Building Native Communities

Building Native Communities: Financial Skills for Families

Lack of information about personal finance and credit is a serious issue for Native communities. In response, the Fannie Mae Foundation and First Nations Development Institute created Building Native Communities: Financial Skills for Families, a financial literacy curriculum developed specifically for American Indian families. The curriculum is a unique tool to help Native people build on their own knowledge and develop personal financial skills while embracing Native traditions and values.

Building Native Communities: Financial Skills for Families includes an instructor's guide and participant workbooks that will enable any educator to help Native American families strengthen their personal financial skills. The curriculum provides 18 hours of training, including sessions on Building a Healthy Economy, Developing a Spending Plan, Working with Checking and Savings Accounts, Understanding Credit and Your Credit Reports, and How to Access Credit.

Dedicated to promoting economic understanding and personal financial literacy among Native people, Building Native Communities: Financial Skills for Families teaches Native Americans financial skills that help them make informed financial decisions for themselves, their families and their communities.

To download individual sessions of the instructor's guide, please click on the following links:

Table of Contents
Session I: Building a Healthy Economy
Session II: Developing a Spending Plan
Session III: Working with Checking and Savings Accounts
Session IV: Understanding Credit and Your Credit Report
Session V: Accessing Credit, Part I
Session VI: Accessing Credit, Part II
Appendices: Glossary of Terms, Certificate of Completion, and Curriculum Evaluation