In 2023, the Mountain | Plains Regional Native CDFI Coalition launched a first-of-its-kind Regional Revolving Loan Fund (RLF). The RLF is stewarded by the Four Bands Community Fund in South Dakota and is governed by a loan committee representing nine Native CDFIs serving Native markets across three states (Montana, South Dakota, and Montana).
The RLF is recreating traditional Indigenous trade routes through peer-to-peer capacity building while deploying over $25M of capital into the Mountain | Plains region. Through collaboration and reciprocity, the RLF is building the balance sheet of nine CDFIs while increasing access to capital for Native entrepreneurs from some of the most under-resourced markets in the nation, showing how shared power can create innovative ways to build wealth and equity.
The RLF invites investors and donors to enter the Indigenous Finance ecosystem and build investment acumen outside of colonial capitalism, centering trust-based approaches and challenging false assumptions around risk mitigation. Join the Mountain | Plains Indigenous Finance Industry to inspire investment, Indigenously.
