The news broke last week about Zach Ducheneaux's new appointment as the USDA's Administrator of the Farm Service Agency. Zach was Akiptan's Board Chair and a key part in the founding of Akiptan. This new appointment will require him to leave the Board of Directors and we will miss his vision and passion for Native agriculture finance.
Akiptan is excited to welcome Tomie Peterson to the Board of Directors to fill his vacancy.
Tomie grew up and currently resides on a cattle ranch near Parade, SD. Tomie is a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. She is a graduate of Black Hills State University and joined the Intertribal Agriculture Council from Dacotah Bank in Mobridge, where she was an Agriculture Banker. In this setting, she developed a trained eye for Ag Lending and Finance. She served as Intertribal Agriculture Council's Great Plains Region Technical Assistant advocating on behalf of Tribal producers for fair and equitable financing, functional access to USDA programming, and innovative business structures. She has moved positions to the Assistant Director of IAC's American Indian Foods Program. In her new capacity she works with American Indian and Alaskan Native owned businesses to provide export education and technical assistance in order to facilitate access into domestic and international markets. Tomie enjoys working in the Ag industry helping producers succeed and looks forward to assisting producers across Indian Country.
Welcome aboard, Tomie!