by Skya Ducheneaux, Akiptan

Akiptan began lending in 2019 and has since committed over $31M in loans to producers and nearly $1M in grants. Additionally, we have created several financial literacy books, tools and resources. Our programmatic side curates programs and initiatives that enhance the impact our direct financing does. Our pipeline of applications is constantly oversubscribed, which speaks to the true testament and value of our products and how we deliver our services. The staff at Akiptan has an impact that goes a mile deep with each producer. The focus on the relational side of lending is crucial to the transformative impact of our capital. It allows us to be proactive rather than reactive, educational, thoughtful and goal oriented.

A core piece of our mission is to change the lending paradigm. We know that this innovative style of financing can be applied to other areas for equally deep success. Our model has been applied to production, processing/value added, and retail and has been extremely successful. We are eager to share our best practices and model with other financial institutions to help carry forward the work.

When it comes to investors working in this space, it is critical to also show up in a partnership role, not a transactional role. Relationships are the core of Native culture. Take time to get to know each other. Be a thought partner who is collaborative, not prescriptive. Indian Country has had “solutions” prescribed to it since colonization; none of that panned out well. It is time for us to have a seat at the table so we can bring our own solutions and dictate what our success story looks like. Just like with the Monopoly board, success looks different to everyone who is playing the game, but with collaboration, innovation and patient capital, we can all succeed.

Read Skya's full article here and check out their video too at- https://greenmoney.com/change-the-lending-paradigm-a-model-of-success-in-native-ag-finance/