Maria Valandra is using her position at First Interstate Bank to improve housing conditions and economic opportunities on reservations in Montana.
Valandra is vice president of community development. Her job is to ensure that the bank is meeting the needs of its Indian clients and is investing in the community.
Valandra says tribes are making changes that will help more Indians become homeowners. The Crow Tribe passed a law that allows banks to make conventional loans on trust lands.
Valandra grew up in Montana and is a member of the Nekaneet Band of the Cree Nation from Saskatchewan.
Get the Story:
Reinvesting in community: Valandra networks for change on reservations
(The Billings Gazette 11/8)
Housing, economies a priority for Native woman
Monday, November 8, 2004
Trending in News
1 Tribes rush to respond to new coronavirus emergency created by Trump administration
2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'
2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'