A Financial Statement

Cory Blankenship ’06 eyed leadership growing up in the Qualla Boundary of western North Carolina as a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. His great-grandfather was elected chairman of the Tribal Council. Blankenship’s grandfather, Bob Blankenship ’60, also served on Tribal Council six terms, and two of those he was chairman.

But after a role as a grants compliance officer, the younger Blankenship discovered it was finance, not politics, that would take him to a leadership position in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. He first served as the tribe’s secretary of treasury for six years before working as a community investment officer at Dogwood Health Trust in western North Carolina. Blankenship is now taking that business acumen national as executive director of the nonprofit NAFOA, founded as the Native American Finance Officers Association.

“We want to be the trusted adviser in Indian Country,” says Blankenship, a former Park Scholar at NC State.

Blankenship, 39, works nationally with tribes to introduce policies and initiatives that enable them to become more economically sovereign. That entails looking at economic drivers, reshaping education and retooling the workforce. He tailors his approach to each tribe’s unique needs. “We have 180 member tribes at NAFOA,” he says. So he asks, “What’s important to you as a California tribe? As a Montana tribe? As a Michigan tribe?”

If one tribe can’t do an economic development project on their own, what are the opportunities for us to join forces and really lift all the boats to lift everyone up?

Founded in 1982, NAFOA has worked on issues like getting tribes named as accredited investors, something that was absent for many years, limiting their ability to invest in private equity (the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission didn’t include the word “tribe” in their rules for being a recognized investor). With growing attendance the past few years, Blankenship appreciates NAFOA’s annual conference, where players from around the country gather to share ideas on topics like how to build sovereign wealth funds.

“There’s a real spirit across Indian Country of ‘How do we create these partnerships?’:  If one tribe can’t do an economic development project on their own, what are the opportunities for us to join forces and really lift all the boats to lift everyone up?” Blankenship asks.

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