Q1 Grants: Native CDFI Network and Doubling 2025 Grant Dollars

By doubling the $17.5 million grantmaking budget in 2025, the Foundation aims to help grantees with challenges in uncertain times.

“Right now there’s such uncertainty about federal policies and programs,” says Pete Upton (Ponca Tribe of Nebraska), chairperson and CEO of the Native CDFI Network (NCN) and executive director of Native360 Loan Fund. “Investing in Native community development financial institutions [Native CDFIs] has a lasting ripple effect.”

Each investment in a Native CDFI ripples out to support businesses, jobs, and other opportunities Native communities need to thrive on their own terms, and in ways tailored to their values and circumstances. We want to be sure this work continues to grow, despite current political and economic headwinds.

That’s why we decided last quarter to grant NCN an additional $300,000 on top of a $200,000 general operating grant from 2024. Adding dollars to existing grants is one way we’ll be doubling our grantmaking. We’re acutely aware that 2025 is proving to be deeply challenging, particularly for our priority communities—Native Americans, communities of color, immigrants, refugees, and people in rural areas.

As federal funds are being walked back, there’s a need to replace funding.

The additional grant funds will help NCN sustain its ongoing advocacy efforts and plan next steps following the termination of its $400 million Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant for renewable energy in Native communities.

Last year’s historic EPA grant was supposed to finance renewable energy projects in Native communities nationwide. NCN committed to re-grant 90 percent of those funds—$360 million—to Native CDFIs to support projects around alternative energy sources—creating jobs and boosting the resilience and long-term stability of Native communities.

Under the current political administration, the EPA terminated this funding. Several court challenges are underway.

In the meantime, NCN needs more support for advocacy efforts and to strategize ways to continue already-planned renewable energy efforts, despite the rapidly shifting political landscape. The Foundation is providing additional general operating funds to assist.

The ripple effect of investments in Native CDFIs is powerful and intentional.

NCN is a member organization formed in 2009 that works to grow and strengthen the 64 Native CDFIs across the country—about half of which are in our region—through policy advocacy, capacity building, and access to capital. The work supports the economic prosperity of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities.

Native CDFIs fill a gap for funding communities often excluded from mainstream financial services. According to a 2024 report from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank, almost half (46.4 percent) of Native communities are in banking deserts, areas without nearby bank branches.

“Right now, for example, many Native communities are experiencing a housing shortage,” Upton says. “But to have housing, you need jobs. And to have jobs, you need small businesses. And small businesses need banking resources. These are key areas where Native CDFIs step in to amplify the ripple effect of investments in Indian Country.”

The challenges are significant, but there’s reason for hope.

Upton points out that Native CDFIs are generally able to leverage federal dollars eight to one—making them a great investment in building generational assets in some of the most underserved communities in the United States. Despite this strong return on investment, the amount of seed capital available to Native CDFIs still falls far short of meeting the growing demand across Native communities. To effectively support the expansion of Native economies, significantly more capital is needed.

At a recent Treasury event, Upton participated in a roundtable discussion with Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and others. “Secretary Bessent and other Treasury staffers continually brought up rural and Native communities as a priority, so I left that meeting feeling optimistic.”

But the fight for federal support for Native CDFIs, most of which have smaller assets than non-Native CDFIs, is still on. And NCN plans to continue empowering its members to work together to advance policy priorities that foster sustainable and equitable Native community and economic development.

Additional Q1 grantmaking:

In the first quarter of 2025 the Foundation approved more than $1.3 million toward 20 grants, including these:

Mano a Mano of Salem, OR—$50,000 grant for Radio Poder, a community-based radio station serving Oregon’s Latino and Indigenous populations by broadcasting culturally relevant news, resources, and storytelling.

Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence of Boise—$250,000 over two years to support the Idaho Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons initiative, which aims to improve law enforcement response and collaboration between states and enhance victim and family support systems.

You can request more information about our recent grantmaking by contacting Paul Bachleitner, communications director, at pbachleitner@nwaf.org.

Go to our listing of all Q1 grants.

Check out these recent posts that reflect what’s been happening at the Foundation this past quarter.

We commemorate George Floyd’s murder five years ago and how supporting community-led vision is the way to guide healing, repair, and thriving that’s truly shared.

Meet our new Vice President, Program (if you haven’t already done so).

Our board of directors decided to double the grantmaking budget earlier this year.