retirement. This program empowered the tribal community with the financial knowledge and tools that would lead to success.  With grant support, ESTO provided $50 to twenty-two participants in startup funds for an emergency savings account for those who completed the financial education program. Twenty-four adults, five teenagers, and five children participated in the program. Ninety-two percent (92%) of the adults (ages 18+) who participated in the program ended up finishing or completing the class. 100% of the teenagers (ages 13-17) and children (ages 5-12) completed the class.  As a result of their participation in the class, nearly all the adult participants cut up their credit cards and began saving for an emergency. Others began to use the “envelope system” (cash only) for groceries, gas, and entertainment (awarded $3,500).

ONAC Mini Grant Lessons Learned and Future Plans

Through this round of mini grants, ONAC has reinforced earlier learning that there is need for flexible sources of funding for asset building projects among constituents in Oklahoma.  Additionally, the coalition has learned of, and has been impressed by, the considerable reach of these initiatives in tribal communities.  Thus, going forward, ONAC will strive to continue to offer such grants to our constituents. 

One of the grantees noted, as a lesson learned, that there is need for continued reinforcement and “refresher” courses for those they serve. Their participants asked for future training in the areas of mortgages, down payment assistance, retirement planning, credit card habits, Investments 201, building a flexible budget, etc.

In April 2017, ONAC will release a request for proposal (RFP) for the next round of mini grants.  

ONAC thanks each of these constituents for their willingness to engage with the coalition and for all their work to design and implement these projects.   The coalition looks forward to working with these constituents, and others, to offer additional asset building projects in the future. 

For more information about ONAC mini grants, please contact Christy Finsel, Executive Director, at (405) 401-7873 or cfinsel@oknativeassets.org.

News Release

Contact: Christy Finsel, cfinsel@oknativeassets.org

(405) 401-7873

November 28, 2016                                                           

Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition, Inc. (ONAC) Launches Endowment Campaign and Announces Lead Gift by the Chickasaw Nation

Oklahoma City, OK – To advance its mission, the Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition, Inc. (ONAC), a statewide Native-led coalition in Oklahoma, announces that it has launched an endowment campaign.  ONAC is seeking to raise $5 million to fund an endowment for general operating expenses and program support.  

ONAC thanks the Chickasaw Nation for their recent and generous lead gift of $250,000 towards our endowment fund.  The coalition is grateful to Governor of the Chickasaw Nation, Bill Anoatubby, for meeting with them to talk about opportunities for collaboration and for supporting this campaign.

ONAC’s vision is that Native families will have multiple opportunities to grow their assets, through participation in integrated and culturally-relevant Native asset building programs. The coalition’s dream would be that all Native youth would have Children’s Savings Accounts to help them save for their future and let them know that college is a real option for them. ONAC also would like to be able to provide more funding for asset building initiatives in the state (to tribes and Native nonprofits) to increase the numbers of sustainable asset building programs (such as financial education, matched savings accounts, credit repair/credit builder, and family emergency savings account programs).

With the second-largest Native population, per capita in the United States, residing in Oklahoma, and that population increasing (2010 Census), support of Native asset building programs will help Native families to concretely build assets that will lead to family financial security. There is great potential for ONAC to work with constituents to help numerous Native families build their assets.

“In ONAC’s strategic plan, the coalition notes that we need funding to support and grow the nonprofit. ONAC’s leadership has worked to put in place a multi-pronged fundraising plan (soliciting funding from individual donors, foundations, members, federal grants, corporate sponsors, etc.). The next step of that plan is to raise funds for an endowment,” said Christy Finsel, Osage, ONAC’s Executive Director.  “We are excited to launch this endowment campaign. A strong endowment would make ONAC sustainable and viable well into the future.  ONAC leadership thanks the Chickasaw Nation for helping us to serve more Native families. We also thank our constituents and other members of the public for considering their financial support of this campaign.  Donations of all sizes make a difference,” Finsel said.

A link to ONAC’s  endowment prospectus is available on ONAC’s “Donate” page on the ONAC website at http://oknativeassets.org.  If contributors wish to support this campaign, donation information is also available on that same page. For further information, please contact Christy Finsel at cfinsel@oknativeassets.org or (405) 401-7873.

About the Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition Inc.: The Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition Inc. (ONAC), first organized in 2001 and now a nonprofit, is a Native asset building coalition that works with Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma 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, go to http://oknativeassets.org.            

ONAC Newsletter, Fall 2016

ONAC Launches Endowment Campaign and Announces Lead Gift by the Chickasaw Nation

In September 2016, ONAC launched an endowment campaign.  To advance ONAC’s mission, ONAC is seeking to raise $5 million to fund an endowment for general operating expenses and program support.  A strong endowment would make ONAC sustainable and viable well into the future. ONAC thanks the Chickasaw Nation for their generous lead gift of $250,000 towards our endowment fund.  We are grateful to Governor Bill Anoatubby, of the Chickasaw Nation, for meeting with us to talk about opportunities for collaboration and for supporting this campaign.   We are excited to grow this endowment fund and we respectfully ask for your support so that we may increase Native asset building opportunities for Native families.

What are ONAC’s hopes for the future of Native asset building?

ONAC’s vision is that Native families will have multiple opportunities to grow their assets, through participation in integrated and culturally-relevant Native asset building programs. Our dream is that all Native youth will have Children’s Savings Accounts to help them save for their future and let them know that college is a real option for them. The coalition also would like to be able to provide more funding for asset building initiatives in the state, to tribes and Native nonprofits, to increase the numbers of

sustainable asset building programs (such as financial education, matched savings accounts, credit repair/credit builder, and family emergency savings account programs).

There is great potential for ONAC to work with constituents to help numerous Native families build their assets.  The second-largest Native population, per capita in the United States, resides in Oklahoma and is increasing (2010 Census).  Support of Native asset building programs will help Native families to concretely build assets that will lead to family financial security.

Why is ONAC raising an endowment?

In ONAC’s strategic plan, the coalition notes that we need funding to support and grow the nonprofit. ONAC’s leadership has worked to put in place a multi-pronged fundraising plan (individual donors, foundations, members, federal grants, corporate funds, sponsorships, etc.). The next step of that plan is to raise funds for an endowment.

To advance ONAC’s mission, ONAC is seeking to raise $5 million to fund an endowment for general operating expenses and program support. A strong endowment would make ONAC sustainable and viable well into the future.

As of 2016, ONAC’s annual operating budget is $251,522. Endowment funding of $5 million would allow ONAC to draw 5% a year ($250,000). With the sustainability that an endowment provides, ONAC would then continue to seek foundation and individual donor support, as well as memberships, sponsorships, and other donations to offer more Children’s Savings Accounts and asset building grants in the state, in order to better meet the demand for our coalition services.

Endowment prospectus

For more information about ONAC's endowment fund, please visit our website at http://oknativeassets.org and click “donate” at the top right of the page.  On that page is a link to our endowment prospectus. All endowment fund donations are fully tax deductible as no goods or services are provided in exchange.

Please consider making a donation to our endowment fund

If you would like to support ONAC’s work, we ask you to please consider making a donation to ONAC’s endowment campaign.  To donate to ONAC’s endowment fund, either visit our website at http://oknativeassets.org and click “donate” at the top right of the page, or please send a check, made out to the Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition Inc., with “endowment fund” written on the memo line.  You can mail the check to the following address:

            Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition Inc.

            Attn: Christy Finsel, Executive Director

            9511 Horseshoe Road

            Oklahoma City, OK 73162

If your organization is unable to donate to an endowment fund, please consider supporting ONAC through membership, sponsorship, or general donations.

The challenge ONAC faces is to build a robust endowment while meeting the need for services today. While donations towards an endowment will help our coalition to be sustainable into the future, if you wish to underwrite ONAC’s programs today, we also welcome such support.  As part of our efforts to sustain and grow the coalition, ONAC welcomes donations, sponsorships, and memberships.  For more information, please go to the donate page at www.oknativeassets.org or call Christy Finsel, ONAC Executive Director, at 405-401-7873.

ONAC leadership thanks you for considering financial support of our statewide Native asset building coalition.

2015 Annual Report

ONAC has posted our 2015 annual report on the homepage of our website. To view ONAC’s 2015 Annual Report, go to http://oknativeassets.org/resources/Documents/ONAC_2015_Annual_Report.pdf.

If you would like to request a paper version of the report, please contact Christy Finsel at cfinsel@oknativeassets.org.

ONAC Administers Three Programs

For those of you not as familiar with ONAC, our coalition administers three programs: 1) Children’s Savings Accounts to help Native youth save for college and other asset purchases; 2) grants for Native asset builders so they may have flexible funding sources to start new programs or expand existing ones; and 3) professional development resources for Native asset building practitioners (model sharing and development, networking opportunities, free technical assistance, research, administrative policy guidance requests, and participation in state and national advisory groups related to tax policy, Native financial education, women and wealth, and economic inclusion).

Children’s Savings Account Pilot Updates 

On September 26, 2016, BeLieving in Native Generations (BLING), a Native-led nonprofit, partnered with ONAC to begin to open their nineteen allotted Children’s Savings Accounts for 4^th and 5^th grade students attending Riverside Indian School in Anadarko, Oklahoma. During the account opening event, ONAC, BLING, and staff from the school, met with the parents of the students and assisted them as they opened 529 accounts for the benefit of their children.  Each youth received the ONAC financial education booklet and a certificate celebrating their account.  ONAC provided the $100 account opening deposit for each student.  During the account opening event, the students drew pictures of assets they valued such as college degrees and college campus buildings.  ONAC provided the art supplies for this art project.  Additionally, ONAC provided the youth with organic gardening seeds for their families.  ONAC thanks Deborah Scott, Director of BLING; Kristie Subieta, Counseling Psychologist at Riverside Indian School; Clay Vinyard, Superintendent; Patrick Moore, Principal of the High School; and Jeremy Lee, Dean of Students, for their support of this project.

One day later, on September 27, 2016, the American Indian Resource Center, Inc. (AIRC), also a Native-led nonprofit, partnered with ONAC to open thirty-five Children’s Savings Accounts for 5-8^th grade students in the Cherokee Immersion after-school program, as well as accounts for their siblings.  During this particular account opening event, the parents attended and opened the accounts with assistance from ONAC and AIRC staff.  A Cherokee artist Matthew Anderson, Cultural Specialist at the Cherokee Arts Center & Spider Gallery, attended and shared information about Cherokee traditional arts.  The students then completed the Native arts project.  As a means of promoting that we are building multiple Native assets, ONAC provided each student with a bag of organic gardening seeds, as well as gardening instructions.  A big thank you to Pamela Iron, Executive Director, Georgia Dick, project lead, and other AIRC, Inc. staff for all their organizing efforts. 

On November 3^rd, ONAC opened a minimum of 30 Children’s Savings Accounts for the Ponca Tribe Head Start Program participants and their siblings, as well as children and grandchildren of their staff members (several more applications are still coming in).  During the account opening event, ONAC and staff from the Head Start program met with the parents of the students and assisted them as they opened Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan accounts for the benefit of their children.  Each youth received the ONAC financial education booklet and a certificate celebrating their account.  ONAC provided the $100 account opening deposit for each student.  During the account opening event, the students drew assets of value to them.  ONAC provided the art supplies for their art project.  Additionally, ONAC provided the youth with organic gardening seeds for their families.  ONAC thanks Linda Rieman, Director of the Ponca Tribe Head Start program, and her staff for all their work on the account opening event. 

In early November, ONAC drafted an interim update report our CSA activity to date for TIAA and the Office of Oklahoma State Treasurer Ken Miller (as most of the accounts have been opened through the Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan).  We are in the process of working on a more complete paper with descriptions about each partner’s CSA activities.   Since 2014, ONAC has funded 330 CSA accounts.  We will continue working with our valued partners to open at least 305 more accounts by April 2018.  

ONAC Children’s Savings Account Efforts Mentioned by the Asset Funders Network

Information about ONAC’s Children’s Savings Account  program was included on the Asset Funders Network CSA page of their website.  To view, please go to http://assetfunders.org/educate/csa/ and scroll down to CSAs in the News.  ONAC thanks Anne Yeoman, AFN’s CSA Project Manager, and the Asset Funders Network leadership for mentioning our program.

ONAC Presented at the FNDI LEAD Conference

On September 29^th, ONAC facilitated a Children’s Savings Account session during the First Nations Development Institute (FNDI) LEAD Conference, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.   During the session, Ms. Finsel, of ONAC, provided general Native Children’s Savings Account (CSA) program design information, as well as specifics about the ONAC Children’s Savings Account program.  Two ONAC CSA partners, the Cherokee Nation Office of Child Support Services (Sara Quetone, Child Support Program Manager, and Miranda Bush, Child Support Specialist) and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma (Michael Lowery, Grant Coordinator), presented information about their partnerships with ONAC to offer CSAs.  ONAC appreciates the invitation from First Nations Development Institute to participate in their conference.  We also thank our partners for sharing information about the rollout of the CSA program with the youth they serve.

ONAC Attended the AARP Oklahoma Indian Elder Honors and Met with their Staff about Native Asset Building Resources

On October 10^th, ONAC attended the 8^th Annual AARP Oklahoma Indian Elder Honors as an invited guest of AARP Oklahoma.  We were honored to participate and we congratulate all of the honorees.  ONAC participates in the AARP Inter-Tribal Community Group, organized by Mashell Sourjohn, Associate State Director of Community Outreach and Sean Voskuhl, AARP Oklahoma State Director.  We are thankful for Ms. Sourjohn’s work to organize that group and for inviting us to attend meetings.  The day after the Indian Elder Honors, we met with the AARP American Indian and Alaska Native Work Group to share information about collaboration between Native asset building coalitions and AARP.  ONAC appreciated the opportunity to attend that meeting.

ONAC Participated in a University of Arkansas Children’s Savings Account Webinar

On October 14^th, ONAC presented information about our Children’s Savings Account (CSA) program on a webinar organized by the University of Arkansas School of Social Work Child Savings Account Team for prospective partners they are working with in Arkansas who are exploring offering CSAs in their home communities.  ONAC was honored to participate and thanks Dr. Marcia Shobe, Professor, and Dr. Yvette Murphy-Erby, Professor, for the invitation to share about our program models and hear from other practitioners across the country.

Oklahoma Arts Council Funding Opportunities

The Oklahoma Arts Council provides grant funding for the following: 

1).  Arts Learning in Communities – hands-on arts instruction (can include performance, visual art, literary arts and traditional art forms.)  For more information, please go to:

http://arts.ok.gov/Arts_in_Communities/Arts_Learning_in_Communities_Grant.html.

2).  Community Arts Programs – audience-based arts and cultural events, including performances, powwows, exhibits and festivals.  For more information, please go to:

http://arts.ok.gov/Arts_in_Communities/Community_Arts_Grant.html

If you are looking for funding for your arts program, these opportunities may be of interest to you.  You may wish to link your financial asset building initiatives to your arts program. 

ONAC is on Facebook and Twitter

Please “like” us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/oknativeassets/.

Please follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/oknativeassets or @oknativeassets.

Thank you for your asset building efforts and for your support of ONAC!

Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition’s 

Children’s Savings Account Programming

Authored by Christy Finsel (Osage), ONAC Executive Director

November 2016

The Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition (ONAC) is an American Indian-led nonprofit network of Native people who are dedicated to increasing self-sufficiency and prosperity in their communities.  The coalition has existed since 2001, was classified by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) in 2014, and is one of only a handful of Native asset building coalitions in operation within the United States.

ONAC administers a Children’s Savings Account (CSA) program that provides a nest egg of savings for Native youth, ages birth to eighteen, and helps them save for asset purchases, such as post-secondary education.  ONAC provides the opening deposit for the youth, plus a piggy bank, certificate, and financial education booklet.  Most of the accounts are held through a 529 College Savings Plan, although some of the tribal partners have chosen to have the youth open their accounts at a financial institution (so the youth have experience with depositing their savings at a local bank branch).

Making the Case for Native CSAs

Instilling young people with the habit of saving is proven to have long-term benefits. In The College Savings Initiative, a joint project between the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis and the New America Foundation in Washington, DC, researchers found that “in multivariate analysis, youth who expect to graduate from a four-year college and have an account are about seven times more likely to attend college than youth who expect to graduate from a four-year college but do not have an account.” (Elliott, W. and Beverly, S. (2010). The Role of Savings and Wealth in Reducing “Wilt” between Expectations and College Attendance.  Journal of Children & Poverty, 17(2), 165-185. Also available at https://csd.wustl.edu/Publications/Documents/WP10-01.pdf). 

According to the American Indian College Fund, “only 13% of American Indian students age 25 or older have a college degree-115% below the national level.” (Student Success Stories, American Indian College Fund, accessed August 14, 2016, at http://www.collegefund.org/success_stories/detail/85). Anecdotally, ONAC has heard from other Native colleagues in Oklahoma that there are scholarship funds available that are not applied for, even though Native youth are eligible applicants.  CSAs can help create a pipeline for Native youth to college by helping the youth to think positively about their future and their college plans. 

Framework for Native Asset Building

In the ONAC CSA financial education booklet, ONAC recognizes that Native people may think about assets broadly (from a community perspective) and not only as money or individual assets.  The coalition also notes that Native communities have been building assets for generations. At the account opening events, the youth are asked to draw assets of value to them, with art supplies provided by ONAC.  From two of the account opening events, with permission from the parents, ONAC has included the artwork of twelve of the youth in a desk calendar to promote the idea of talking about Native assets throughout the year.  ONAC has distributed the calendars to the youth and their families, as well to our partners and other constituents.  In the next year, ONAC hopes to display the artwork, in an art show, to illustrate the various understandings of assets by Oklahoma Native youth.  To support the idea that food security/cultivation is a Native asset, in June 2016, ONAC started distributing organic garden seeds to the Native youth and their families at the account opening events.

Community Partner Engagement

As a Native asset building coalition, ONAC works to increase the capacity of our Native partners to be able to offer sustainable asset building programs.  Thus, as part of ONAC’s CSA program model, ONAC has formed partnerships with fifteen partners (tribal programs and Native nonprofits).  The partners include the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, Osage Financial Resources, Inc., Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation, Cherokee Nation Child Support Program, Mvskoke Loan Fund, Ponca Tribe Head Start, Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, Kaw Nation, Ranch Good Days, Inc., Pawnee Tribe Title VI Elderly Meals Program (accounts will be opened by grandparents raising grandchildren), BeLieving In Native Generations, Housing Authority of the Seminole Nation, American Indian Resource Center, Inc., and the Scholarship Foundation Program of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The CSA models are customized by each partner to meet local needs.

Grant Support and Outcomes to Date

Since 2014, with grants from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and First Nations Development Institute, with support from the Ford Foundation, ONAC has secured funding for 635 Children’s Savings Accounts.  As of November 6, 2016, ONAC has opened and funded 255 accounts, and has funded mini grants for an initial 35 accounts that were opened by the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, as well as funded two mini grants to the Kaw Nation and Ranch Good Days, Inc. for 40 more accounts, for a total of 330 accounts.  Of the data we have to date, 245 accounts were opened through the Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan (accounts with youth associated with Osage Financial Resources, Inc., Mvskoke Loan Fund, Cherokee Nation Child Support Services, BeLieving In Native Generations and Riverside Indian School, American Indian Resource Center, Inc., the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, and the Ponca Tribe Head Start Program); 10 were opened through MOST-Missouri’s 529 College Savings Plan (for youth associated with the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma); and 35 were opened at financial institutions (one in Anadarko and another in Tahlequah). ONAC will fund the remaining 305 accounts through April 2018.  In November 2016, one more account opening session is planned with the Pawnee Tribe Title VI Elderly Meals Programs (for grandparents raising grandchildren).  The coalition has secured initial endowment funding to open additional accounts in the future. More information will be forthcoming.

ONAC did not collect data on the age or gender of, or whether the youth were living at or below 200% of the federal poverty line for the 35 accounts opened by the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes during their pilot CSA mini grant projects.  Each of those 35 youth was an enrolled tribal member of those two tribes (AI/AN).  ONAC also has not collected age, gender, and family income information, to date, on the 40 youth who are receiving accounts funded by ONAC mini grants to the Kaw Nation and Ranch Good Days, Inc.  The 40 youth receiving those funds are either enrolled tribal members of the Kaw Nation or Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.

Since December 2015, ONAC has collected the following data on the 255 accounts we have funded (ONAC directly sent in opening deposit checks for these 255 accounts):

·      100% AI/AN

·      211 youth living at or below 200% of the federal poverty line

·      44 youth living above 200% of the federal poverty line

·      131 youth identified as boys

·      124 youth identified as girls

Ages of 255 Youth Account Owners as of October 2016

Age	Under 1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Numbers of youth that age	14	13	12	26	22	11	16	11	23

Age	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Numbers of youth that age	12	16	11	18	16	14	8	6	3	3

Given this data, there is evidence that the families desire these accounts even if the youth is a teenager.  While ONAC promotes the idea of starting earlier in saving for college, parents thought it important to still open accounts for older youth at ONAC account opening events.

Innovation in Addressing Gaps and Championing Community Assets

ONAC has championed culturally-relevant CSA models that build community assets.  Program innovations include:

• Wichita and Affiliated Tribes administered a Wichita SummerSmart Youth Program where, in addition to building tribal pride through teaching Wichita history and culture and promoting good health practices, they offered savings accounts for the interns and youth participants as well as financial education classes. During the program, with the grant funds, they opened 27 Children’s Savings Accounts (including 4 accounts for their youth interns). The children learned about tribal presidents, aboriginal homelands of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, traditional foods such as corn, and their language. They were introduced to a wide variety of physical activities such as dodgeball, kickball, and other sports. They were also provided nutrition classes by their Food Distribution staff. A banker came and discussed with them the importance of saving money, and the children noted the things they would like to save for in the future. Wichita and Affiliated Tribes President, Terri Parton, also held a discussion with the youth to reemphasize the importance of saving for things that they wanted and needed.
  
• The Mvskoke Loan Fund held a CSA opening event that coincided with a Muscogee (Creek) Movie Night at the Dome (where the tribe shows a full length children’s movie).  They opened 116 Children’s Savings Accounts with Muscogee (Creek) parents/guardians through the Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan.  Building from Indigenous teachings that assets are not only money, the Mvskoke Loan Fund invited a Muscogee (Creek) artist, Daniel Wind III, to display his work.  Muscogee college students volunteered to work with the youth attendees on artwork that the youth created to express their understandings of assets.  The youth drew pictures of their families, homes, flowers and trees, food, and a person graduating and getting a job. 
  
• The Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma opened a total of fifty ONAC Children’s Savings Accounts for youth enrolled in a financial education program they provided, as well as for children who attend their Early Childhood Learning Center.   They held a Family and College Savings Plan Night at their Early Childhood Learning Center.   During that event, they scheduled storytelling, a Native arts project, supervised playtime, and dinner.  Chief Glenna Wallace attended the event to support tribal staff and to encourage the parents and youth to deposit more funds in the account over the years.
  

Scalability and Replicability

In Oklahoma, among the CSA partners, there is interest in 450 more accounts than ONAC has the funding to support.  Additionally, there is interest in Native CSAs around the country from other Native communities.  

ONAC is in a position to scale this CSA project nationally.  The ONAC board has approved for ONAC to open CSAs for any Native youth residing in the United States and its territories.   The coalition has designed an online CSA application system to provide the coalition with the mechanism to open accounts with Native families in any state.  Thus far, accounts have been opened in Oklahoma and Missouri, as the Eastern Shawnee Tribe is located near the border of both states.

ONAC believes this CSA program is replicable.  The coalition has shared information about the CSA models nationally via our newsletter and by presenting information about the program at national convenings.  Also, in regard to replicability, ONAC has worked with child support contacts to tease out alternatives to forgiveness of state assigned child support arrears as such forgiveness it is not allowed in Oklahoma due to the wording of the state constitution. This gap in arrears forgiveness and CSA development in Oklahoma, led ONAC, with the Cherokee Nation Office of Child Support Services, to arrive at an alternative option that tribally-administered child support programs may want to offer their clients. To add extra incentive for parents served by the Cherokee Nation Office of Child Support Services to deposit funds into their children’s accounts, they will offer the custodial and noncustodial parents, who have establishment and enforcement cases, an offer for private mediation. If both parties are willing, and the non-custodial parent owes a custodial parent money, in order to work a good obligation, the non-custodial parent may deposit money into the CSA for the benefit of their child. This reduces the non-custodial parent’s debt, and helps the child to have a bigger nest egg of savings. This ONAC CSA model, with an added debt reduction component, may be a replicable model for other tribally administered child support programs.

Thank You

ONAC wishes to thank Kerry Alexander, Director for TIAA of the Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan, and Tim Allen, Deputy Treasurer for Communications and Program Administration of the Office of Oklahoma State Treasurer Ken Miller, for their assistance.

Contact

For further information about ONAC and the CSA program, contact Christy Finsel, ONAC Executive Director, at cfinsel@oknativeassets.org.  ONAC’s website address is www.oknativeassets.org.

Children’s Savings Account Pilot Updates 

On September 26, 2016, BeLieving in Native Generations (BLING), a Native-led nonprofit, partnered with ONAC to begin to open their nineteen allotted Children’s Savings Accounts for 4^th and 5^th grade students attending Riverside Indian School in Anadarko, Oklahoma. During the account opening event, ONAC, BLING, and staff from the school, met with the parents of the students and assisted them as they opened 529 accounts for the benefit of their children.  Each youth received the ONAC financial education booklet and a certificate celebrating their account.  ONAC provided the $100 account opening deposit for each student.  During the account opening event, the students drew assets of value to them.  ONAC provided the art supplies for their art project.  Additionally, ONAC provided the youth with organic gardening seeds for their families.  ONAC thanks Deborah Scott, Director of BLING; Kristie Subieta, Counseling Psychologist at Riverside Indian School; Clay Vinyard, Superintendent; Patrick Moore, Principal of the High School; and Jeremy Lee, Dean of Students, for their support of this project.

One day later, on September 27, 2016, the American Indian Resource Center, Inc. (AIRC), also a Native-led nonprofit, partnered with ONAC to open thirty-five Children’s Savings Accounts for 5-8^th grade students in the Cherokee Immersion after-school program, as well as accounts for their siblings.  During this particular account opening event, the parents attended and opened the accounts with assistance from ONAC and AIRC staff.  A Cherokee artist Matthew Anderson, Cultural Specialist at the Cherokee Arts Center & Spider Gallery, attended and shared information about Cherokee traditional arts.  The students then completed the Native arts project.  As a means of promoting that we are building multiple Native assets, ONAC provided each student with a bag of organic gardening seeds, as well as gardening instructions.  A big thank you to Pamela Iron, Executive Director, Georgia Dick, project lead, and other AIRC, Inc. staff for all their organizing efforts. 

With grants from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and First Nations Development Institute, with support of the Ford Foundation, ONAC has secured funding for 635 Children’s Savings Accounts.  As of October 2016, ONAC has opened and funded 220 accounts, plus funded mini grants for an initial 35 accounts that were opened by the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, as well as funded two mini grants to the Kaw Nation and Ranch Good Days, Inc. for 40 more accounts, for a total of 295 accounts. 

PRESS RELEASE

Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition, Inc.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE , August 18, 2016    

Contact: Christy Finsel, (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 First Nations Development Institute, with support of the Ford Foundation. This award is for an Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition Asset-Building Policy and Practice Project.

With this grant, 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 in the state," said Christy Finsel (Osage), Executive Director of ONAC.   "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.” 

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.            

# # #

ONAC Newsletter, July 2016

ONAC 2016 Conference

On July 12, 2016, ONAC held our 2016 Conference in Oklahoma City at the Oklahoma History Center.  Ninety-eight individuals registered to attend and eighty-three were in attendance.   This was our most attended conference to date. 

ONAC appreciates all those who participated in the conference.  Assistant Chief Lewis Johnson, of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, conducted the tribal welcome.  We then heard updates from ONAC and remarks from the Oklahoma Native Caucus Co-Chairs (Representatives Dan Kirby and Seneca Scott); Vincent G. Logan, Special Trustee, Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST); Lillian Sparks Robinson, Commissioner, Administration for Native Americans; Shawn Spruce, a consultant working with First Nations Development Institute; and Mashell Sourjohn, Associate State Director of Community Outreach.  After lunch, we took a wonderful on-site special tour of the Oklahoma Historical Society American Indian Collections led by Bill Welge, Matt Reed, and two other staff members from the Oklahoma Historical Society.  We then heard from several constituents about their family emergency savings account projects (Michael and Tami Lowery of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and Dawn Stover of the Native Alliance Against Violence), as well as from Sarah Sattelmeyer of The Pew Charitable Trusts, and Patricia Hart of New America.   After the afternoon break, three ONAC mini grantees (Thunder Whitecloud of the Mvskoke Loan Fund, Tina Pollard of Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation, and Ted Moore of the Kaw Nation) shared updates about their projects.  We then had a Children’s Savings Account panel where we heard from John Blue, Secretary of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Kara Pasqua Whitworth (Director) and Christina Bowlin (CSA Coordinator) of the Office of Child Support Services of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and Cynthia Logsdon Assistant Director of the Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation.  We ended the day with updates from Sharon Gordon-Ribeiro, Field Office Director-OKC of HUD; Pamela Charles, Sr. Stakeholder Relationship Manager of the IRS; and Cindy Carter Renfro, Native American Liaison of the U.S. Small Business Administration.   ONAC followed the conference sessions with a reception.  Thank you to all the speakers who shared their Native asset building expertise. 

ONAC is grateful to our conference sponsors, AARP Oklahoma and Choctaw Asset Building, as well as First Nations Development Institute, with support of the Ford Foundation, for grant support of this conference.  Additionally, we thank Catherine Bryan (First Nations) and Dawn Hix (Choctaw Asset Building) who staffed the registration table; ONAC Board Members (Anna Knight, Terry Mason Moore,

Elizabeth Ricketts, Dawn Hix, and Cynthia Logsdon) and Advisory Committee Members (Shay Smith, Ed Shaw, Christy Estes, and Lahoma Simmons); the Oklahoma Historical Society staff and volunteers; and all the constituents who traveled to participate in the day.  We are grateful for your support of the coalition and excited about Native asset-building efforts in Oklahoma!

Children’s Savings Account Pilot Updates 

The third of our confirmed CSA partners, the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, has opened a total of forty-eight ONAC Children’s Savings Accounts for youth enrolled in a financial education program they provided, as well as for children who attend their Early Childhood Learning Center.   They held a Family and College Savings Plan Night at their Early Childhood Learning Center on June 3, 2016.   During that event, they scheduled storytelling, a Native arts project, supervised playtime, and dinner.   At the end of the evening, they provided bounce houses for the children in their gym.  

With their strong outreach efforts, their grants office opened Children’s Savings Accounts with Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma parents/guardians.  NAC provided children with $100 for their account, made payable either to the Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan or MOST-Missouri’s 529 College Savings Plan (as their tribal members live in both states given their close location to the Oklahoma and Missouri borders).  Additionally, ONAC provided each child with a piggy bank, ONAC generated Native-specific financial education booklet, a certificate celebrating their account, and gardening seeds and gardening directions to promote the idea that we are building multiple culturally-relevant assets, including food cultivation/food sovereignty.  Building from ONAC’s belief that assets are not only money, at the Family and College Savings Plan Night, the youth were invited to create a piece of artwork that expressed their understandings of assets.  With parental permissions, ONAC will use artwork from several of the youth, to create a desk calendar to promote the idea of building assets throughout the year.  A big thank you to Chief Glenna J. Wallace who attended and encouraged the parents and children to save for the future; the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma’s Grants Department (Tami Lowery and Michael Lowery); the Early Childhood Learning Center Director (Bobbie Ahrens) and staff; Wellness Center Director (Ron Wallace) and staff; Ryan Frieze of the IT Department; and those who volunteered with them to make the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma CSA pilot a great success!  

ONAC to Speak at the LEAD Conference

ONAC will speak at the upcoming First Nations Development Institute LEAD Conference to be held September 27-29, 2016, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.   Ms. Finsel, of ONAC, will provide general Native Children’s Savings Account program design information, as well as specifics about the ONAC Children’s Savings Account program.  Two ONAC CSA partners, the Cherokee Nation Office of Child Support Services and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, will present information about their partnerships with ONAC to offer CSAs.  For more information, or to register, go to https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/?eventid=1823021.

ONAC Awards One New Mini Grant in July 2016

ONAC announces that it has awarded an ONAC mini grant to the Housing Authority of the Seminole Nation.  This grant was made possible with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

In January 2016, ONAC released our second request for proposals (RFP) to fund Native asset building projects in Oklahoma.  We received excellent applications from tribal governments and tribal programs based in Oklahoma.  At the time, ONAC received an application from the Housing Authority of the Seminole Nation but was not able to fund the grant until our second grant installment from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation arrived.  ONAC is excited to work with their housing authority as they continue to offer Native asset building projects to their tribal members.  If needed, ONAC is available to provide free training and technical assistance to them as they implement their asset-building program.  Congratulations to the Housing Authority of the Seminole Nation on this award.

The Housing Authority of the Seminole Nation will assist ten families with starting an Emergency Savings Account, as part of a matched savings account program, to help them to become more self-sufficient and move towards homeownership.  This grant will allow the housing authority to develop a core curriculum to help prevent foreclosure and send staff to foreclosure prevention and credit and budgeting training.  By June 2017, ten families will have opened emergency savings accounts with the initial deposit money ($200 per family) provided through this grant (awarded $3,500). 

ONAC Welcomes Donations, Sponsorships, Memberships, and Endowment Support

As part of our efforts to sustain and grow the coalition, ONAC welcomes donations, sponsorships, and memberships.  We are also interested in beginning an endowment. For more information, please go to the donate page at www.oknativeassets.org or call Christy Finsel, ONAC Executive Director, at 405-401-7873. ONAC appreciates your support!

ONAC Announces New Board Member

ONAC welcomes a new board member, Cynthia Logsdon.  She will join the board as a Board Director.  Mrs. Logsdon has a long history of supporting ONAC and providing leadership to the coalition.  Most recently, she was a member of the ONAC Advisory Committee.  Cindy is the Assistant Director of the Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation in Shawnee, Oklahoma.  We are thankful for her service to ONAC!

Thank you for your asset building efforts and for your support of ONAC!

We invite you to attend the 2017 Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition (ONAC) Conference.  ONAC will release the 2017 Conference date by early 2017.    During the conference, we will examine the current state of Native asset building; have opportunities for peer learning; share information about Native asset building models, funding sources, partnership opportunities, research, training and technical assistance; and learn about ONAC next steps and ways to be involved in the Coalition. At the end of the day, we will have a networking reception and provide ONAC membership information. We invite you to participate in this interactive conference. Who should attend the conference? Those interested and engaged in Native asset building. We invite Tribal leaders, Tribal program directors, Native nonprofits, Native asset building practitioners and researchers, state representatives, students, cultural advisors, policy organizations, funders, financial institutions and financial institution regulatory bodies, national asset building organizations, inter-tribal organizations, representatives from the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians, IRS, and Administration for Children and Families, and others interested in tribal asset building in Oklahoma to attend. Conference Schedule: 9:00 a.m. Registration and Breakfast 9:15 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Conference 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Networking Reception and Membership Drive Agenda: Agenda is forthcoming.		What is ONAC?   The Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition (ONAC) is a nonprofit 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 security of tribal citizens. What is ONAC’s role with Native asset building? ONAC is working with constituents and partners to increase the number of Native asset building opportunities such as: financial education programs credit builder programs Individual Development Account programs (matched savings) homeownership and foreclosure prevention programs children's savings programs entrepreneurial programs free tax preparation at Voluntary Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites, etc. Questions? If you have any questions about ONAC or the 2017 ONAC Conference, please contact Christy Finsel, ONAC Executive Director, at cfinsel@oknativeassets.org or at (405) 401-7873

ONAC Announces Additional 
Children’s Savings Account Partners

May 11, 2016.  We, the Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition Inc. (ONAC), announce that we have chosen six new Children’s Savings Account partners, in addition to several current partners, to work with us to open 250 more ONAC Children’s Savings Accounts for Native youth. 

The Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition (ONAC) is a nonprofit 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. 

In March 2016, ONAC released a request for Letters of Interest for Children’s Savings Account partnerships.  We received excellent letters from tribal governments and Native nonprofits based in Oklahoma.  ONAC is thankful to all those who submitted requests for partnership.  Our coalition received requests for more accounts than we currently have funding to fulfill.  ONAC will continue to try to raise funds for future accounts.

During the next fourteen months, ONAC will work with these six additional partners to open Children’s Savings Accounts (CSAs) with generous grant funding from First Nations Development Institute (with support from the Ford Foundation).   ONAC will provide the $100 opening deposit for each CSA, a piggy bank, a certificate celebrating the account, a Native-specific financial education booklet, the customized letters to parents/guardians, and other related account opening materials. 

The additional CSA partners are as follows:

• Eastern Shawnee Tribe to open ONAC CSAs for youth in a financial education class they offer, as well as for youth attending their Early Childhood Learning Center in Wyandotte, Oklahoma.

• Pawnee Tribe Title VI Elderly Meals Program to open ONAC CSAs for Pawnee grandchildren being raised by their grandparents in Pawnee and Payne County, Oklahoma.

• BeLieving In Native Generations to open ONAC CSAs with youth attending Riverside Indian School in Anadarko, Oklahoma.

• Housing Authority of the Seminole Nation to open ONAC CSAs for youth residing in their housing stock, through their Resident Services program.

• American Indian Resource Center, Inc. to open ONAC CSAs for youth attending the after-school program of the Cherokee Nation Immersion School.

• The Scholarship Foundation Program of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation to open CSAs for seniors in high school, with assistance of The Johnson O’Malley Program of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.   The Scholarship Foundation Program of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation will incentivize the youth participating in financial literacy and FAFSA workshops and making additional deposits in their accounts by offering up to $200 in additional funding for the accounts.

We appreciate the interest of these tribes and Native nonprofits in establishing nest eggs of savings for these youth. 

For more information about the Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition Inc., please go to http://www.oknativeassets.org/.    If you have any questions about ONAC and the Children’s Savings Account Program, contact Christy Finsel, ONAC Executive Director, at cfinsel@oknativeassets.org.

ONAC Newsletter, April 2016

ONAC is distributing this newsletter as part of our effort to promote what is working well with Native asset building in Oklahoma.  We are continuing to try to secure resources for Native asset building projects for our constituents.  We appreciate your support!

ONAC on Facebook

Find us on Facebook  at https://www.facebook.com/oknativeassets/.

ONAC Presented Information about Asset Development During a W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Family Economic Security Team Webinar

ONAC presented information about our W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF)-funded work, as it relates to asset development, during a March 23rd webinar for WKKF staff.   We shared information about the role that assets play in family economic security and strategies for addressing the racial wealth gap.  ONAC appreciates the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s support of our Children’s Savings Account and mini grant programs!

Children’s Savings Account Pilot Updates 

The second of our confirmed CSA partners, the Mvskoke Loan Fund, held a Children’s Savings Account opening event that coincided with a Muscogee (Creek) Movie Night at the Dome (where the tribe shows a feature-length children’s movie).  

With their strong outreach efforts, the Mvskoke Loan Fund opened 115 Children’s Savings Accounts with Muscogee (Creek) parents/guardians.  ONAC provided children with $100 for their account, made payable to the Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan.  Additionally, ONAC provided each child with a piggy bank, ONAC generated Native-specific financial education booklet, and a certificate celebrating their account.  Building from ONAC’s belief that assets are not only money, the Mvskoke Loan Fund invited a Muscogee (Creek) artist, Daniel Wind III, to display his work.  Muscogee college students volunteered to work with the youth attendees on artwork that the youth created to express their understandings of assets.  They drew pictures of their families, homes, flowers and trees, food, and a person graduating and getting a job.  With parental permissions, ONAC will use artwork from six of the youth, as well as artwork from youth served by two other partners on this project, to create a desk calendar to promote the idea of building assets throughout the year.  A big thank you to the Mvskoke Loan Fund staff, Lahoma Simmons (Director), Pamela Murphy (Program Specialist), and Emory Fox (Project Coordinator), and those who volunteered with them to make the Mvskoke Loan Fund ONAC CSA event a great success!  

ONAC to Speak at the Color of Wealth Summit

Ms. Finsel, of ONAC, was invited to speak as a panelist for a roundtable session at the upcoming Color of Wealth Summit, in Washington, D.C., April 20-22, 2016.  The summit is being hosted by the Center for Global Policy Solutions and the Insight Center for Community Economic Development.  ONAC is honored to participate.  We thank them for the invitation to speak about ONAC’s work.  For more information, or to register, please go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2016-color-of-wealth-summit-tickets-21524902563.

ONAC Invited to Speak on a Panel at the Upcoming Native Youth Empowerment Symposium 

On Tuesday, April 26, 2016, ONAC will participate in a panel at the Native Youth Empowerment Symposium, in Albuquerque, NM.  The Pueblo of Isletta, TIWA Lending, the Office of The Special Trustee for American Indians (OST), and the FINRA Investor Education Foundation are hosting the symposium.  This event is “inspired by Generation Indigenous (GEN-I).”  They welcome “tribal leaders and staff; Native youth; and advocates for education, financial literacy, economic development, entrepreneurship, and careers for Native youth.”   For more information, please go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/native-youth-empowerment-symposium-tickets-21433141102.  ONAC thanks the organizers for the opportunity to speak about what is working well with Native youth asset building in Oklahoma. 

ONAC to Speak at a U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Consultation

ONAC was invited to speak during an Open Consultation session entitled, “Strengthening Children, Youth, and Families,” at an upcoming U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Consultation, on Wednesday, April 27, 2016, at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, NM.  This HHS Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico & USET Regional Tribal Consultation will focus on “Strengthening Indian Country Through Tribal Youth.”  ONAC is honored to participate in this consultation.  We have been asked to share about Native asset building resources and our projects geared towards Native youth. 

ONAC Awards Four New Grantees in March 2016

On March 24, 2016, ONAC announced four new ONAC mini grant awardees.   The four awardees are the Kaw Nation, Seminole Nation Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Program, Ranch Good Days, Inc., and the Native Alliance Against Violence.  The grants were made possible with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and First Nations Development Institute.

In January 2016, ONAC released our second request for proposals (RFP) to fund Native asset building projects in Oklahoma.  We received excellent applications from tribal governments and tribal programs based in Oklahoma.  ONAC is excited to work with the awardees as they continue to offer Native asset building projects to their tribal members.  If needed, ONAC is available to provide free training and technical assistance to the grantees as they implement their asset building programs.  Congratulations to the grantees!

The new ONAC mini grant awardees are as follows:

• The Kaw Nation will conduct a financial education workshop for at least twenty Kaw Nation students, between the ages of 13-17.  As part of the workshop, the tribe will work with the youth and their parents to either open a savings account at Eastman National Bank or an account through the Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan.  With the mini grant funding, the Kaw Nation will provide the opening deposit for the accounts.  The youth will have an opportunity to earn more money for their accounts by participating in an essay contest.  A panel, comprised of representatives from the Kaw Nation Tribal Youth Program, the Johnson O’Malley (JOM) program, and the Kaw Nation Education Department, will choose the essay topics. The students will be asked to share what they learned from the financial workshop and how they will use this financial knowledge toward their future goals.  Essay rules and applications will be made available to all students at the conclusion of the workshop.  A committee comprised of representatives from various Kaw Nation departments as well as a representative from Eastman National Bank will read and select the winning essays.  Winners of the contest will be announced on the Kaw Nation’s website (awarded $3,500).
  
• Seminole Nation Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Program will develop customized curriculum and administer a six-hour “Managing Your Family Finances” workshop, held on two days during summer 2016, for fourteen participants.  Those eligible for the workshops include Native American families residing in the Seminole Nation jurisdiction, which comprises 97% of Seminole County.  During the workshop, participants will gain knowledge related to budgeting, building credit, and saving towards a goal.  Each family will establish a savings plan.  The Program will work with the families to open a family emergency savings account, at BancFirst, and they will provide the opening deposit with grant funding.  The participants will be encouraged to add their own deposits to the account by following their individual savings plans.  The Program will contact the participants at 30-and 60-day intervals to assess the effectiveness of the savings plan.  The Program staff will conduct a pre-and post-workshop assessment. Childcare and meals will be provided during the workshop (awarded $3,500).
  
• Ranch Good Days, Inc. will work with the Na Tsista Girls Basketball Team (from the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes), their coach, and the girl’s families, to open twenty Children’s Savings Accounts.  The accounts will either be opened at a local bank or through the Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan. After the girls have saved funds in their account for six months, they will receive a $50.00 savings incentive, to be added to their accounts. The families will be asked to complete a program survey (awarded $3,500).
  
• The Native Alliance Against Violence will develop a Financial Empowerment Training for survivors of domestic violence.  The training will be made available to survivors, via the internet, and to the twenty-two tribal domestic violence programs operating in the state of Oklahoma to offer to the domestic violence survivors they serve.  A minimum of twenty survivors who view the web-based training, and successfully complete a proficiency quiz, will be offered funds to open either a family emergency savings account or a 529 Oklahoma College Savings Plan account.  The Alliance will work with the tribal domestic violence programs to open the accounts (awarded $4,000).
  

Award Total: $14,500

The Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition Inc. thanks those who applied for these grant funds.

After June 1, 2016, once additional confirmed grant installments arrive, ONAC will formally announce two additional ONAC mini grant awardees.  

2016 ONAC Conference

The 2016 ONAC Conference will be held on July 12, 2016, at the Oklahoma History Center, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.   We invite you to attend!  Please see the conference information and registration link below. 

Conference Schedule: July 12, 2016

• 9:00 a.m. Registration and Breakfast
  
• 9:15 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Conference
  
• 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Networking Reception and Membership Drive 
  

Agenda: The agenda is forthcoming.

To Pay by Credit Card: Register using our online form and choose pay online to be directed to our secure Pay Pal site.

To Pay by Check: Register using our online form and print the registration invoice. Please mail a copy of the invoice with payment by July 6th. Attendees who are not able to mail their check by July 6th, should bring a check with them to the conference.

To Register Online: Click Here

ONAC Releases Request for Letters of Interest for ONAC Children’s Savings Account Partnerships

The Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition (ONAC) is requesting letters of interest, from tribes and Native nonprofits in Oklahoma, that wish to partner with ONAC to open Children’s Savings Accounts with Native youth in their community.   Currently, ONAC is working with eight partners to open 380 accounts with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and First Nations Development Institute.  The partners include the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Anadarko), Osage Financial Resources, Inc. (Pawhuska), Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation (Shawnee), Cherokee Nation Child Support Program (Tahlequah), Mvskoke Loan Fund (Okmulgee), Ponca Tribe Head Start (Ponca City), Kaw Nation (Kaw City, new mini grant awardee), and Ranch Good Days, Inc. (Altus, new mini grant awardee).  ONAC is grateful to our funders and partners for the opportunity to open accounts with Native youth. 

With a grant from First Nations Development Institute, ONAC has funding for an additional 190 Children’s Savings Accounts for Native youth in Oklahoma.   We will be opening 40 of these accounts by October 31, 2016, and the remaining 150 accounts by June 30, 2017.  

At this time, we are requesting letters of interest to learn if there are tribes and Native nonprofits in the state that would like to partner with ONAC to open the remaining 190 accounts.   

With each account, ONAC will provide a $100.00 opening deposit.  The accounts may be opened at a financial institution of your choice (bank or credit union) or through the Oklahoma 529 college savings plan.  The accounts do not have to be custodial though you may choose to add your tribe or Native nonprofit’s name to the accounts as custodian.  ONAC is happy to speak with you about these various options prior to your submission of a letter of interest.  With the accounts, ONAC will also provide each child with a piggy bank, certificate celebrating their participation in the program, and a Native-specific financial education activity booklet. 

Why is ONAC interested in funding Children’s Savings Accounts for youth? We hope that this project will help youth to have their own savings account that can grow over time with potential deposits from their family, the child, and/or the tribe or Native nonprofit (it is not a requirement that the tribal or Native nonprofit partners deposit funds into the account though you are welcome to do so).  ONAC would like for these accounts to be a nest egg of savings for Native children to help them save for college or trade school costs, or other purchases, as approved by the tribes and Native nonprofits ONAC will partner with on this initiative.   In terms of how these accounts may promote college attendance and graduation, if the accounts are used for postsecondary education, there is recent research from the University of Kansas and Washington University in St. Louis that suggests that “youth who expect to graduate from a four-year college and have designated a portion of their savings for college are approximately four times more likely to attend college than youth who have no account.”[1]  Also, “youth who expect to graduate from a four-year college and have an account are approximately seven times more likely to attend college than youth who have no account.”[2] With such research in hand, ONAC believes that Children’s Savings Accounts can make a difference in the lives of children.  With this program, we wish to help support Native youth’s future plans. 

What are the criteria for partnership?

• Eligible partners include Tribes or Native nonprofits located in Oklahoma.
  
• Partners should choose a specific group of youth for which you wish to open the accounts (the youth may be ages birth to 18). When drafting your letter of interest to ONAC, please determine a target population for which you wish to open the accounts.  For example, you may wish to propose that you would open accounts for all youth in your tribal after-school program, Head Start class, Native language immersion school, or for a certain number of youth being served by your tribally-administered child support program.   If you are administering a Voluntary Income Tax Assistance site, you may wish to propose that you would open accounts for the youth of the parents you serve.  For those administering a tribal food program, you may wish to work with a certain number of grandparents raising grandchildren to open Children’s Savings Accounts for their grandchildren.  If you manage a Summer Youth Employment program, you may wish to open accounts for all the youth in the program.   For those of you managing a housing program, you could open accounts with the families of those you serve.  If you offer an Individual Development Account (matched savings account) program, financial education, family emergency savings account, or credit builder/credit repair program for adults, you could offer Children’s Savings Accounts for the children of the parents in the program.
  
• Please specify if you would like to open either savings accounts at a bank or credit union of your choice or if you would like to open the accounts through the Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan.
  
• Include the numbers of accounts you would like to work with ONAC to open by June 30, 2017. 
  

What does ONAC provide with this partnership? 

ONAC will provide $100.00 per account as an opening deposit, as well as, a piggy bank, Native-specific ONAC financial education booklet, and certificate of participation.  ONAC will directly send the $100.00, for the opening deposit, either to the bank or credit union, of your choice, or to the Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan.  ONAC will provide the forms for the program.  Our coalition will pay for necessary printing and shipping costs. 

As a checklist, please include the following in your letter of interest: 

1.    Name of tribe or Native nonprofit in Oklahoma interested in partnering with ONAC on this Children’s Savings Account (CSA) pilot project.

2.    Contact information for contact at tribe or Native nonprofit (name, title, mailing address, phone number, and email address).

3.    Short description of the target population of youth for which you propose to work with ONAC to open Children’s Savings Accounts.   Please provide brief general information about the ages of the children, the program or department they are served by, if they live in a certain geographic area, general social/economic information, etc.

4.    How many accounts would you like to open with the target population?

5.    From now through June 30, 2017, when would you be available to work with ONAC to help the families open the accounts? 

6.    Anything else you wish to tell ONAC about your interest in such a partnership?  Any questions or concerns you have for ONAC? 

To whom do we submit our letter of interest, by midnight, April 22, 2016?  

You may email your letter to Christy Finsel, ONAC Executive Director, at cfinsel@oknativeassets.org. 

When will we be notified about the status of our letter of interest? 

Based on the responses we receive, ONAC respond to all interested parties by May 6, 2016.   

Who do I contact if I have questions about this opportunity?  

Please contact Christy Finsel (Osage), ONAC Executive Director, at either cfinsel@oknativeassets.org or (405) 401-7873.

ONAC appreciates your consideration of this partnership!

ONAC Welcomes Donations and Memberships

As part of our efforts to sustain and grow the coalition, ONAC welcomes donations, sponsorships, and memberships.  For more information, please go to the donate page at www.oknativeassets.org.  ONAC appreciates your support!

Thank you for your asset building efforts and for your support of ONAC!

Christy and the ONAC Board and Advisory Committee Members