Her Story
About Angela
Angela Acosta serves as Operations Manager in behavioral health, overseeing operations for multiple service lines in Albuquerque, New Mexico. With 17 years in the field and eight and a half years in her current position, she manages community-based services and wraparound services that support clients in accessing therapy, psychiatric care, education, and medical care. Her career began after graduating from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces with bachelor's degrees in counseling and educational psychology and family and consumer science, starting with work supporting adolescents in group homes across the Borderland region including Las Cruces, El Paso, and Juarez, Mexico, before transitioning to serving adults in New Mexico communities. She has notably expanded service lines by 100 percent, growing from four to eight programs that now include support for children and individuals transitioning from incarceration. Angela is a member of the SPS Foundation, which places exchange students in New Mexico, and has volunteered as an advocate with law, penal, and sexual assault recovery services as well as La Casa Domestic Violence Shelter. She attributes her success to the support of family and friends along with the value of serving the community, and she emphasizes being passionate about one's work while considering its broader impact.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Angela
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think my family have been really supportive, friends and family, people around me that are positive. And then just the value of serving your community.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
To be passionate about what you do, and think of your work on a macro level, on a larger level than just you're helping a few people, you're helping a whole community, and even beyond that. And so just really value yourself and the work that you do.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
If you're really passionate about this, there's a place for everyone to grow and to learn and to really be able to give back in a lot of different ways. If that's your passion, then this is definitely the industry to go into.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Challenges would be funding that can be lost at any time, meaning services are lost to the people that we serve. Opportunities are to continue to provide the service that we do and justify those services so that they can continue growing and expanding as much as possible.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Being honest, and just having gratitude, and living your day-to-day life to the fullest. Just having good faith toward other people.
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