OLGA DURAN
Patient Services Director (retired July 2023)
Valley Community Healthcare
Olga Duran has served her community for over 64 years as an educator, cross-cultural specialist, parental advisor, NGO consultant and community representative to civic and county boards. Motivated by her real-life experience as a single parent working three jobs to sustain her family, Duran was determined to address how poverty and adverse environments adversely affect the ability for children to thrive and succeed. She became a catalyst in redirecting parents in the community to better childrearing models while monitoring and overseeing training for staff of the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation Childcare centers located in low-income area throughout the state.
Duran developed culturally sensitive leadership courses, self-esteem workshops
for students in community colleges and universities of Los Angeles County. She also oversaw training programs for women in non-traditional occupations, and developed and implemented successful outreach campaigns and prevention strategies programs for gang members, their siblings. She received the opportunity to oversee a $1.5 million dollar Perinatal Program for Substance Abusing Women and their Children. Her strategies resulted in many women successfully completing the six-month program, regaining custody of their children and obtaining their Chemical Dependency Certification.
In July 2023, after 26 years with Valley Community Healthcare, Duran retired as its patient services director. Always supportive of her community, Duran is already engaged in volunteering with her church, developing a resource infrastructure to support its anticipated growth and needs. She is currently working on a request for support to build transitional housing for homeless and the underserved in the Santa Maria area.