Native Economic and Financial Education Empowerment (NEFEE)

The Native Economic and Financial Education Empowerment (NEFEE) program is a Federal Reserve System effort led by the St. Louis Fed to reach a historically underserved population with economic and financial education. We support the prosperity of Native nations by providing economic and financial education in partnership with Native partners and other Federal Reserve banks who offer economic and financial education programming.

Supporting financial and economic well-being

The Native Economic and Financial Education Empowerment program combines the public service mission of the Federal Reserve, its commitment to serving underserved populations, and its expertise in economic education. Since 2018, we have provided economic and personal finance education for tribal nations and Native communities and organizations throughout the country.

We believe economic and personal finance knowledge helps foster resilient and healthy individuals, families and communities. We respect the unique challenges that tribal nations face as sovereign governments to enhance the financial well-being of their people.

Our core work includes partnering with tribal nations to provide economic and financial education programming to their members and citizens. We offer in-person and virtual programming for Native educators; develop economics and personal finance curricula for use in classrooms and youth programs; and conduct research to measure the efficacy of our programs.

Strengthening access to economic and personal finance education

We are dedicated to increasing opportunities for members of Native communities to develop financial skills, especially for Native youth. Investing in education for youth can have significant returns. Not only can it benefit individual young people and their families, it can also help develop youth to be future leaders and contributors to their communities by preparing them to make important financial decisions.

We believe greater access to economic and financial education helps advance a more inclusive economy for all.

We have extensive experience in teaching economics, personal finance, curricula development and conducting outreach to underserved communities. We provide high-quality resources and professional development to improve instruction. Our resources and professional development programming are all free.

Empowering one generation after another

In its work with tribal nations and Native communities and organizations, NEFEE incorporates personal finance and economic education into a broad array of programs across generations, including programs for:

• Early childhood education
• Secondary education
• Reservation schools
• Youth employment
• College readiness
• Higher education
• Workforce development
• Housing
• Social services
• Elder services

Honoring culture and language

We acknowledge the importance of language and culture in education and value opportunities to highlight them to better engage Native students and foster a more inclusive learning environment. We partner with tribal nations to incorporate their Native language and culture within curricula in a variety of formats.

Contact us for more information

Megan Cruz leads the NEFEE outreach effort.

Contact us at NEFEE@stls.frb.org.

Megan Cruz

Central Bank Network for Indigenous Inclusion

The Federal Reserve Board announced on Oct. 13, 2021, that it joined the Central Bank Network for Indigenous Inclusion, which fosters ongoing dialogue, research and education to raise awareness of economic and financial issues and opportunities for Indigenous economies.

The Board’s participation is supported by the Native Economic and Financial Education Empowerment (NEFEE) program at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the Center for Indian Country Development at the Federal Reserve of Minneapolis. Along with Indigenous partners, the network is a collaboration with Te Pūtea Matua (the Reserve Bank of New Zealand), the Bank of Canada and the Reserve Bank of Australia.