Native CDFIs know where their communities need capital. Turning that knowledge into a lending program takes another set of skills.
In a new episode of Difference Makers 3.0, Pamela Boivin of the Native CDFI Network and Sheila Herrera, executive director of Tiwa Lending Services, join host Brian Edwards to discuss how NCN’s FORGE Certificate Program helps Native lenders test, refine and prepare lending products for launch.
Boivin explains how the program connects community needs with the practical demands of lending: staffing, pricing, underwriting, policies, risk and capital. Herrera describes how Tiwa is applying those lessons to a small business lending program shaped by young entrepreneurs’ ambitions and conversations with tribal leaders.
The goal extends past any single product: helping Native CDFIs develop the internal systems and “muscle memory” to respond as new needs emerge.
Here are highlights from the conversation:
On knowing the community — Pamela Boivin:
“We know our communities very well. And we understand our communities, and we understand where the gaps are.”
On testing a lending idea — Pamela Boivin:
“Is there enough demand for this product? Can we operationally support this? And then does the pricing work? And then what does that mean for our portfolio?”
On young entrepreneurs’ ambitions — Sheila Herrera:
“I wanna do comics. I wanna start selling moccasins.”
On lending that fits tribal members — Sheila Herrera:
“That’s what makes CDFI so unique is because they can be innovative and create a product that’s gonna work for the tribal members.”
On balancing risk and affordability — Sheila Herrera:
“We have to create a matrix that’s not gonna be credit score driven, but somehow to help us also to mitigate our risk but to make it affordable for the business owner to continue their cashflow and to continue to make their business thrive.”
On learning from other Native CDFIs — Sheila Herrera:
“I mean, we can learn from our different peers, and we don’t have to reinvent the wheel.”
On making the lessons repeatable — Pamela Boivin:
“We’re building muscles for our Native CDFIs, and we’re building that muscle memory so that they can do it again and again.”
Visit Difference Makers 3.0 to listen to “Muscle Memory: How Native CDFIs turn lending ideas into practice” and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.
