Project
FINRA’s New Distribution Channels for Investor Education
First Nations received a grant from FINRA(Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) to provide financial and investor education to at least 500 individuals over a three-year period by partnering with the Office of Special Trustee (OST) to provide investor education trainings, with an outcome of changing financial awareness, attitudes and behavior. First Nations will also provide financial and investor education to students in Bureau of Indian Education schools. We are also conducting a national social marketing campaign that emphasizes the importance of saving or investing tribal per capita, or trust payment, wisely. The goal of this marketing campaign is to promote changes in financial awareness, attitudes and behavior by developing and disseminating marketing materials to educate community members about financial management and investing.
Learn more about the work that FINRA supports at http://www.finra.org/.
Celebrating the Success of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has created a unique financial education online curriculum that can be modeled in other tribal communities to help American Indian youth learn how to manage financial resources. The impact of the online curriculum has been so successful that the Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA) awarded it the “Financial Literacy Program of the Year” during its annual spring conference in 2011.
NAFOA noted during the award winner’s gathering that economic development is vital to the long-term health and success of a tribe. And, included with the growth of economic development is the financial literacy of tribal members. NAFOA’s “Financial Literacy Program of the Year Award” aims to honor a financial literacy program developed and instituted by a tribe. Kathy Dugan from the Eastern Bank of Cherokee Indians and Shawn Spruce, a financial education consultant for First Nations, were on hand to accept the award.