n WOMEN IN Leadership
Angela
DePaoli
PRESIDENT AND CEO, BARGAS ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTING
WHEN ANGELA DEPAOLI STARTED Bargas Environmental
Consulting in 2012, she figured it would be a side hustle — she
already had a full-time job with the U.S. Army Corps of Engi-
neers’ Civil Works division, working on an operations study
for the Folsom Dam. But given her prior experience working in
the USACE’s Regulatory Division and background in hydrol-
ogy and soil science, former colleagues and clients regularly
sought her expertise. To field the requests, the USACE granted
her authorization to conduct wetland delineations and permit
applications via a side business, which she called Bargas Envi-
ronmental Consulting.
DePaoli left the USACE in May 2013 to commit full time to
Bargas, which is named after her grandfather Gabriel Bargas, a
Mexican immigrant she says taught her the value of education
and hard work. “I come from this family of blue-collar workers
who value saving and their pension, so my family was a little
freaked out,” she says of their reaction when she shared her
plans. “I knew I was employable, so I made the decision to give
it a try, and I love it.”
At Bargas, DePaoli helps residential and commercial
landowners, as well as utility companies and transportation
clients, assess the potential impacts of their work on a prop-
erty’s wildlife and waterways and guides them through any
necessary compliance. The company has since grown to 20
employees and two offices, with a stable of clients that includes
SMUD, PG&E, Caltrans and various land developers. In 2015,
DePaoli received the Latina Excellence in Business Award from
the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce and in 2017,
was honored with the Woman-Owned Small Business of the
Year award from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Sac-
ramento office.
“I firmly believe that as our populations continue to ex-
pand, there is an increasing role to balance land development
with environmental concerns,” says DePaoli. “I really enjoy
working with various engineers and project managers to cre-
ate solutions to all sorts of challenges that come up during the
environmental review process.”
The year after launching her business, DePaoli joined the
National Association of Women Business Owners Sacramento
Valley chapter for support and says the assistance she received
from more-established female business owners was essential
in sustaining and growing her business. Through NAWBO,
DePaoli won two leadership development scholarships that
offered insight into cultivating high-performing minority
businesses and creating a business improvement plan. Less
than 12 months after the business improvement plan’s imple-
mentation, Bargas had its most successful year ever in 2018.
In 2016, DePaoli was elected president of NAWBO Sacra-
mento Valley, which she sees as an opportunity to support new
women business owners in the same way that members helped
her. She also serves on the Sacramento Ballet’s board of direc-
tors. “When women shift from feeling as though they have to
compete against other women to supporting them, it works
well for everyone,” she says. n
– Laurie Lauletta-Boshart
Words of Wisdom: Surround yourself with men and women who have achieved what you’d like to achieve.
66
comstocksmag.com | March 2019