The History of Lakota Funds

In the 1980s, a group of visionary community leaders assembled and realized that in order to break the cycle of poverty on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, they needed to focus on the key roadblocks to economic development:

  • Access to capital

  • Access to technical assistance

  • Access to business networks

  • Access to infrastructure

With assistance from Oglala Lakota College and First Nations Development Institute, Lakota Funds was established in 1986 as the first Native American Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and began working to break through these roadblocks.

Starting out as a microlender modeled after the Circle Banking Project in Bangladesh, we began little by little helping entrepreneurs on the Pine Ridge Reservation realize their dreams through $500 loans. At this time, there were only two Native American-owned businesses on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Eighty-five percent of our clients never had a checking or savings account; seventy-five percent never had a loan; and ninety-five percent had no business experience.

Lakota Funds Today

It’s been nearly 40 years since Lakota Funds broke ground as the country’s first Native Community Development Financial Institution–with a vision centered on breaking the cycle of generational poverty on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Since our first days of operation in 1986, we’ve been able to create real shifts in our local economy by providing access to the capital and financial services healthy communities need to flourish.

Today, Lakota Funds continues to play a vital role in improving life for the Oglala Lakota people by placing capital with new and growing businesses on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Our loan portfolio now exceeds $4 million and our maximum loan size has grown to $300,000.

Since 1986, we have:

  • Deployed over 1,250 business loans totaling over $25 million

  • Helped establish or expand nearly 1,000 businesses

  • Created nearly 2,200 permanent jobs

While many of our accomplishments may seem great, Lakota Funds has only begun our journey to transform the economic landscape on the Pine Ridge Reservation. As our organization grows, we continually evaluate and improve our products and services to meet the needs of our target market. Lending remains at the core of our program offering, but we take a holistic approach to economic development by also focusing on a wide range of asset-building strategies.