Director, Indigenous Futures

About Mission Driven Finance

Learn more about us, our why, and our opportunities on our jobs page.

Mission Driven Finance uses finance as a tool for change. We’re all about mobilizing capital that will increase inclusive and equitable access to education, health, and wealth and there are a lot of awesome things happening to achieve our mission. As our fully remote/distributed team continues to rapidly expand, we’re always looking for ways (and people!) to help us stay on track.

Who should apply

Mission Driven Finance is at a fascinating growth point, expanding to support more impact funds and projects around the country with the operational excellence their communities deserve.

We believe in vibrant Indigenous Futures and are expanding our commitment to making them reality. This area of work includes leading the Tribal strategy and solutions for the Initiative for Inclusive Entrepreneurship public-private collaboration, supporting the launch of community-rooted funds such as the ‘Aina Aloha Economy Fund with Hawai’i Investment Ready and the Matriarch Revolutionary Fund, and developing fund governance models that build community power.

As a leader of Indigenous Futures for Mission Driven Finance, your primary role is to develop, own, and implement an intentional strategy for all Mission Driven Finance’s work with Indigenous communities. You will lead and/or support existing and future Indigenous initiatives (in community with a network of Indigenous-led partners), with the ultimate goal of driving more restorative investments into Indigenous communities.

You thrive in fostering partnership and building relationships, and believe in the importance of centering power in the community to mobilize the right resources in the right ways. You have experience working alongside Indigenous communities to design programs, and preferably programs focused on making capital available to these communities through fund or fund-like structures. You are a true facilitator; the type of person who defines what success looks like, understands how to position opportunities to a wide range of stakeholders, and coalesces a team to execute on a vision. Advancing Indigenous Futures brings you an overwhelming sense of joy.

As a rapidly growing enterprise, we are looking for exceptional people that will continually expand their role in our company and our community. We believe in strength through diversity and expect all of our team to bring their lived experiences to our work. Everything we do comes from a community-first perspective and everybody on our team is values-driven in both work and life.

This position is remote. Our team is distributed across the US and mostly works remote.

Primary responsibilities

You will work closely with our Chief Community Officer and VP of Capital Initiatives. As a key member of the Capital Initiatives team, you will be responsible for leading the organizational strategy for Indigenous Futures, leading the development of Indigenous partnerships, and supporting the broader MDF team with design, fundraising, and delivery of Indigenous capital initiatives.

Indigenous Futures Organizational Strategy & Leadership

• Develop, own, and implement an intentional organizational strategy for expanding our platform to serve Indigenous communities, including:
• Define our approach to source and launch capital initiatives that can increase the flow of capital to Indigenous communities
• Identify high-potential partners and investable opportunities that Mission Driven Finance is well positioned to support or launch
• Co-create approaches to governance that preserve power in community and sovereignty for Indigenous capital initiatives
• Build, grow, and manage the Indigenous Futures team as our scope of activities expands

Develop and Own Indigenous Partnerships

• Create a strategy for partnering with a network of Indigenous-led organizations to support Mission Driven Finance’s delivery of active Indigenous capital initiatives and fund vehicles
• Establish formal partnerships across a network of Indigenous capital & deployment partners, training and technical assistance partners, Tribal leaders, and advocacy partners

Support the Design, Fundraising, and Delivery of Indigenous Capital Initiatives

• Serve as the point person for Mission Driven Finance’s role leading the Indigenous strategy and execution for the Initiative for Inclusive Entrepreneurship (IIE), a $100M initiative that aims to accelerate philanthropic and private capital investments into Indigenous-led capital initiatives alongside federal funding programs
• Support teams working to build and deliver on funds investing in Indigenous communities through partnership development, dealflow sourcing, and guidance on inclusive underwriting
• Current relevant MDF funds include the ‘Aina Aloha Economy Fund, Matriarch Revolutionary Fund, and Advance New Mexico (an investment fund focused on socially and economically disadvantaged individual-owned businesses in New Mexico)

Qualifications

Desired values, qualifications & skills

An ideal candidate will value:

• Our mission to build a better financial system
• Developing solutions from a team perspective
• Ability to take initiative and work semi-independently
• Balancing work quality with efficiency and productivity
• Our culture of humor, flexibility, and resilience

And have a background and skills that include:

• 5-7 years of experience working relevant roles within the financial services, fundraising, and/or social impact fields
• Demonstrated experience working directly with Indigenous communities
• Strong attention to detail with an eye to continuous process improvement
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to communicate and facilitate effectively, and with a high level of professionalism, to both internal and external audiences
• Ability to be adaptable and responsive in an evolving startup environment with competing priorities and deadlines
• Excellent planning, organizational, and time management skills
• Strong comfort with, and demonstrated ability to learn, technology tools, such as Google Workspace, Microsoft Suite, project management systems (Asana), and communication systems (Slack)
• Ability to travel 10-15% of the time to visit partners in person

Preference for candidates that also have one or more of the following:

• Experience working in Indigenous-focused investment firms or the broader impact investment industry
• Exposure to, or deep interest in, (impact) investing; this might include experience working directly with nonprofits, social enterprises, philanthropic endeavors or investment firms
• Fluency in another language beyond English
• Lived experience in Indigenous communities
• Lived experience in our target investment communities, such as BIPOC, New American, veteran, and other overlooked and underestimated communities

Compensation

This is a Director role with an annual salary range of $100,000 – $136,500 per year based on your unique skills and experience.

This position includes company standard benefits:

• Generous time off plan along with 10 paid holidays
• Remote and flexible work schedule and environment
• 401k retirement plan with 4% employer match
• Monthly stipend for work from home expenses
• Access to health/dental/vision plan
• Participation in company incentive program(s)
• Up to $500 annually towards professional development