RCAP launches leadership development program

The Rural Community Assistance Partnership, Washington, D.C., launched a new national rural water-wastewater leadership development program. The initiative is intended to counteract the consequences of aging professionals and help build the skills of emerging and underrepresented leaders in the water industry.

“As one of the authors of the leadership program, it gives me great satisfaction to have this program elevated to the regional and now national level,” says RCAP CEO Olga Morales-Pate. “Sometimes the most obvious missing infrastructure in our rural communities is the human infrastructure. We need to invest in building and reinforcing that infrastructure to make sure our communities thrive, and it begins with that foundational piece – leadership development. The development of our current and future water leaders is critical to the sustainability of our rural communities.”

The national rural leadership curriculum is being developed based on programs in two of RCAP’s six regions.

In the first year the program will include a workshop to help train more leaders that will then lead workshops in other areas. The workshop will be piloted by RCAP’s Western partner, the Rural Community Assistance Corporation and RCAP’s Great Lakes partner, the Great Lakes Community Action Partnership.

“RCAP is very excited to have the opportunity to take what has been very impactful for many years in a few of our regions and build the internal capacity across our entire network to provide intensive and robust rural water leadership development training to mixed cohorts of water/wastewater system staff and owners across the country to ensure strong leadership in Rural America that is representative of its customer base, and intentionally inclusive with a focus on up-and-coming women and BIPOC leaders,” says Sarah Buck, RCAP chief programs officer.

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