We had a productive month as AIPI and the Native American Finance Officer's Association co-hosted another successful Tribal Financial Manager Certificate training on June 6 - 8. AIPI also launched its inaugural Inno-Nations "First Innovations" Cohort to provide business training and support for tribal small businesses. We would like to extend our thanks to ASU’s Entrepreneurship + Innovation, The Department co-working space, Maricopa County Small Business Development Center and The Visionary Magazine for their assistance in launching a successful first cohort.

Inno-Nations Hosts Inaugural "First Innovations" Cohort

AIPI launched its inaugural Inno-Nations cohort training on June 22 - 24. The Cohort experienced a three day intensive entrepreneurial training for start-up tribal business owners, which will also include a monthly webinars and business counseling for six months to provide on-going business coaching and training for the cohort. The inaugural training was reported by ASU Now, a multimedia reporting entity of Arizona State University, and the article can be viewed, here. 

Inno-Nations is an Initiative of AIPI and provides support to Native business owners and enterprises by building sustainable tribal economies through modernizing traditional trade networks. This three day intensive training was the first time we offered the “First Innovations” cultural competent entrepreneurial curriculum for tribal small business owners.

find out more about Inno-NATIONS by clicking on the logo

AIPI Policy & Research Analyst Attends 2017 Public Safety Broadband Stakeholders Meeting

Last month AIPI Research & Policy Analyst, Brian Howard, attended the 2017 Public Safety Broadband Stakeholder Meeting in San Antonio, TX on June 12 - 14. Hosted by the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, Public Safety Communications Research Division (PSCR), this meeting brought together representatives from public safety, Federal agencies, industry, and academia to be briefed from PSCR engineers on cutting-edge technologies and improvements for public safety communications.

Tribal Financial Management Certificate in its 9th Year

AIPI and NAFOA hosted the Tribal Financial Management Certificate training for practitioners on June 6-8 at the Arizona State University Tempe campus. The summer cohort consisted of 59 finance professionals from 16 states and representing tribal governments, non-profit agencies, and federal, state, and local governments.

The three-day intensive training encompassed a variety of tribal financial management topics from fundamental knowledge such as basic principles of Federal Indian Law that affect tribal finance and government accounting standards to more critical dialogues on self-determination, self-governance, and emerging financial issues in Indian country. The training also highlighted NAFOA's newly released Financial Reporting and Information Guide for Tribal Governments and Enterprises. Also known as the "Orange Book", the updated volume covers the unique operating environment of tribal governments from financial reporting to fiduciary activities to federal tax and information reporting. The Tribal Financial Management Certificate training offered by AIPI and NAFOA is the official training module for the Orange Book.

Participants found great value in the training sessions and the networking opportunities. Although they came from varying levels of professional financial experiences, everyone walked away with new knowledge and a positive experience. On participant commented, "Networking with others who were super skilled and the [variety] of financial topics we were able to cover in 3 days was amazing". Another participant said, "For [me] as a non-native, the introduction to Federal Indian Law was especially helpful in my understanding of why and how tribes operate."

The next Tribal Financial Management Certificate training for practitioners will take place on December 4-6, 2017. Registration will open in August. Please visit the AIPI website for more information.