About Mike

Michael E. Roberts is the President of First Nations Development Institute. Mr. Roberts is of the Tlingit Nation: Gooch/Ch’aak’ naa (Wolf/Eagle Tribe), Kóon Hít (Flicker House), Kooyu Kwáan (Kuiu Island People). His Tlingit name is T’eix Sháach Tsín.

First Nations, headquartered in Longmont, Colorado with offices in Fredericksburg, Virginia, is working to restore Native control and culturally-compatible stewardship of the assets they own – be they land, human potential, cultural heritage, or natural resources – and to establish new assets for ensuring the long-term vitality of Native communities. First Nations does its work through a three-pronged strategy of educating grassroots practitioners, advocating systematic change, and capitalizing Indian communities.

As President, Mr. Roberts is responsible for First Nations’ overall vision and coordination for First Nations’ programmatic, administrative, and grantmaking strategies. He also serves as the lead spokesman for communicating information about First Nations’ projects, programs and models throughout Indian country and the philanthropic community.

Prior to returning to First Nations in 2002, Mr. Roberts spent five years in private equity; most recently he operated his own consulting firm, Camus Consulting in Denver, Colorado where he provided private equity investment advice to high-worth, angel investors. His private equity experience includes providing due diligence, financial analysis, strategic planning and monitoring, and investment recommendations to the Principals and Investment Directors of Meritage Private Equity Fund, a telecommunications-focused, private equity firm with more than $340 million under management. 

Mr. Roberts also spent two years with Kansas City Equity Partners (KCEP), a highly respected Midwest venture capital firm with an emphasis in early-stage investing in information technology and specialty retail, as well as later stage investing in manufacturing businesses. His tenure with KCEP was in conjunction with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s Fellows Program. Concurrent with his role at KCEP, Mr. Roberts participated in this highly selective program designed to build skills for investing in and managing high potential early stage companies.

Prior to becoming a Kauffman Fellow, Mr. Roberts was Chief Operating Officer of First Nations Development Institute where he directed the organization’s day-to-day operations, finance and personnel activities, as well as developed policies for and directed investment of the organization’s endowment. In addition to his administrative and finance duties, he coordinated the organization’s research and policy administration functions, and provided technical assistance to tribes and community groups on issues of business, financial and investment management, economic development and policy formation. 

Mr. Roberts is currently a member of First Nations’ board of directors, is a founding board member and Chairman of First Nations Oweesta Corporation, and serves on the grants review committee of First Nations’ Eagle Staff Fund. He also serves on the Advisory Council of the Center for Native American Public Radio (CNAPR), is on the National Advisory Committee for the National Center for Family Philanthropy, as well as on an Advisory Committee for the Lakota Fund, Indian Country’s first community development financial institution. In addition, Mr. Roberts is a past board member and treasurer of the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO). 

Mr. Roberts’ background includes serving in the accounting and finance departments for various for-profit subsidiaries of Alaska Native corporations, and for local IRA councils. He has taught a graduate business course on venture capital at the MBA program of the Bloch School of Business at the University of Missouri Kansas City, and an undergraduate business course on entrepreneurship at Haskell Indian Nations University. 

Mr. Roberts has an MBA from the University of Washington with an emphasis in finance and operations management and a Bachelor’s of Environmental Design Degree in Architecture from the University of Colorado.