Funding What Works: Raven Outcomes and the Future of Indigenous-Led Finance
Thursday, September 3, 2026
10-11AM PDT • 1-2PM EDT • 2-3PM ADT
Jeff Cyr
Founder & Managing Partner
Raven Outcomes
Allison Gibson
Chief of Staff,
New Power Labs
About the session
Jeff Cyr, Raven Outcomes Fund’s Founder and Managing Partner, sits down for a candid conversation with Allison Gibson, New Power Labs' Chief of Staff, about how this first-of-its-kind fund is unlocking capital for Indigenous communities at a moment when investors elsewhere are pulling back.
The Raven Indigenous Outcomes Fund invests in Indigenous-led projects in housing, healthcare, and clean energy, with communities in control. Private and philanthropic investors fund the project upfront. The community leads the design and delivery, with outcomes defined from the start. Independent experts track progress, and the government repays investors when those outcomes are achieved.
Raven's first completed Community-Driven Outcomes Contract delivered 124 home upgrades for Fisher River and Peguis First Nations, creating $7.6 million in verified social, economic, and environmental outcomes value, of which CMHC and Efficiency Manitoba purchased $5.1 million.
Jeff will walk through the fund's early bets, the hard lessons, and what it's taking to raise a $50 million fund that enables Indigenous leaders to design, build, and deliver solutions to solve issues in their communities by engaging investors, governments, and funders.
About the speakers
Jeff Cyr, Founder & Managing Partner, Raven Indigenous Outcomes Fund
Julia is a placemaker and builder of community-based social infrastructure, integrating social, physical, and financial platforms for community benefit, working primarily in the non-profit sector. As the founder of the non-profit organization 10C Shared Space, Julia manages a $2.75 million real-estate-backed community bond that financed its 2016 expansion, engaged 150 community investors, now generates over $ 100,000 in annual local returns, and has driven a 17-fold organizational growth. Building on this, 10C launched Harvest Impact, a community-based fund that invests in food, farm, and environmental entrepreneurs with a focus on the circular economy. Julia is passionate about community wealth building, social entrepreneurship, the economies of place, and seeks to demonstrate the potential of social finance and social enterprise through locally and nationally relevant changemaking projects.
Allison Gibson, Chief of Staff, New Power Labs
Allison Gibson is an award-winning entrepreneur and champion for social capital. She leverages her fundraising expertise to help founders access values-aligned funding and is passionate about demystifying venture capital for diverse founders. Allison also works with investors and funding programs to integrate impact into their investment thesis and processes, with the goal of shifting more capital toward under-represented entrepreneurs and communities.