Walking Beside Our Relatives
Honoring Roxanny Ines’ Year of Leadership at Mni Sota Fund
Story by Lucie Skjefte
At Mni Sota Fund, we believe that financial wellness is more than numbers on paper — it’s about restoring balance, reclaiming power, and rebuilding the systems that sustain our people for generations to come.
For Roxanny Ines Armendariz, who joined our team in October 2024 as Director of Financial Wellness, that belief has guided every conversation, every workshop, and every moment of connection with the families we serve. Over the past year, she has led with heart and purpose — completing more than 242 hours of workshops, walking beside over 400 clients, and helping them see that financial freedom is not out of reach. It’s already within them.
“When we bring funding like this into our organization, we’re not just growing programs — we’re creating jobs, building skills, and keeping the flow of wealth in our own communities,” Roxanny said. “That’s the true meaning of economic sovereignty.”
Building Trust,
One Story at a Time
Roxanny approaches financial wellness as an act of relational care — not a transaction, but a journey.
“Every client’s story is different,” she shared. “Some come to us ready to buy a home. Others are struggling with debt or trying to rebuild after hardship. Our job isn’t to tell them what wealth should look like — it’s to honor what wealth means to them and walk beside them as they define it.” She’s witnessed clients triumph over fear and step into confidence. Renters becoming homeowners. Families paying off debt. Young people saving for the first time. And through it all, she reminds them that fear is part of the process.
Innovation Rooted
in Culture
Within her first year, Roxanny is also preparing to launch a new Volunteer Income Tax Clinic, in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Revenue. This innovation closes financial gaps and aims to recruit and train American Indian tax preparers to serve their own communities.
“We’re training and empowering our people to become financial leaders,” she explained. “When you see someone from your community leading these efforts, it changes everything. That’s how we reclaim our power — through each other.”
Looking ahead and thinking big, she envisions mini Financial Wellness Centers across Mni Sota Makoce — on reservations, in community centers, and wherever families gather.
“I want our services to be where the people are,” she said. “Financial wellness should live in our neighborhoods, in our language, in our daily lives.”
“The community has been ready,” she said with a smile. “We just have to keep showing up — together.”
“You can call me a director, a coach, an educator, or a facilitator,” Roxanny said. “Whatever it is, I just love sharing good information with people. You don’t need a degree to understand money — you just need humility and the willingness to share what you’ve learned.”
A Journey of Service and Belonging
Roxanny didn’t set out to become a financial counselor.
She found her calling in community.
“I didn’t know what a nonprofit was when I first started,” she laughed. “But once I saw how we could change people’s lives through housing and financial support — I was in. I wanted to be part of something that creates real change.”
When she discovered Mni Sota Fund — a Native-led community development financial institution — she recognized a movement that mirrored her own values.
“Everything about Mni Sota Fund is rooted in mission,” she said. “It’s about building Indigenous wealth, not just in homes or savings accounts, but in confidence, in belonging, and in hope. I wanted to be part of that legacy.”
In her first year, Roxanny’s leadership helped deepen our commitment to that legacy, especially as Mni Sota Fund was awarded funding from Minnesota Housing and the Minnesota Homeownership Center through the Homeownership Education, Counseling, and Training (HECAT) Funds. This new partnership expands our ability to offer homeownership education, financial coaching, and foreclosure prevention, while creating job opportunities that keep wealth circulating in our Native communities.
“That fear of failing, of not being ready — it never goes away,” she said. “But at Mni Sota Fund, we walk with you through that fear. We don’t stand above you. We stand beside you.”
A Year of Gratitude
and Growth
When asked what she learned in her first year as a director, Roxanny pauses. “I’ve always been a coach,” she says quietly. “This year, I learned to lead not just with skill, but with heart. I was scared at first, but I learned to trust myself, the mission, and the community.” For those who know her, Roxanny’s leadership shows more than growth—it shows how she lives our values of humility, honesty, courage, and love. “Every workshop, loan, and person who comes in helps us give the land back,” she says. “Helping families out of bad loans or into their own homes restores what was always meant to be theirs.”
A Legacy in Motion
Roxanny reminds us that building Indigenous wealth is not just about money — it’s about relationship, trust, and the unshakable belief that our people deserve to thrive. At Mni Sota Fund, her work continues to inspire a movement rooted in love for community, guided by the wisdom of our ancestors, and built for the next seven generations.
