Lakota Funds

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Strengthening the role of Native CDFIs: A conversation with Gerald Sherman of the Native CDFI Network

Strengthening the role of Native CDFIs: A conversation with Gerald Sherman of the Native CDFI Network

Roughly 8 percent of the 917 community development financial institutions (CDFIs) in the U.S. are categorized as Native CDFIs (NCDFIs), which means they serve primarily American Indian, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian communities. Due to a mixture of historical, political, and geographical…

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New economic hope on Pine Ridge Reservation

New economic hope on Pine Ridge Reservation

When I read the Lakota Country Times I am heartened by the economic progress that oftentimes is hidden in the more alarming media reports of rampant alcoholism and the resulting horrors that the disease brings to the communities there on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. There is hope to be had in…

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Gardens Flourish on Pine Ridge

Gardens Flourish on Pine Ridge

John Yellow Hawk’s garden is one of many new feeders of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation’s developing economy. This past year, Yellow Hawk and 20 other Oglala gardeners each received a $1,000 loan and a $2,000 grant from Citigroup via Lakota Funds, a 26-year-old Native community development financial…