First Nations Financial Project was founded in 1980 in
Fredericksburg, Virginia, by
Rebecca Adamson. In 1991 it was renamed as First Nations Development Institute. First Nations Development Institute's methods seek answers from within Native American communities as opposed to imposing solutions from the outside. First Nations Development Institute's projects "build on a tribe's unique culture and resources at hand to work toward a more stable economic future." Interviewed for the Fredericksburg, Virginia,
Free-Lance Star in 1995, Adamson said: "I want to show the brilliance, the creativity, the efficacy of Indian people." In 1985, First Nations Development Institute and the
Oglala Lakota College helped to support the creation of Lakota Funds, the first Native American
Community Development Financial Institution on a reservation. The Oweesta Program was created in 1986 as a model of a
Community Development Financial Institution in Native American communities. First Nations Development Institute is its parent organization. The Tribal Commerce and Enterprise Management Program (TCEMP), which provided support for Native American students to pursue graduate degrees in business, was launched in 1985 at
Yale University's School of Organization and Management. In 1991 it moved to
University of Minnesota's
Carlson School of Management. In 1994 to 1995 First Nations Development Institute continued to expand is work in reservation economies through the Eagle Staff Fund. First Peoples Worldwide was founded in 1997 as a project of First Nations Development Institute. In 2001, First Nations Development Institute and the
Fannie Mae Foundation, released the
Building Native Communities: Financial Skills for Families, a jointly developed, culturally relevant curriculum on building financial skills. The Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative (NAFSI) was launched in 2002, with funding support from the
W.K. Kellogg Foundation. It was intended to assess food systems in tribal communities. In 2002,
Rebecca Adamson wrote an
opinion piece criticizing the use of Native American mascots by professional, university, and lower school sports teams. Michael E. Roberts rejoined First Nations in 2003 and was named president of First Nations Development Institute in 2005. In 2006, First Nations Development Institute moved its headquarters from Virginia to Longmont, Colorado.
The Native American Asset Watch: Rethinking Asset-Building in Indian Country report was published in 2009 to report on who controls the assets of tribal communities and the implications for their economies. The first Native Food Sovereignty Summit was co-hosted in 2013 by First Nations Development Institute, Intertribal Agriculture Council, the
Oneida Nation, and
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. First Nations Development Institute's 35th Anniversary and the 20th Annual L.E.A.D.(Leadership, Entrepreneurial and Apprenticeship Development) Conference were held in 2015. In 2016, Raymond Foxworth wrote an
opinion piece in response to a
Washington Post poll that found the great majority of Native Americans were not offended by the Washington Redskins name. First Nations Development Institute and Echo Hawk Consulting received funding from the
W.K. Kellogg Foundation for ''Reclaiming Native Truth: A Project to Dispel America's Myths and Misconceptions''. In 2017,
GuideStar gave First Nations Development Institute a Platinum Participant rating. In 2017,
BBB Wise Giving Alliance featured Michael Roberts, First Nations Development Institute President and CEO, on their BBB's Give.org Building Trust Series
YouTube channel. In 2022,
Charity Navigator gave First Nations Development Institute a 4-star rating, for the 11th year in a row. == References ==