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Modernized Community Reinvestment Act and Indian Country

A conversation on what the updated regulations mean for Native communities

November 28, 2023 | 12:00 – 1:15 p.m. CT
Virtual video event

Modernized Community Reinvestment Act and Indian Country

We invite you to join us November 28 for a conversation about recent updates to the regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and how Indian Country could benefit. The event will feature key leaders from the Center for Indian Country Development (CICD) at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Speakers will provide an overview of the updated regulations and changes that encourage bank activities in Native Land Areas (NLAs). The event will also offer an opportunity to explore ways tribal governments, federally insured banks, and other entities serving NLAs can take advantage of these new opportunities.

Last month the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved a once-in-a-generation update of the regulations governing how they implement the CRA, a federal law that requires banking regulators to encourage banks to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they do business, including low- and moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods. The modernized CRA reflects feedback from Indian Country stakeholders and includes—for the first time—unique provisions to help address the credit needs of Native lands.

CICD played a role in engaging stakeholder input on proposed CRA updates, partnering with national Native organizations to host Indian Country-specific webinars and listening sessions and encourage comment on proposed changes.

We hope you’ll be part of this important conversation.

Speakers include:

  • Michael S. Barr, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
  • Karin Bearss, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
  • Ted Howard (Shoshone-Paiute), Duck Valley Shoshone-Paiute Tribes (retired)
  • Andrew Huff (Chippewa Cree Tribe), CICD, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
  • Matt Lambert, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
  • Casey Lozar (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes), CICD, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
  • Alene Tchourumoff, Community Development and CICD, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Event Details

Virtual video event

Event Agenda

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

12:00 p.m. – 12:01 p.m. CT

Welcome

Speaker: Alene Tchourumoff, Community Development and CICD, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

12:01 p.m. – 12:03 p.m. CT

Blessing

Speaker: Ted Howard (Shoshone-Paiute), Duck Valley Shoshone-Paiute Tribes (retired)

12:03 p.m. – 12:05 p.m. CT

Opening Remarks and Introduction

Speaker: Alene Tchourumoff, Community Development and CICD, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

12:05 p.m. – 12:15 p.m. CT

Serving Indian Country with the Modernized Community Reinvestment Act

Speaker: Michael S. Barr, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

12:15 p.m. – 12:20 p.m. CT

Transition and Panel Introduction

Speaker: Casey Lozar (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes), CICD, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

12:20 p.m. – 12:40 p.m. CT

Part I: What is the Community Reinvestment Act to Indian Country and What Changed

Moderator: Casey Lozar (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes), CICD, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Presenters:

  • Andrew Huff (Chippewa Cree Tribe), CICD, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
  • Matt Lambert, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
  • Karin Bearss, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
12:40 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. CT

Part II: Moderated Conversation on the Updated Community Reinvestment Act

Moderator: Casey Lozar (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes), CICD, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Presenters:

  • Matt Lambert, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
  • Andrew Huff (Chippewa Cree Tribe), CICD, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
  • Karin Bearss, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
1:00 p.m. – 1:10 p.m. CT

Part III: Audience Q&A

Moderator: Casey Lozar (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes), CICD, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

1:10 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. CT

Closing Remarks and Thank You

Speaker: Casey Lozar (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes), CICD, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis


Additional Resources


Presenter Information

Michael S. Barr

Michael S. Barr Vice Chair for Supervision, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Michael S. Barr took office as the Vice Chair for Supervision of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on July 19, 2022, for a four-year term. He also serves as a member of the Board of Governors for an unexpired term ending January 31, 2032.

Prior to his appointment to the Board, Mr. Barr was the Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, the Frank Murphy Collegiate Professor of Public Policy, the Roy F. and Jean Humphrey Proffitt Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, and the founder and faculty director of the University of Michigan’s Center on Finance, Law & Policy. At the University of Michigan Law School, Mr. Barr taught financial regulation and international finance and co-founded the International Transactions Clinic and the Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project.

Mr. Barr served as the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s assistant secretary for financial institutions, 2009–2010. Under President William J. Clinton, he served as the Treasury Secretary’s special assistant, as deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury, as special adviser to the President, and as a special adviser and counselor on the policy planning staff at the U.S. Department of State.

Additionally, Mr. Barr served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter during October Term 1993, and previously to the Honorable Pierre N. Leval, then of the Southern District of New York.

Mr. Barr received a B.A. in history from Yale University, an M.Phil. in international relations from Oxford University, and a J.D. from Yale Law School.

Karin Bearss

Karin Bearss Vice President, Supervision, Regulation, and Credit, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

As the head of the Consumer Affairs section, Karin Bearss has responsibility for consumer compliance supervision of district state member banks. She participates in a number of consumer compliance-related Federal Reserve System initiatives, including serving on the advisory board for its Consumer Compliance Outlook publication.

Bearss began her career at the Bank as a consumer compliance examiner and held a variety of positions within Consumer Affairs before being promoted to her leadership responsibility in 2011.

She holds a B.A. in journalism and political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School.

Ted Howard

Ted Howard Shoshone-Paiute
Former Chairman, Duck Valley Shoshone-Paiute Tribes

Ted Howard was elected chairman of the Duck Valley Shoshone-Paiute Tribes in 2017 and retired in 2021 after serving the Duck Valley reservation community for more than 25 years, including two decades as the tribe’s director of cultural resources.

Chairman Howard is a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War who served two tours in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. He is a certified pilot and has been flying for nearly three decades, using his plane to survey and protect remote Shoshone-Paiute cultural sites in Nevada and Idaho. He has also served his community for decades as a ceremonial Sun Dance chief. He has extensive cultural and spiritual knowledge of traditional Shoshone and Paiute ways and speaks both languages fluently.

Andrew Huff

Andrew Huff Chippewa Cree Tribe
Senior Policy Analyst and Legal Advisor, CICD, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Andrew Huff is the senior policy and legal advisor to CICD. Over the course of his legal career, he has served in a variety of positions, including as a tribal judge for the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation; as chief legal counsel to Governor Steve Bullock of Montana (2013–2017); and as an assistant attorney general for the Montana Department of Justice (2010–2012). He graduated from Harvard in 1991 and the University of Colorado School of Law in 1999.

Huff is Cree and an enrolled member of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation of north-central Montana. He lives in Helena, Montana.

Matt Lambert

Matt Lambert Senior Supervisory Analyst, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Matt Lambert is a senior supervisory analyst in the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Policy section at the Federal Reserve Board, where he helped modernize the regulations implementing the CRA. Lambert was previously part of the Board’s Community Development team, where he focused on foreclosure prevention and community revitalization after the 2008 recession.

Prior to joining the Federal Reserve System, he worked at the National Governors Association and the Brookings Institution. He holds a master’s degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, and a bachelor’s degree from Macalester College.

Casey Lozar

Casey Lozar Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
Director, CICD; Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Casey Lozar is a vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and director of CICD, a research and policy institute that works to advance the economic self-determination and prosperity of Native nations and Indigenous communities. Before assuming leadership of CICD, he was assistant vice president/outreach executive in the Bank’s department of Public Affairs, and the leader of our Helena Branch.

Prior to joining the Minneapolis Fed in 2018, Lozar served in economic development and higher education roles for the State of Montana. Additionally, he held executive leadership positions in national Native American nonprofits, including the American Indian College Fund and the Notah Begay III Foundation.

He received degrees from Dartmouth College and Harvard University and an MBA from the University of Colorado-Denver. He serves on the Montana Board of Regents of Higher Education (past chair).

Lozar is the 2021 recipient of the Janet L. Yellen Award for Excellence in Community Development and a 2022 recipient of the Honorary Leadership Award from the Native American Finance Officers Association.

A Montana native, he was raised on the Flathead Indian Reservation and is an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

Alene Tchourumoff

Alene Tchourumoff Senior Vice President, Community Development and CICD, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Alene Tchourumoff, senior vice president of Community Development and CICD, leads the Bank’s engagement with communities throughout the Ninth District to promote economic opportunity for low- and moderate-income people and those living in Indian Country. Key focus areas include early childhood development and affordable housing.

Prior to joining the Bank in December 2018, Tchourumoff served as chair of Minnesota’s Metropolitan Council, where she built strong partnerships with local governments and community groups to advance transit, housing, and other critical infrastructure. Previously, she served as Minnesota’s first state rail director, led Hennepin County Public Works’ Planning Department, and worked extensively in China and Southeast Asia on public policy and public health initiatives—including combating HIV/AIDS in China and Vietnam.

Tchourumoff holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from George Washington University School of Business and a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

She was named a 2020 Women in Business honoree by the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal and is a member of the Minnesota State Attorney General’s task force dedicated to improving women’s economic security.

Partners

Presented by the Center for Indian Country Development at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, with the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, Indian Gaming Association, NAFOA, National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, National Congress of American Indians, Native CDFI Network, and United South and Eastern Tribes Sovereignty Protection Fund.