THE POWER OF INFRASTRUCTURE TO ACHIEVE INDIVIDUAL POTENTIAL

Maria Echaveste serves as director of the board of Cadiz, Inc. She is a scholar with a distinguished career as a community leader, public policy advisor, lecturer, senior White House official, and attorney. She is presently President and CEO of the Opportunity Institute, a non-profit working to increase economic and social mobility focused on equity for the most vulnerable communities.

Cadiz, Inc. is a publicly-held natural resources company that owns 70 square miles of property and water resources in Southern California. Since the 1980s they have operated an agricultural development in the Cadiz Valley of eastern San Bernardino County, California and are presently focused on partnering with public water agencies to implement the Cadiz Water Project, which will create a new water supply for approximately 100,000 Southern California families and make available up to 1 million acre-feet of new groundwater storage capacity.

We asked Maria a few questions to learn more about infrastructure and some of the work she is focusing on:

How would you define infrastructure and why is it so important today?

I think of infrastructure as the skeleton of society. A human being could not walk if it did not have this invisible to the eye skeleton. Public infrastructure is just the same. It addresses and provides services and goods that allow society to function, ideally to prosper and better yet for more communities to advance. Think of water, roads, garbage removal, electricity, infrastructure that are essential for ouor society to functiono. But now more than ever we also know how important infrastructure such as broadband is. It’s the things you do not notice except when they do not exist.

Is infrastructure important for communities’ economic and social mobility?

An example of infrastructure necessary for economic and social mobility is the creation of public universities and public education. The growth of this infrastructure on the human capital side is seen in many states such as California. It is public and essential for Latinos because we represent a growing part of society and the economy. Those of Hispanic descent are really the future of workforce, given the median age of this population. No one group will really be the majority in the future, but we really need to think of our collective needs and see as priorities those things that help our entire society so that each individual achieves their potential.

What are your thoughts on the improvement of diversity in work today?

A lot has improved, and I think it has to do with the demographic changes in our youth. It really wasn’t until the 60’s and 70’s that we saw an increase in Hispanics oobtaining a college education. So, the numbers are improving in part because we have a greater number of diverse and educaterd people. Our greatest challenge in achieving equitable representation around those tables of decision making is really strengthening our social capital networks. We’re doing better and frankly the internet age facilitates learning about other people but still there are times when I speak to young people in grade school and high school and they still see certain careers as a stretch. Either earning a a PH.D. degree, becoming a judge or a CEO of a major company seems impossible. We need to mentor, invest in social capital and we need to help each other out.

Can you tell us more about your role in Cadiz, Inc. and its current Cadiz Water Project initative?

This coming summer it’ll be two years since I joined as a Director of the Board with Cadiz. My role as a director involves adivising and approving the strategic direction of the company. I just took role of chair of the Governance Committee which includes looking for new candidates for the board. As a director, I also review management performance and pay attention to financials.

BENEFITS OF THE CADIZ WATER PROJECT

SUSTAINABLE WATER SUPPLY

The Cadiz Water Project will create a new water supply for up to 400,000 people across the region every year for the next 50 years.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

The Cadiz Water Project will contribute $878 million to the San Bernardino County economy and create nearly 3,000 jobs in phase 1.

WATER CONSERVATION

The Cadiz Water Project will conserve approximately 500 billion gallons of fresh water over the 50 year life of the Project.

IMPROVE WATER QUALITY

The Cadiz Water Project will realize nearly $400 million in savings to regional ratepayers over the 50-year life of the Project due to better water quality.

DESERT PROTECTION

The Cadiz Water Project is an environmentally safe project that has been reviewed and approved in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

As a southern California based, local water supply, Project water will be transported shorter distances, reducing energy usage and lowering costs.

I have served on several of nonprofit boards including CARE, which had a budget of $500 million a year so applying that experience to a private sector company is in many ways not different. I think the only difference is what the ultimate mission is. I have found it very useful to have had those other experiences.

Having Cadiz able to provide water in a time of scarcity in a state such as California is a core goal of the organization. One of the reasons I joined Cadiz was because I have worked on agriculture issues. California is facing a drought this year. The chair of the board once said to me, “Is it possible for a private company to be a good steward of a public good?” The truth is that Cadiz has the values of understanding that water is a public good. Government can’t do everything. You need the private sector. I believe in private and public partnership. I think there are things that government does better than the private sector and frankly that involves regulation. Corporations’ first responsibility is to their shareholders and while some corporations may want to engage in more sustainable activity, if they try to do it alone, it will hurt them in the market place against their competitors. Therefore, you need government to set the rules so that everyone plays by the same rules. With this, those companies with innovation and better management will flourish from a playing field that has guardrails.

What keeps you motivated and inspired today in order to keep going?

I have optimism. My motivation comes from the fact that I truly know what my life might have been had I not obtained an education. I know that because I have female cousins slightly younger than I am from a small village in Mexico and I just know what my life would’ve been.

In my current work, I continue to expand opportunity. I’m particularly excited right now because this disruption caused by the pandemic, the impact of the movement for racial justice and now investments from the government in both human and physical infrastructure is a real opportunity for transformation. That would be so beneficial to all Americans but particular to the younger Latino community who is really the future of the American workforce.

"WE NEED TO THINK AS A COLLECTIVE AND SEE THE PRIORITES THAT HELPS THE ENTIRE SOCIETY SO THAT EACH INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVES THEIR POTENTIAL."