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Kansas Health Foundation Backs Indigenous Futures Fund With $3 Million Commitment
The commitment to the Indigenous Futures Fund, managed by Mission Driven Finance, moves flexible capital to businesses and projects building economic opportunity across four Kansas Tribes.
SAN DIEGO, CA / WICHITA, KS—TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15—The Kansas Health Foundation has committed $3 million to the Indigenous Futures Fund, which supports Native entrepreneurs, tribal enterprises, and projects serving Indian Country. Kansas is home to four sovereign Tribes: the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas, the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, and the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska. The commitment includes early support for a solar microgrid project expected to bring stable power to more than 100 households on Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska land, and moves the fund toward its $20 million goal for capital deployed into Tribal communities.
Kansas Health Foundation seeks to improve the health of all Kansans and eliminate health disparities. Through its impact investing, KHF is focused on the upward mobility of Kansans, especially those from low- to moderate-income communities. Beyond specifically investing in healthcare, the Foundation invests in social determinants of health such as quality jobs, housing, food systems, and broadband infrastructure.
"If we want to improve health in Kansas, we have to tackle the economic factors that drive it. Our commitment to the Indigenous Futures Fund puts resources directly with the four sovereign Tribes of our state,” said Ed O’Malley, President and CEO of the Kansas Health Foundation. “Investing directly in sovereignty, job creation and essential energy infrastructure is a vital step toward lasting health equity for the four sovereign Nations in our state."
Native entrepreneurs and Tribal enterprises in Kansas are developing the businesses, housing, energy, and jobs their communities want. Capital hasn't always moved as quickly to Native entrepreneurs and Tribal enterprises as it does elsewhere and the Indigenous Futures Fund was built to close that gap.
"Good businesses and projects shouldn't have to wait for capital because of where they're based or who leads them. Native entrepreneurs and Tribal enterprises across Kansas are already building what their communities need. Our job is to make sure the capital shows up to match that ambition, and to make it easy for other funders to move alongside us," said Ted Piccolo, senior director of Indigenous Futures Fund at Mission Driven Finance.
The Indigenous Futures Fund is managed by Mission Driven Finance and finances businesses and projects across Indian Country through flexible, inclusive loans, working alongside a network of Native CDFI partners and public funding programs. The commitment from Kansas Health Foundation will make capital available to Tribal enterprises and projects serving the four Kansas Tribes and other Native Kansans. The capital is restricted to Kansas and to the four Tribes the program serves. That focus keeps decisions close to the communities that will benefit from them.
How other funders can get involved
Mission Driven Finance welcomes conversations with foundations, family offices, and other mission-aligned funders interested in this work. Each new commitment advances projects already underway in Kansas communities.
To learn more, contact Ted Piccolo at ted@missiondrivenfinance.com
About Mission Driven Finance
Mission Driven Finance is an impact asset management firm dedicated to building a financial system that ensures good businesses have access to sufficient, affordable capital. Built from the ground up with a single purpose—to make it easy to invest in your community—all of their funds and structured products are designed to close financial gaps that will close opportunity gaps. Mission Driven Finance was launched in 2016 in San Diego, CA, and is a Certified B Corporation.
About the Kansas Health Foundation
The Kansas Health Foundation (KHF) is a nonprofit organization based in Wichita but statewide in its focus. At KHF, all our work centers on our mission: to improve the health of all Kansans. As part of our strategic framework, developed by our staff and board of directors, KHF also strives to accomplish three primary purposes: empower Kansas to lead the nation in health; eliminate the inequities that create health disparities; and, for KHF to become THE model for philanthropic impact.
Media contact
Damien Williamson, Senior Manager of Marketing and Communications, Mission Driven Finance.
Disclosure: The experiences of Kansas Health Foundation, a note holder, are shared above. No compensation was provided in connection with the experiences or statements shared.