My job is to bring as much capital as possible to American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities. These investments help change agents build new health care, education, infrastructure, housing and other developments in their communities. If you want to know specifically how Travois can help you structure your investments, attract capital, design buildings and manage your developments, call or email me any time.
We see value where other people don’t. We identify leaders in local communities who have a vision. We support those leaders as they build consensus around that vision. Once the community gets behind the idea, we provide the capital and technical assistance required to make it a reality. Then we bring in outside investors and show them what you and I already know — that when Indian Country communities come together, there is nothing they can’t accomplish.
After the deal has closed, the doors are open, and the celebration has quieted down, we remain right next to those local leaders. We continue on the journey helping that specific development to succeed while keeping an eye on the horizon for what comes next.
Every day in this job, I find myself relying on the great education I was so blessed to receive. I use my bachelor’s degree in English from Wake Forest University as I write for the Travois blog. I use my master’s degree in public administration from the University of Missouri-Kansas City as I work with various levels of tribal and federal government to move projects forward. I use my executive certificate in negotiation from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government every day as I try to get Elizabeth’s and my three kids fed, brushed, dressed, combed and off to school on time.
Then I settle into my desk here at Travois and do what I love to do: listen to Indian Country’s most dynamic community economic development professionals talk about their vision for the future. Then we work together to make it a reality.
Last winter my 5-year-old son, Zeke, and I stayed with some friends in Omaha. He could have thrown a rock in the Missouri River from the balcony of their condo. Last weekend, Zeke and I were standing on the banks of the same river in our hometown of Kansas City.
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A few times a year, we get a version of this question on our “contact us” form: “Can I use the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) with the (fill in the blank) loan guarantee program?”
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Information is a valuable resource. Lenders, investors, lawyers and community leaders just gained access to a rich deposit of it. Last week, the Native Nations Institute released the “Access to Credit and Capital in Native Communities” report.
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Indian Country’s economic future depends, in large part, on the strength of its national organizations. Anyone who attended NAFOA’s 34th Annual Conference at the beautiful Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa knows that future looks very bright.
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From the first conference we attended, to joining the organization as a corporate partner, through this past week at the 34th Annual Conference, we continue to be impressed with NAFOA. We are proud to be associated with such a strong, dedicated organization.
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As a landlocked son of the Midwest, I am anything but a surfer. But even a Kansas City boy has heard of the famous “pipeline”— the surfing mecca found on Oahu’s North Shore.
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Amid the ongoing battles between the White House and Capitol Hill, it’s sometimes difficult to know what to make of a presidential budget. Some people will dismiss the document out of hand as politically impossible.
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This is our last time looking back on 2015.
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Is climate change the gravest threat the world has ever faced or the greatest business opportunity of the 21st century? Both, it appears.
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When it comes to New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs), you and I know that Indian Country has the safest projects with the strongest impacts. Leaders in American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities are serving the lowest incomes with the highest needs by creating jobs and opportunities.
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