Fort Washakie, WY – The Wind River Development Fund (WRDF) announced today that Emilia Felix will serve as Director of its new project management office. Felix is a certified project management professional with over 20 years of experience. WRDF is a Native Community Development Financial Institution focused on economic development on the Wind River Indian Reservation.

Paul F. Huberty, Executive Director of WRDF, stated, “We are so happy to have Emilia join our team to start our new project management office. With our Recompete award and other significant grants, we now have 13 projects to oversee and manage on the Wind River Indian Reservation. Emilia brings an impressive expertise in the project management field, and she will serve in a critical leadership role on our growing team.”

As Director, Felix will be responsible for establishing and managing the new project management office at the Wind River Development Fund. She will serve in a leadership role to facilitate the implementation of more than $40 million in economic development projects over the next five years, including two major construction projects.

“I am excited to join the Wind River Development Fund team and contribute to impactful economic development,” stated Felix. “It’s an honor to bring my skills to this new project management office and collaborate with the community on projects that will drive growth and opportunity for the Wind River Indian Reservation and the surrounding areas.”

Felix has a bachelor’s degree in organizational and project management, a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in project management, and a project management certification. Most recently, she served as a Senior Project Manager at Colorado Access, bringing over 12 years of experience in the nonprofit sector.

A resident of Littleton, CO, Felix is also the founder of the nonprofit Student Athlete Consortium, which helps to bridge the financial disparity and diversity for competitive student athletes within Colorado.

Fort Washakie, WY – The Wind River Development Fund (WRDF) announced today that Erika Warren-Yarber has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer of the growing organization. Yarber previously served as the Director of Business Development since joining the Fort Washakie-based nonprofit in 2022. WRDF is a Native Community Development Financial Institution focused on economic development on the Wind River Indian Reservation, and in Fremont and Hot Springs counties in Wyoming.

Paul F. Huberty, Executive Director of WRDF, stated that Yarber has been instrumental in the organization’s success over the past year, including the recently awarded $36 million EDA Recompete grant. Huberty commented, “Erika is a strong leader. She contributed to the new vision and strategic direction for the Wind River Development Fund, which not only brought in significant funding for our organization and the Reservation, but also elevated our profile on the national stage. In every conversation, Erika remains a constant advocate for the people in Wind River and she keeps us grounded in our mission and purpose.”

As Chief Operating Officer, Yarber will have leadership responsibility for the organization’s lending program, fundraising, human resources, marketing, and real estate management. Yarber will also have a leadership role in the implementation and execution of WRDF’s strategic projects, including a new 14,400-sq-ft Tribal Buffalo Center at the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative and a new 13,100-sq-ft Tribal Fish and Game complex across from the Fort Washakie hot springs.

Yarber is an enrolled member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe and a descendent of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe. In speaking about the promotion, Yarber said, “I am very humbled and honored. I am optimistic about the opportunities that are being creating through economic development for all of our people. I look forward to what the future will bring. Hahou.”

Yarber serves on the Boards of the Wind River Visitors Council, Wyoming Women’s Business Center, Wind River Community Alliance, and she is the Chair of the Board of Directors for the newly established Sweet Grass Food Lodge on the Reservation. She was accepted into the 2024 class of the Wyoming Leadership Academy, and she was recently invited to speak at the International Economic Development Council’s national conference in Denver and the Just Transition Fund’s national convening in Washington, DC.

Fort Washakie, WY – The Wind River Development Fund (WRDF) announced today that it received a $3 million donation from MacKenzie Scott’s foundation, Yield Giving. The unrestricted donation represents the largest, single philanthropic gift in WRDF’s 23-year history.

The Wind River Development Fund is a Native-led nonprofit located in Fort Washakie, WY. The organization focuses on economic development and supporting entrepreneurs who want to start new businesses or grow their existing businesses. WRDF offers market-competitive loan products, business planning, financial coaching, and homeowners education programs.

“We were so surprised to hear of this amazing gift from Yield Giving,” stated Paul F. Huberty, Executive Director of the Wind River Development Fund. “This gift comes at an exciting inflection point for our organization with the recent announcement that WRDF is one of six organizations in the country to be awarded an EDA Recompete grant.”

In August 2024, the Economic Development Administration announced that the Wind River Development Fund and its four co-applicants will be awarded a $36.1 million Recompete grant to implement economic development projects on the Wind River Indian Reservation. WRDF’s grant is the second largest award among the six Recompete recipients.

Established by MacKenzie Scott to share a financial fortune created through the effort of countless people, Yield Giving is named after a belief in adding value by giving up control. In an essay posted on the Yield Giving website, MacKenzie Scott shared, “I began work to complete my pledge with the belief that my life had yielded two assets that could be of particular value to others: the money these systems helped deliver to me, and a conviction that people who have experience with inequities are the ones best equipped to design solutions.”

Lisa Wagner, WRDF’s Chief Financial Officer, said, “This gift provides us with the additional financial flexibility to implement strategic initiatives on the Reservation. We are very grateful for MacKenzie Scott’s vision and financial support of the Wind River Development Fund.”

Published by The Chronicle of Philanthropy

In an old ranch house that serves as the headquarters of the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative, Jason Baldes greets federal officials and others with doughnuts and coffee. It is his second stop of the day: Early that morning, he drove out to the herd just west of Morton, Wyo., to feed formula to a 3-month-old bison calf whose mother had died.

Baldes, the charity’s executive director and a member of the Eastern Shoshone tribe, has been working to bring back bison since 2006. His goal is to reacquire thousands of acres of private lands within the reservation that were sold long ago so that bison can roam a huge area and be managed as wildlife. He wants his people and the Northern Arapaho tribe with whom they share this land to be able to hunt bison and harvest a traditional and healthier food source than the cattle that predominate on these sagebrush plains. He also hopes to attract tourists driving to Yellowstone and bolster the reservation’s struggling economy.

Hand-feeding the calf didn’t exactly fit the wildlife narrative. But when a film crew from Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom zeroed in on a previous calf feeding a few weeks earlier, Baldes didn’t object.

“Once they found him, he stole the show,” Baldes tells the group of visitors. “If he can raise money to buy land back for us, that’s a pretty good way to have him kick in his fair share.”

In August, Baldes learned that the charity he founded less than two years ago would receive its largest grant yet, $9.8 million from the federal Economic Development Administration, to build a new museum and headquarters here.

Published by WyoFile

It’s no secret the rural 2.2-million-acre Wind River Indian Reservation has received few major economic investments since its establishment a century and a half ago.

Consequences for the communities contained within the tribal land have reverberated for generations: The reservation’s three main small towns — Fort Washakie, Arapahoe and Ethete — are dropping in population, possess few local businesses and lack adequate infrastructure and housing. Poverty rates on the reservation are much higher than in nearby areas, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Home values on the reservation are less than half of broader Fremont County. Around a third of tribal residents lack any health care.

There are few upsides to the somber socioeconomic realities that have long saddled the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes, who despite federal and state theft of their lands, have continued to survive in the region.

Last year, however, the Wind River Development Fund identified one silver lining: The lack of economic vitality made the region eligible for the federal “Recompete” pilot grant program, which targets areas where prime-age (25-54) employment significantly trails the national average.

Fort Washakie, WY – The Wind River Development Fund (WRDF) announced today that it has named Lisa Wagner as its next Chief Financial Officer. WRDF is a non-profit Native Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) providing financial and economic development services on the Wind River Indian Reservation. Wagner is one of the leading consultants in the CDFI industry and she served as the founding Executive Director of WRDF from 2001 to 2009.

Paul F. Huberty, Executive Director of the Wind River Development Fund, commented, “We are so fortunate to have Lisa join our leadership team at this important point in our organization’s evolution. Lisa brings vast knowledge of our industry, an invaluable strategic perspective, and the financial acumen that will further strengthen our organization. As the founding Executive Director of WRDF, Lisa already has an in-depth knowledge of the Wind River Reservation and she has important national connections that will serve our organization and community well.”

Wagner has a Masters of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business and a Bachelors Degree in Economics from the University of Colorado Boulder.

In speaking about the opportunity to formally join the leadership team at WRDF, Wagner said, “It is both an honor and exciting for me to once again be a formal part of helping WRDF strive to make a real difference in the lives of the people of the Wind River Reservation.”

Wagner is a resident of Buffalo, WY and she owns Bluestem Consulting. In addition to her CFO responsibilities at WRDF, she will continue to serve as an independent consultant for the CDFI industry. Wagner will assume her new CFO responsibilities immediately.