The Indian Land Capital Company is a Native-owned, Certified Native Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) providing alternative loan options to Native Nations for tribal land acquisition and economic development projects. ILCC is owned by the nonprofit the Indian Land Tenure Foundation. As a Native-owned and operated business, ILCC understands the unique needs of Native Nations and creates customized, flexible loan packages that suit the specific needs of the tribe and the unique circumstances of the purchase. Working with the Indian Land Tenure Foundation, ILCC also provides technical assistance to tribes as they develop and execute land acquisition strategies.
Mission
- To help Native nations recover, manage and gain jurisdiction over 90 million acres of alienated tribal land.
- To eliminate “checkerboarding” (mixed patterns of land ownership and jurisdictions) on Indian reservations
- To strengthen tribal communities and sovereignty
Leadership
The Indian Land Capital Company staff and board of directors bring years of combined experience working in financing in Indian Country to the operation and management of ILCC. The leadership has experience in banking and finance, business and housing development, as well as working with Indian lands. Our collective understanding of tribes, community development finance, and tribal land issues helps ILCC design financing that can meet the specific needs of Indian nations.
Board of Directors
Remembering Elouise Cobell (1946 – 2011)
Elouise Cobell (Blackfeet) was vice president of the ILCC board of directors from its inception in 2005 until her passing in October 2011. Cobell was executive director of the Native American Community Development Corporation, chairperson of the Native American Bank, NA, and board member of the Board of Investments of the State of Montana. Cobell, who was a highly respected and active leader in Indian Country, served on many other boards and in leadership positions throughout her lifetime. She became a nationally recognized figure when she sued the U.S. Department of the Interior for the mismanagement of trust funds on behalf of approximately 500,000 Individual Indian Money (IIM) account holders.
Throughout her career in banking and finance, and later, as lead plaintiff in the Cobell v. Salazar class action lawsuit, Cobell remained committed to helping Indian people understand and manage their own assets and finances so that they could improve their own economic conditions. On Nov. 16, 2016, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Ms. Cobell with the country’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
David Tovey, Board Chair – Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
David Tovey (Umatilla) is the Executive Director of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation’s Nixyáawii Community Financial Services, a developing Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), and former executive director for the Tribes. He has also served in top executive roles with the Siletz Tribal Business Corporation, Cayuse Technologies, the Coquille Indian Tribe, and the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Economic Development Corporation (ATNI-EDC). Tovey sits on the board of the Native CDFI Network and the Oregon Historic Trails Fund Advisory Committee. He spent the majority of his early career with the Umatilla Tribes as economic development director and executive director during their period of dramatic growth throughout the 1990’s, and was named Oregon’s Economic Development Leader of the Year by former Governor John Kitzhaber.
Howard D. Valandra, Vice Chair – President, Indian Land Tenure Foundation
Howard D. Valandra (Sicangu Lakota), an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, returned to Indian Land Tenure Foundation in 2025 to serve as President, having previously served as Vice President of Grants and Programs from 2002–2009. A graduate of St. Francis Mission and the University of South Dakota, Howard brings decades of experience in banking, business development, tribal land management, and philanthropy. He has held leadership roles with Tribal Land Enterprises, the Northwest Area Foundation, and the Department of the Interior’s Office of Special Trustee for American Indians. Most recently, he served as a Senior Consultant with Jorja and Partners, advising tribes on strategic planning, land use, and economic development.
Zach Ducheneaux, Board Member
Zach Ducheneaux was the 3rd generation to manage the family ranch on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. Being a child of the Farm Crisis of the 1980’s has influenced his professional work. Beginning as a farm advocate with the Intertribal Agriculture Council, and most recently serving in the Biden-Harris Administration as the Administrator of the Farm Service Agency, he has focused on improving and reforming the finance industry for Agriculture. He now resides on the family ranch, helping out where he can with the horses and cattle, and fulfilling “Lala” (Lakota for grampa) duties, as he works to build a company to improve agriculture finance for all producers.
Randy Emm, Board Member – Coordinator of Native Programs
Randall Emm is a member of the Yerington Paiute Tribe in Western Nevada, and has lived his entire life on the Walker River Paiute Indian Reservation. Emm serves as Coordinator of Native Programs for the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension program. He is also a self-employed farmer and rancher, who has managed and operated a large feeder operation and a custom foraging business, and owns a herd of registered Black Angus Cattle. Emm formerly managed the Tribe’s livestock and farm operations and worked as an economic planner for the Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada, as well as serving on numerous boards and commissions in Nevada. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Nevada-Reno.
Sayer Jones, Board Member – Business Consultant and Certified Public Accountant
Sayer Jones is an independent business consultant in Portland, Oregon supporting mission-aligned foundations and families as they look to repatriate assets from the global financial system and put them back to work in their areas of focus. He is a financial generalist with vast experience in innovative impact investing and aligning capital with purpose. His passions include affordable housing, regional investing and rural communities. Jones previously served for 12 years with the Meyer Memorial Trust, an equity-based trust, where he was the Director of Mission-related Investing. Prior to that he was a senior accountant at Moss Adams LLP. Jones earned his Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Southern Oregon University and completed the Executive Education program at the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Wharton School of Business. Jones has extensive volunteer and philanthropic experience in the Portland community primarily in the areas of socially responsible investing and affordable housing.
Jay Marcus, Board Member – Director of New York City Programs, NCB Capital Impact
Jay Marcus works with nonprofit and government agencies to increase the production of affordable and mixed income cooperative and condominium housing and to preserve expiring tax credit projects. Previously, he served as deputy executive director of San Jose Redevelopment Agency, the largest redevelopment agency in California, where he oversaw the Strong Neighborhoods Initiatives and Neighborhood Business District programs as well as the redevelopment of a prime-shopping district and the addition of several residential neighborhoods into the redevelopment area. Marcus also served as the director of Housing Initiatives for the Enterprise Community Partners, a national nonprofit financial and technical assistance intermediary, where he initiated and supervised Enterprise efforts in Los Angeles, Charleston S.C., and on tribal lands. Marcus is also a member of the NACDC board of directors.
Cris Stainbrook, Chief Executive Officer
Cris Stainbrook (Oglala Lakota) has served as the chair of ILCC’s board of directors since its inception in 2005. Stainbrook has worked in philanthropy for more than 25 years and was the president of Indian Land Tenure Foundation, a national organization that assists Indian nations and people with land acquisition and management, since 2002. Prior to his career in philanthropy, which included serving as Senior Program Officer at Northwest Area Foundation for 13 years, Stainbrook worked with a number of Pacific Northwest tribes and Alaska Native villages to develop businesses and manage their natural resources. He also directly participated in the creation and development of several tribal businesses, including a multi-million dollar retail gas and oil company.
D’Arcy Bordeaux, Chief Operating Officer
D’Arcy Bordeaux (Sicangu Lakota) has served as Accountant and Human Resources Director at the Indian Land Tenure Foundation since 2003. He oversees financial operations, HR, and IT systems for the organization. Prior to joining ILTF, he was General Manager of the Rosebud Casino and Finance Manager at Tribal Land Enterprise. Bordeaux holds an associate’s degree in accounting from Haskell Indian Nations University and has a background in banking and finance.