Introducing Kole and Lakota!

Akiptan is excited to introduce you to the newest members of our staff and board:

Kole Fitzpatrick was recently hired on as a Loan Officer and joins two other staff on our lending team. He is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe and grew up on his family ranch near Browning, Montana. In 2007, Kole received his business degree from the University of Montana and brings several years of experience working with Native ag producers to our growing organization. Kole continues to operate his cow calf operation on the Blackfeet Reservation alongside his family and looks forward to serving our clients in the Montana and Wyoming region.

Lakota Vogel is the newest Member our Board of Directors. Lakota is the Executive Director at Four Bands Community Fund, a nonprofit community loan fund that has been serving the Cheyenne River Reservation for over 20 years. Lakota is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology and obtained her Master’s in Social Work Degree from Washington University in St. Louis with the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies. Lakota brings with her a vast knowledge of the community development finance sector as well as years of experience in successfully operating a nonprofit organization.