EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – One of the first things John Beckham did when he joined the North American Development Bank was to travel the border and ask community leaders what their biggest challenge was.

“I was thinking it would be water availability, and it was. But the challenge today is to train certified operators, make sure the infrastructure works and we’re delivering the water quality we need to deliver,” said Beckham, the managing director for NADBank. “It became clear we need human capital as well as physical capital and infrastructure.”

That led to the development of Skills for Sustainability, a partnership with the Organization of American States’ The Trust for the Americas and local sponsors. In the past year and a half, the program has trained and channeled some 200 at

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