Olga Rodriguez Betancourt

Olga was born in Pereira, Colombia. Ten years after her mother made the brave decision to separate from her two daughters and cross the Mexican border in search of a better future, Olga left everything she knew behind and joined her. At age 15, Olga had to learn a new culture and battle language barriers. That did not stop her. She went to college, studied business, and gave up her dream to become a journalist. Little did she know that after 15 years of raising her children, she would be back, stronger than ever to make that dream come true. 

Olga feels that the past two years in the master’s program at FIU have been a blessing. When she started, she promised herself to make the most of it – and she has.  She was president of the FIU chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and coordinated the “Voces del Periodismo” competition, which brought together top Hispanic journalists in Miami. As part of her program, she also visited media companies such as CNN, Univision, Telemundo, and Spanish-language radio station Caracol, not knowing that this visit would change her life. That day, the content director invited Olga into her office and gave her the opportunity to create a show from scratch. That opportunity opened many doors for her.

Olga joined the master’s program with 1,000 insecurities and 0 hopes of pursuing this career after graduation. But here she is, currently producing three shows and living her dream.

By Olga Rodriguez Betancourt
and Maria Elena Villar, Associate Dean of Strategic Communication
College of Communication, Architecture, + The Arts