- Details
- By Tribal Business News Staff
- Finance
A Native community development financial institution that has helped tribes reacquire 70,000 acres of ancestral land is preparing for its next growth phase under new leadership.
Indian Land Capital Company has elected Dave Tovey as board chair and added three new directors as the certified Native CDFI works to expand its lending program. The organization provides full faith and credit financing to tribal governments for land purchases within their homelands without requiring land as collateral.
Since its 2005 founding, Little Canada, Minn.-based ILCC has provided 34 loans totaling more than $45 million to 23 tribes. The reacquired land has been used for agriculture and related businesses, cultural sites, housing development and social services.
Tovey, who is Cayuse/Joseph Band Nez Perce, has served on the ILCC board since 2007 and as vice chair since 2010. He also leads Nixyáawii Community Financial Services, a Native CDFI on the Umatilla Reservation. He replaces Cris Stainbrook, an ILCC founder who held the board chair position since 2005.
“Dave has lived virtually all the organization's history, brings a background of innovation and is uniquely suited to be in the Chair for the future of ILCC,” Stainbrook said in a statement.
The board also elected Howard D. Valandra as vice chair and Sayer Jones as secretary/treasurer. Valandra, who is Sicangu, now serves as president of Indian Land Tenure Foundation and previously led Tribal Land Enterprises with the Rosebud Sioux Reservation. Jones brings 15 years of institutional investment experience, including work with Meyer Memorial Trust where he deployed more than $50 million in mission-related investments.
Three new directors joined the board: Valandra and Randy Emm were appointed by Indian Land Tenure Foundation, ILCC's parent organization, while Zach Ducheneaux was elected as an at-large member. Emm, a Yerington Paiute tribal member, operates a hay and beef production business. Ducheneaux, Cheyenne River Lakota, most recently served as USDA administrator of the Farm Service Agency in the Biden/Harris administration and previously led the Intertribal Agriculture Council.
Earlier this year, Stainbrook retired from Indian Land Tenure Foundation after 23 years as president and joined ILCC as CEO. He stepped down from the board chair position he had held since 2005. D'Arcy Bordeaux, Sicangu Lakota, who served as accountant and human resources director at Indian Land Tenure Foundation since 2003, will serve as ILCC’s chief operating officer.
“I have always thought ILCC should be growing much faster as it is at the heart of assisting tribes in getting their land back,” Stainbrook said. “We will be pursuing a new capital raising process and increased lending.”
