(Fort Washakie, WY) – The Wells Fargo Foundation recently announced nearly $11 million in grants to 28 organizations across six states as part of its Invest Native program. This amount includes $50,000 to the Wind River Development Fund, which is in addition to the $500,000 awarded to them back in June.
Invest Native is a $20 million philanthropic initiative by Wells Fargo to strengthen housing access and affordability, small business growth and sustainability in Native communities.
Launched earlier this year, the Invest Native initiative is a two‑year program focused on collaborating with Native organizations and communities in Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. It is designed to support a more equitable and prosperous future for Native Americans and builds on Wells Fargo’s history of philanthropic endeavors with Native American communities.
“Invest Native is about empowering Native‑led organizations and enabling them to build more resilient communities for future generations,” said Otis Rolley, president of the Wells Fargo Foundation. “We are excited to announce this latest round of grant‑making as part of our long‑term commitment to helping Native communities build economic stability and independence.”
The program supports Native‑led and Native‑serving organizations, including community development financial institutions (CDFIs), nonprofits, Tribally Designated Housing Entities (TDHEs), and Native collaboratives, which comprise two or more organizations working together to achieve common goals within the six‑state territory. Within this round of grants, five organizations are located in Arizona, six in Montana, eight in New Mexico, two in North Dakota, six in South Dakota, and one in Wyoming.
Four Native‑led coalitions were awarded $4.8 million in grants to further their programs. Three coalitions—South Dakota Native Homeownership Coalition, Tribal Homeownership Coalition of the Southwest and Montana Native Homeownership Coalition—are addressing housing access and affordability. Mountain | Plains Regional Native CDFI Coalition will use its grant to support small business growth.
Wells Fargo is working with Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise) and its Native‑led and experienced Tribal Nations team to provide thought leadership and strategic guidance, technical assistance and training, peer convening, and program evaluation to maximize the impact of this multi‑year effort.
“Enterprise is proud to continue our long‑standing work as an intermediary with Native communities to grow capacity and build solutions,” said Tonya Plummer, director of Native American housing programs at Enterprise. “We’re thrilled and encouraged to support Wells Fargo as they forge ahead in supporting collaborative, creative, resilient Native‑led work.”
Invest Native is intended to be a two‑year effort through the end of 2024, and builds on the company’s five‑year, $50 million commitment to address American Indian and Alaska Native communities’ unique economic, social and environmental needs, which launched in 2017 and was completed in 2022.
To learn more about Invest Native and the philanthropic impact on Native‑led organizations and the communities they serve, please visit Wells Fargo’s Native Communities website and for a full list of grant recipients, visit Enterprise Community Partners.