In collaboration with First Nations X, a not-for-profit organisation that empowers Indigenous startup businesses, CommBank hosted the First Nations Thought Leadership Breakfast with First Nations guests from the United States. Here, Simone Kenmore – a proud Yankunytjatjara woman and Indigenous Business Banking, Executive Manager, CommBank – discussed First Nations economic development and entrepreneurship with Nicole Johnny, Jaynaya Winmar, Eli Velasquez, Dawn Houle and Eric Henson.

Nicole Johnny: Indigenous-led venture capital

Nicole Johnny, a member of the Navajo Nation, is an Investment Associate with Raven Indigenous Capital Partners, an impact-driven venture capital fund investing in Indigenous and Native American businesses across Canada and the United States.

“Venture equity is new to many Native-owned businesses,” she said. “We see a very small amount of all venture funds in the United States go to Native entrepreneurs and founders, not a lot see themselves reflected in venture. When you're talking about dilution and selling shares, you're teaching a whole new syntax. It's a lot of education.”

In alignment with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, Raven also supports workforce development.

“One of the companies I've been working with, Navajo Power Home, provides residential solar to rural communities on the Navajo Nation that don’t have power,” said Johnny. “That’s huge, because now homes can have washing machines and refrigerators. But we’re also looking at how to grow a Navajo workforce to install and maintain these solar units, then bring on back-office support from a Navajo administration team.”

She said that many Native and Indigenous entrepreneurs also have a different attitude to success and wealth.

“In my own communities, and those around, it's about what you can do to uplift those around you. When we're assessing opportunities, we're asking ourselves whether the business brings good to our community members – not just Indigenous communities, but all communities.”

“When we're assessing opportunities, we're asking ourselves whether the business brings good to our community members – not just Indigenous communities, but all communities.”
- Nicole Johnny, Raven Indigenous Capital Partners

Jaynaya Winmar: the impact of angel investors

Jaynaya Winmar, a proud Noongar/Ballardong woman from Quairading in Western Australia, is a board director of First Nations X. She believes that the concept of economic and generational wealth presents an opportunity to many of Australia's First Nations entrepreneurs.

“When we were growing up, few of the families in my community had generational wealth or even jobs with a regular income,” she said. “In our household, we were talking about bills and debt at the table, not goals and wealth generation. I think we need to change that conversation. I've flipped how I speak or share on my platform to the positive rather than the deficit model. I share a lot of amazing stories and major Indigenous business opportunities that are out there because I want people to see the positive things that are happening in our communities.”

Winmar also spoke about the potential impact of mainstream angel investment on the status of an Indigenous business.

“Someone’s investing in your business, but they're not guaranteed to be an Indigenous person – so what does that mean for your Indigenous business?” she said. “Are you 100% Indigenous-owned now, or does that percentage come down because you've got a non-Indigenous investor? This is important in terms of Indigenous procurement opportunities where you need to tick all the boxes. These conversations are on the table now so we’re looking for investors that look like us and sound like us. We've got companies like the Blak Angels Investment Network, alongside Australian Indigenous businesses, that have come together to create wealth capital funds. This shift has evolved over time, and it's an exciting landscape to be a part of.”

“I share a lot of amazing stories and major Indigenous business opportunities that are out there because I want people to see the positive things that are happening in our communities.”
- Jaynaya Winmar, First Nations X

Eli Velasquez: scaling Latinx companies

Eli Velasquez is the Founder and Managing Partner of Investors of Color and advisor to the Stanford Latino Business Action Network (LBAN).

“LBAN started about ten years ago with the intent to enable Latinx companies to scale,” he said. “In partnership with the Stanford Graduate School of Business they started teaching Hispanic-led companies generating a million dollars or more in revenue to become $500 million- or billion-dollar companies. As part of a nine-week program, graduate school business professors work with companies unable to secure a loan or venture capital, providing the technical assistance they so often lack.”

LBAN also includes a research arm.

“Every year they produce the Stanford State of Latino Entrepreneurship (SOLE) report,” said Velasquez. “This surveys companies across the United States to gauge their economic impact. Over the last several years they've assessed the economic contribution of the Hispanic community at US$3.2 trillion, which would make it the fifth largest economy worldwide. That carries a lot of weight when we're out there advocating for policy initiatives, capital, ecosystem development, mentorship and technical assistance.”

A third component is capital.

“Not all companies are going to be venture backable so we’re trying to bring in different forms of capital,” said Velasquez. “This is not just from banks and lending, but also revenue-based financing, angel and non-dilutive funding. This builds a whole new portfolio of companies that are very attractive to funders like me.”

“Over the last several years they've assessed the economic contribution of the Hispanic community at US $3.6 trillion, which would make it the fifth largest economy worldwide. That carries a lot of weight when we're out there advocating for policy initiatives, capital, ecosystem development, mentorship and technical assistance.”
- Eli Velasquez, Investors of Color

Dawn Houle: Uplifting communities

Dawn is a proud tribal citizen of the Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy, Montana. As President and founder of SunSinger Consulting she helps tribes to build sustainable businesses. She also contributed to the USA Today and Wall Street Journal best-selling book Business Success Secrets: Entrepreneurial Thinking That Works. Prompted by Kenmore to share some of those secrets, she spoke about the importance of supporting Indigenous businesses with consumer buying power.

“I believe everything I do should be uplifting and empowering for our communities,” said Houle. “My makeup line is from an Indigenous company. So are my mortgage and my bank, and I’m working on finding an Indigenous health insurance company. My jewellery is typically all native, and that's a reflection of our culture. If we don't support ourselves, who else will?”

Houle also builds strategic partnerships with corporations and Federal and State agencies. Serving as Policy Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs for President Barack Obama and Chief of Staff for the National Indian Gaming Commission, she helped create 16 new policies and regulations to ensure benefits flow to tribes.

“There's a long history of the government telling tribes what they can and cannot do,” she said. “I was part of a team that asked how do we reverse this anti-Indian, anti-sovereignty, anti-economic development and create a path to prosperity? I love that I continue to do that with the tribes I work with and the companies I'm developing.”

“I believe everything I do should be uplifting and empowering for our communities. My makeup line is from an Indigenous company. So are my mortgage and my bank, and I’m working on finding an Indigenous health insurance company.”
- Dawn Houle, SunSinger Consulting

Eric Henson: Effective economic development

Eric Henson is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation and has been a research fellow with the Harvard Project on Indigenous Governance and Development since 1998. In his role at Harvard, Henson has continuously served as an evaluator for Honoring Nations, an awards program that identifies, evaluates, and honours best practices in tribal governance all across the United States. He is also an Executive Vice President with the economics consulting firm Compass Lexecon. Henson is a primary author of The State of the Native Nations: Conditions under U.S. Policies of Self-Determination. He has provided testimony to the U.S. Congress on several occasions on issues relating to tribal governance and economic development.

Eric Henson's extensive research and experience have led him to identify four pillars essential for effective economic development:

1. Good governance;
2. Efficient government bureaucracy;
3. Robust dispute resolution mechanisms; and
4. Public-minded leadership.

As Native Nations in the U.S. emerged from poverty and desperation, their initial priority was to establish a revenue base that could be allocated according to their priorities. When revenue began to flow, these nations focused on community-based investments such as housing, education, and health services. As resources grew, they diversified their investments and eventually transitioned into philanthropy.

During a recent fireside chat hosted by CommBank, Henson emphasised the importance of these pillars, stating, “If we’ve got the right governing structure, and the infrastructure upon which to build an economy, everything works.” He also highlighted the significance of public-spirited leadership, describing it as “waking up every day thinking about how I can help my people.” Henson’s vision for economic development is ambitious, as he expressed, “I’m going to make the pie so big that everybody has a better life.”

Henson acknowledged that rebuilding nations is a long-term process, but noted that progress is evident on reservation lands. Socioeconomic indicators are catching up with the U.S. average at an accelerating rate and outpacing it in various measurable areas. He also shared a remarkable statistic from 2020, when he and his colleagues estimated that tribal enterprises employed 1.1 million people in the U.S., with 900,000 of those being non-Native. This development, according to Henson, has created allies who are “not just in spirit or philosophy, but actually entwined in economic outcomes”.

“If we've got the right governing structure, and the infrastructure upon which to build an economy, everything works.”
– Eric Henson, Research Fellow, Harvard Project on Indigenous Governance and Development