Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez serves New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District in the US House of Representatives. The Congresswoman has a unique challenge working for this district because it is largely rural and encompasses a variety of environments, landscapes, and cultures.

Xochitl Campos Biggs is the congresswoman’s District Director and on October 4, 2023, she was the Policy Seminar’s guest speaker. The Policy Seminar has been tasked with a project to help Congresswoman Leger Fernandez assist rural leaders in accessing the resources they need, and Ms. Campos Biggs walked the class through some of these unique needs.

Unsurprisingly, water is an issue for everyone. But in the southeast part of the district, agriculture is one of the top priorities and many of the grants and programs that come out of DC simply will not work for the farmers in southeastern New Mexico. The 3rd Congressional District also holds the majority of New Mexico’s Navajo Nation and the needs of people there are different as well – things like access to clean water, indoor plumbing and electricity are at the top of the list. Clovis, on the opposite side of the state, has other needs like quality healthcare for young families so young people will stay and make their lives there.

One thing almost all of these areas have in common however, is that often in a small community the person taking up the leadership mantle does not have years of experience working with the government in this capacity. They often have little to no staff so the burden of applying for the government grants and programs that their town needs falls to them, and applying for and maintaining these grants is not a small undertaking. Many of these communities feel very left out by the lawmakers and leaders in Albuquerque and Santa Fe and coming up with policy to serve them all is no simple matter. Ms. Campos Biggs emphasized to the class that really understanding the communities is essential to serving them and getting them the resources they need. She told the class, “politics are very separate from what we do. We are here to serve and help these communities. They might never vote for us, and that is ok.”

Working all over the state with policy makers, Ms. Campos Biggs has learned the value of engaging the community and listening to the people that live there. She told the students to be successful in policy, “be a good listener, build bridges, and engage the experts.”