Akiptan worked with a total of five youth interns this summer; two with Akiptan and three with Native agriculture partner organizations throughout Indian country. Akiptan knows the importance of supporting the youth agriculture stewards and has created programming to help the youth build on their financial literacy and workplace skills.This summer our Senior Program Officer, Dawn E. LeBeau visited with Ms. Kinzee Peterson.
Kinzee is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe where she resides on her family's ranch near Parade, SD. She just finished her first year of college at Black Hills State University where she is studying Business Management. Kinzee was excited to learn more about the financial side of Native Agriculture and worked primarily in the data research arena, client services and developed a business plan while studying Akiptan’s Introducing Native Agriculture: A Guide for Young Entrepreneurs. Kinzee will return to college this Fall and work towards her Business Management degree. The team at Akiptan was thrilled to have worked alongside her.
(Photo submitted by Kinzee Peterson)
Why did you apply for the Akiptan Summer Internship?
I applied because I wanted to learn more about the business side of agriculture. During the internship, I learned a lot about Native CDFI’s across the country and I learned a lot about data, specifically Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and how those details help Akiptan get more funding, which then helps producers and then help the overall system of the Native agriculture industry.
What was one of the most important things you learned during your internship this summer?
One of the most important things that I learned is that according to the 2023 Akiptan Market Study, there are 43 billion dollars of unmet needs in Native agriculture financing. It's inspiring to see producers do better and to be able to help them reach their goals because being a rancher means that there are endless goals and daily tasks to accomplish, with so many moving parts. So I learned about the importance of a producer's financials and how this should be a main focus of their operation.
What is the biggest challenge you faced in learning more about Native CDFIs?
I learned that there is not enough funding available. I would also say that the younger generations could use more education around financial literacy and the summer internship uniquely provides this education. I think there could be more detail in the cash flow sheets and balance sheets for the youth because they show the health of your finances in your businesses.
Why do you feel that Native CDFI’s matter?
I feel that CDFI’s matter because they help Native communities by increasing access to credit and financial services. And I didn’t know what these were before I started working at Akiptan. I noticed that the hard work that Skya does to get the funding needed was important and that the program side was important as well. I didn’t know that all of the programs at Akiptan were offered and I think it’s good that these are available to producers.
How will the skills you learned help you in your future career?
The skills that I gained while in this internship were probably the public speaking that I was encouraged to do while I was traveling to the agriculture and data conferences during the internship. These skills will help me in college and my future career. I also learned about everything that goes into working in the office, such as organization, and communication, and I got a good base of who I am and what Akiptan does.
Are there any other things that you would like to offer that I didn’t ask?
I was grateful for the opportunity to travel while doing this internship, it was cool to see the students in Native agriculture, and while in Minneapolis, at the data meetings, it was nice to be around all of the other diverse companies and to see how data plays a big role in all the companies, even though they differ in what they offer to their clients.
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