The Oweesta Corporation is a Colorado-based intermediary for Native American community development financial institutions (CDFIs). Oweesta is the only Native American CDFI intermediary. The Oweesta Corporation is one of the many organizations that received a portion of $1.7 billion from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott in the summer of 2020. Scott made the donation to organizations that benefit racial and gender minorities. ¹

In April 2020, the Oweesta Corporation signed onto an NAACP-led effort to mandate that a large portion of any COVID-19 relief funds be earmarked exclusively for minority-owned businesses and banks. The effort demanded that at least half of any future Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) expansions go to businesses and nonprofits owned by people of color. The release also called on the federal government to give more money to CDFIs owned by people of color. ²

In April 2021, the Oweesta Corporation announced that it was going to become a standalone organization. It formally cut ties with its parent company, the First Nations Development Institute. ³

Background and Advocacy

The Oweesta Corporation was founded in 1999 as a part of the left-of-center First Nations Development Institute. Oweesta was founded in order to serve as an intermediary organization for Native American community development financial institutions. Oweesta provides loans to help provide capital and training for Native American CDFIs and also offers financial education to Native American communities. ⁴

The Oweesta Corporation received an undisclosed amount of money from left-of-center philanthropist MacKenzie Scott between Fall 2019 and July 2020. Scott gave a total of $1.7 billion to various left-of-center nonprofit organizations that work with racial and gender minorities. Scott said in a statement announcing the grants that she wanted to bring awareness to the groups she was supporting and what she called the “transformative work” they were doing. ⁵

In April 2021, the Oweesta Corporation board of directors decided to spin the corporation off as a stand-alone entity. The corporation developed a 2021-2023 strategic plan to continue to expand access to capital for Native Americans and Native American organizations. ³

Oweesta Corporation was one of eight grantees in 2024 that received solar power grants from the Environmental Protection Agency. These grants totaled at least $150 million across the eight groups. Other groups that received these grants included Groundswell Inc, Hope Enterprises Corporation, Clean Energy Fund of Texas, Nevada Clean Energy Fund, the Capital Good Fund, and the Solar Energy Fund of St. Lucie County. ⁶

COVID-19 Relief Push

In April 2020, the corporation signed on a NAACP-led push for COVID-19 relief. The statement that it signed on to called on the federal government to require at least 50% of all funding from any future Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) expansions to go to businesses and nonprofits owned by people of color. ⁷

The NAACP statement also called on Congress to allocate at least $60 billion to community development financial institutions, with an emphasis on CDFIs that are owned by people of color. The letter also called for another $1 billion to be added to the CDFI fund, with at least $833 million allocated to CDFIs owned by people of color. ⁷

Leadership

Chrystel Cornelius is the president and CEO of the Oweesta Corporation. She has over 16 years of experience in Native American economic development, and she founded a community development financial institution in her community. ⁸

Heather Rademacher Taylor is the Chief Operating Officer of Oweesta Corporation. Taylor previously served as a health care policy advisor at the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals and as Communications and Programs Coordinator at Our Native American Business Network.⁹

Robin Danner is the chairwoman of the Oweesta Corporation board. She previously served as the founding CEO of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, executive director of a tribal housing authority in Alaska, and held executive roles in the financial sector. ¹⁰

Finances

According to the Oweesta Corporation’s 2024 tax return, the corporation received $16.3 million in revenue and spent $12.3 million. The group’s net assets amounted to $27.1 million. All of Oweesta Corporation’s grants went to Native American financial institutions. ¹¹

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