- Details
- By Tribal Business News Staff
- Finance
Difference Makers 3.0, a podcast partnership between Tribal Business News and the Native CDFI Network, will launch its new season Thursday, Feb. 12, expanding the series’ focus from small business lending into a broader examination of Native finance, policy, and impact.
Hosted by Tribal Business News associate editor Brian Edwards and Native CDFI Network CEO Pete Upton, the series builds on its first season, which centered on the day-to-day work of Native community development financial institutions financing Native-owned small businesses, providing technical assistance, and helping entrepreneurs navigate capital in Native communities.
The new season widens the lens. Difference Makers 3.0 explores how Native CDFIs operate within larger systems — from federal policy and philanthropy to investment markets and tribal governance — and how those forces shape access to capital, innovation, and long-term economic outcomes in Indian Country.
The season opens with Before the Banks, featuring Bob Miller, an Arizona State University law professor and attorney, who examines pre-colonial tribal economies, treaty law, and Indigenous economic systems that long predate modern banking.
Episode two, From Policy to Practice, features Miriam Jorgensen, an economist and researcher affiliated with Harvard University, tracing the origins of Native CDFIs from the 2001 Native American Lending Study through the development of a national network of sovereign financial institutions.
Episode three, Philanthropy’s Blind Spot, features Kevin Walker, CEO of the Northwest Area Foundation, examining why Native communities continue to be overlooked by mainstream philanthropy and where funders and Native leaders see opportunities for change.
Additional episodes this season will feature Native CDFI executives and their customers, tribal leaders, federal officials, members of Congress, investors, and philanthropists, highlighting issues, innovation, and real-world impact across Native economies.
The Difference Makers 3.0 trailer is now available. Episode one drops next Thursday, wherever podcasts are available.
