NAFSA Promotes Exercising Sovereignty in Tribal Financial Services as Presenting Sponsor of AICCOK’s “The Gathering”
NAFSA Executive Director Gary Davis provided a keynote address on the entrepreneurial spirit and resilience of Native businesses and NAFSA Chairman John Shotton and NAFSA Director of Policy and Research Clif Cottrell discussed the future of tribal financial services with banking and lending experts highlighting NAFSA’s presenting sponsorship of the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Oklahoma’s (AICCOK) annual conference dubbed “The Gathering.” The conference kicked off at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Catoosa, OK with a networking reception in which NAFSA staff had the opportunity to interact with tribal representatives and business owners from across Oklahoma and its 39 tribes.
Financial services were well represented at the conference. Shane Jett, Executive Director and CEO of the Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation, served as Master of Ceremonies for the Gathering. The second day of the conference was led by a featured address by NAFSA Executive Director Gary Davis. Executive Director Davis chronicled his rise as the first Native American rapper and how his self-made career informs his present attitude regarding the importance of tribal sovereignty in Native economic development.
The final day of the conference was headlined by a panel discussion on the future of tribal financial services. The panel was moderated by NAFSA COO & General Counsel Joe Sarcinella and included Chairman Shotton, co-author of discourse on tribal bank charters, J.D. Colbert, and Cottrell. Topics discussed included the prospects of tribes developing their own financial regulatory systems for banking, the success of such models in tribal online lending, and the creation of credit unions. The panel highlighted the myriad of opportunities available to tribes in financial services and just how NAFSA members are leading the charge in exercising sovereignty to build financial opportunity in Indian Country.
