The Rural Communities Assistance Partnership (RCAP), WaterOperator.org’s principal collaborative partner, has been providing technical assistance to America’s rural communities for 50 years. Today, we chat with RCAP CEO Olga Morales-Pate about the challenges of ensuring the sustainability of rural communities, what it means to be a technical assistance provider, and why passion is the most important part of the job.
Topics Discussed
- Meet Olga Morales-Pate: LinkedIn
- Olga’s Water Hero: All the water protectors in small communities
- 50 years of RCAP
- The necessity of building sustainable rural communities
- What it means to be a TAP
- Why TAPs need passion above all else
- Water and sanitation access in colonias communities at the US-Mexico border
- Olga’s big picture vision for RCAP
- RCAP on Social Media
“What else do communities need to become sustainable? Every community has a different definition of sustainability, and it looks different for everybody.”
Olga Morales-Pate
Go Further
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About the Guest
Olga Morales-Pate is an accomplished and experienced leader on environmental justice and rural community development issues. She became CEO of RCAP in October 2022 after spending 19 years at RCAC, the western RCAP. While at RCAC, Olga managed an annual portfolio of nearly $10 million in grants and contracts, developed and led RCAC’s regionalization work, and authored legislation that established the New Mexico Colonias Infrastructure Fund. She has also served on the EPA’s National Drinking Water Advisory Council, where she led advisory efforts on issues such as climate change, hydraulic fracturing, carbon sequestration, harmful algal blooms, and more. Olga has two degrees from New Mexico State University: a BS in Agricultural Science and an MA in Agricultural and Extension Education Services. She is a self-described workaholic who loves nothing more than working on a good construction project.