Fall is here and we are looking forward to participating in upcoming national conferences throughout Indian Country! Look for us at the following events: the Native American Finance Officers Association Fall Finance & Tribal Economies Conference, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) National Convention & Marketplace, and the 2016 International Conference of Indigenous Archives, Libraries and Museums. It will be a busy time over the next few weeks but we hope to see some of you while at these events! 

Welcome from Director Traci Morris

Chukma! Greetings! Welcome to Fall 2016! I can hardly believe it’s fall already, but if there's one thing that is obvious on a university campus it's the start of the fall semester.  While the leaves may not be falling and the air may not be crisp, the air is definitely different with thousands of new students and, well, it’s not 100 degrees at night anymore! That is fall in Tempe, Arizona. Here at AIPI we had an extremely productive summer with two new staff members joining us, several conferences and workshops, a program retreat, and now the launch of the new Tribal Economic Leadership (TEL) Program. 

I am very excited to talk about our new team members.  First, Sasha Pachito (Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians) joins us after eight years at Gila River Indian Community as a Transportation planner; she is the Program Manager of the TEL Program.  Bartley Harris is Saulteaux-Cree from Peguis First Nation, Manitoba and a member of Dakota Plains Wahpeton Oyate. He joins us from a local tribal law firm. As our research/policy analyst, he is writing policy briefs and our legislative analysis, implementing a forthcoming study on broadband connectivity, and will be teaching our Tribal Entrepreneurship for Sustainability class for American Indian Studies and the School of Sustainability in the spring semester of 2017.
 

Over the summer, I was excited to be asked to attend the Broadband 2021 Workshop hosted by the National Science Foundation and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. This invitation-only workshop brought together a diverse set of researchers to address three themes: (1) the advanced broadband technology, (2) programs, services and applications that drive broadband utilization, and (3) assessment of economic, social, and educational impacts in order to develop a national research agenda in order to improve data collection, analysis and research on broadband. I was joined at this workshop by ASU colleague and AIPI Advisory Board member Karen Mossberger, the Director of the School of Public Affairs.
 

Later in June, I also attended the National Congress of American Indian’s Annual Mid-Year Conference in Spokane, Washington.  As always, this event and the other events they host, keep AIPI at the forefront of policy initiatives and activities in Indian Country. We were able to meet with tribal leaders and I participated on the Telecommunications Subcommittee.

 
Also this summer, I attended my first meeting as a board member of the Department of Labor’s Native American Education and Training Council (NAETC).  As a new member, I was honored to be seated on the council with tribal leaders and leaders of tribal colleges.  During our two-day board meeting, we passed a number of resolutions including one in support of the actions of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and one in support of new research by NCAI on workforce development issues.

Finally, this summer we had a Tribal Economic Leadership Program planning retreat with our partners at the Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA) in Tucson, AZ.  This was a very productive two days where we mapped out our joint training offerings and program growth through 2021.  As a result, you’ll see that in addition to our bi-annual Tribal Financial Management Certification Training, we are going to be offering a leadership training entitled Leader-to-Leader (L2L) in the spring of 2017. We’ll be announcing more about that at the upcoming annual NAFOA Fall Finance Conference and on our website in the coming month or so.

 
As you can see, we’ve been busy here at AIPI. Thank you for following along and we hope to see you at one of our trainings or at one of the upcoming conferences this fall. Watch for us to have tables at NAFOA, NCAI, and the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums (ATALM) in September and October.
 
Chokmashki
Traci

 Tribal Economic Leadership Program

Are you interested in the principles of federal Indian law and its effect on tribal financial management? Or perhaps you are interested in the best practices for internal controls and procurement policies? If so, these topics and many others will be covered at the Fall 2016 Tribe Financial Manager Certificate (TFMC) Training. This professional certificate training for tribal government financial management professionals, a component of our Tribal Economic Leadership Program, provides an in-depth background in tribal government finance, Indian law, taxation, and economic development. TFMC attendees can earn up to 20 CPE credits through this training.

Registration for the Fall 2016 TFMC is now open by visiting the ASU Tribal Economic Leadership Program page on our website.

NAFOA's 2016 Fall Finance & Tribal Economies Conference 

The Native American Finance Officers Association’s 2016 Fall Finance & Tribal  Economies Conference will be held at the Sheraton/Le Meridien in Charlotte, NC on September 19-20, 2016. The fall conference is an exclusive opportunity to meet with tribal leaders, influential federal agencies, and accounting professionals to discuss important issues facing Indian Country, including investment strategies, accounting and financial management best practices, new economic development trends, and legislative policies that may affect your tribe.

The two-day conference offers a number of educational sessions and two general sessions made up of industry-leading expert panelists.

The Member Tribe Meeting/Reception will be held on September 18, 2016 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 

For more information, please contact Katie Johnson, Projects and Events Manager at katie@nafoa.org. 

NCAI Hosts 73rd Annual Convention & Marketplace in Phoenix 

 The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) announced they have opened registration for their 73rd Annual Convention & Marketplace which will be held October 9-14 at the Phoenix Convention Center in downtown Phoenix, AZ. This year's theme is "Prosperity through Sovereignty," a reminder that sovereign and independent tribal nations are shaping bright and limitless futures.  Tribal leaders, partner organizations and others will come together during the weeklong event. The Convention At-A-Glance agenda is available on the NCAI website.  

CALENDAR