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Our People

At RCAP, our team is a vibrant mix of people from all walks of life — engineers and educators, advocates and community organizers, dreamers and doers — united by a shared mission to strengthen rural communities. From small towns and tribal lands to agricultural regions and coastal villages, our staff reflect the places they serve: resilient, resourceful, and deeply committed to creating opportunity where it’s needed most.

Together, we bring a mosaic of backgrounds, skills, and perspectives to the table — because we know that lasting solutions come from listening, learning, and working side by side.

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Olga Morales-Pate

Chief Executive Officer

Olga Morales-Pate, an accomplished and experienced leader on rural community development issues, became CEO of RCAP in October 2022, after spending 19 years at RCAC, the western RCAP. As RCAC’s Assistant Director of Community and Environmental Programs, she led a team of 48 and managed an annual portfolio of nearly $10 million in grants and contracts. Olga also developed and led RCAC’s regionalization work and authored legislation that established the New Mexico Colonias Infrastructure Fund which has secured $144.6 million for 263 infrastructure projects since 2011. She also served on the EPA’s National Drinking Water Advisory Council (NDWAC) as an appointee of President George W. Bush, where she established strong working relationships with the agency while leading advisory efforts on issues such as climate change, hydraulic fracturing, carbon sequestration, and harmful algae blooms and cyanotoxins among others.

Team Members

Lauren Caudle, Meeting & Events Planner

Andrea Chavez, Administrative Assistant

Emily Christ, Senior DCS Engineer

Katherine Coviello, Communications & Events Specialist

Gregorio Esparsen, Data & Impact Senior Specialist

Lisa Fought, Director of Capacity Development and Outreach

David Fredenburgh, Chief Financial & Administrative Officer

Coye Gerald, Communications Manager

Owen Griffith, Senior Development Coordinator

Scott Harmon, Sr. Training & Technical Services Specialist

Victoria Harrington, Research Associate

Kaitlin Harris, Senior Environmental Programs Specialist

Jennifer Hazard, Director of Community Programs

Jodi Hilsabeck, Senior Environmental Program Coordinator – EFC

Hunter Jackman, Senior Data & Public Policy Specialist

Ami Keiffer, Associate Director of Strategic Programs

Shayna Kernen, Senior Program Specialist

Laura Landes, Associate Director of Research & Data

Andrew Nordbye, Senior Environmental Programs Specialist

Vicki Perry, Senior Training & Technical Services Specialist

Amy Renner, Community Development Senior Program Manager

Lena Schlichting, Senior Research Specialist

Sherry Schmidt, Senior Training & Technical Services Specialist

Grace Blue Spitzer, Data and Impact Specialist

Yosief Tecle, Senior Accounting Specialist

Kellea Evans-Weygand, Finance Manager

Board Members

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Suzanne Anarde

Rural Community Assistance Corporation

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Margaret Bowman

Bowman Environmental Consulting

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Albert Cho

Xylem, Inc.

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Hope Cupit

Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project

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Billy Hix

Cherokee Nation

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Ruthann House

Past President on the Executive Committee, Great Lakes Community Action Partnership

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Christopher Jewett

Chief Executive Officer, Midwest Assistance Program

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Jerry Kenney

T.L.L. Temple Foundation

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Rick Martinez

RCAP Board President, The Apricot Tree Consulting

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George McGraw

DigDeep

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Ines Polonius

RCAP Board Secretary/Treasurer, Communities Unlimited

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Brian Scales

RCAP Board Vice President, RCAP Solutions

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Jessi Snyder

Self-Help Enterprises