First Nations Development Institute Partners with the Office of the Special Trustee to Provide Financial Training to Indian Trust Beneficiaries
The Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) Field Operations, in partnership with First Nations Development Institute, conducted a train the trainer session at the National Indian Program Training Center to prepare Fiduciary Trust Officers (FTOs) to provide financial literacy training to trust beneficiaries throughout Indian Country. On May 11-15, twelve OST Fiduciary Trust Officers participated in a week-long training session that featured the Building Native Communities: Investing for the Future and the Financial Skills for Families curricula. Passing the certification examination qualified the FTOs to provide financial skills training to beneficiaries in the communities they serve. 
"The training taken by 12 of our FTOs is being leveraged because they become the trainers for our other FTOs," said Acting Special Trustee Donna Erwin. "We envision a network of financial literacy training that can reach every beneficiary throughout Indian Country."
With an emphasis on budgeting, investing and planning for the future, financial literacy gives beneficiaries the tools to grow and manage personal wealth. Training sessions will be supported by tribes and other community organizations committed to supporting economic development and financial literacy in Indian Country. The training sessions will be offered to all Indian trust beneficiaries, including high school students, who will be encouraged to take the training. "Outreach to youth is an important component because every day minors come of age and must have the knowledge to manage their trust assets," explained Deputy Special Trustee for Field Operations Doug Lords.
As often as possible, the FTOs will coordinate these training efforts with First Nations Development Institute trainers that have been trained to provide these services to Indian communities. FTOs have partnered with First Nations Development Institute in previous training sessions in the Great Plains region and are preparing to offer these events throughout Indian Country in the future. A joint training session with First Nations Development Institute was recently conducted at Eastern Cherokee in North Carolina, and other joint trainings are being scheduled for locations in the Great Plains, Northwest, Rocky Mountain and Navajo regions during the summer.
First Nations Development Institute, through a strategy of education, advocacy and capitalization, works to strengthen American Indian economies, and has created financial training materials suitable for individuals at all levels of experience with cultural and traditional components designed specifically for Indian Country.
For more information, please call OST's Trust Beneficiary Call Center (TBCC), toll free, at 1-888-678-6836. The TBCC operates six days a week-Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to noon, Mountain Time.
To learn more about other collaborations between OST and First Nations, click here.
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The mission of First Nations Development Institute is to strengthen American Indian economies, and we believe that when armed with the appropriate resources, Native peoples hold the capacity and ingenuity to ensure the sustainable, economic, spiritual and cultural well-being of their communities.
The mission of OST is to perform our fiduciary trust responsibilities to American Indian tribes, individual Indians and Alaska Natives by incorporating a beneficiary focus and beneficiary participation while providing effective, competent stewardship and management of trust assets.
