Be yoU@CPO – Susana Johnson
Susana Johnson, Area Manager for Custodial Area 18, has been working at BU for over 16 years. She began as a part-time employee with CPO, before transitioning to full-time in 2009. By 2021, Susana was overseeing 42 staff members across three shifts in Area 18. This area includes 55 residential brownstones, the Pardee School, the Danielson Institute, events at Hillel House, and the new CCDS building. With her years of experience, Susana finds joy in her work every single day.
“I love planning, organizing, and coming up with a game plan to get the job done each day,” she says. “In my opinion, CPO is one of the best departments at the University to work for.”
Susana says she has experienced an exceptionally supportive environment at CPO where supervisors, colleagues, and staff are personally there for one another. She feels that these strong bonds formed within CPO are what helps her team run smoothly, no matter the situation. The exceptional job she and her team do does not go unnoticed.
“Students are very appreciative of the work the custodians of Area 18 do for them. We’ve often received thank you notes,” she says.
The custodial staff shares an important and unique relationship with the BU community. As they work on the front lines, interacting with students throughout the day, Susana and her team are committed to creating a clean and welcoming environment to ensure students feel that BU is their home away from home.
Susana is also deeply passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), both in her professional and personal life. While working in Area 18, her team is immersed in the heart of BU. Besides providing a clean environment for this community, Susana also aims to ensure everyone feels welcomed and heard.
During one of their busiest times of year, move-in, her team tries to complete their work while also providing sensitivity, understanding, and support to students and their families—many of whom are leaving their children far away from home for the first time.
“During move-in one year, I met a Portuguese-speaking family,” Susana remembers. “Their son was moving into his dorm at BU, meaning the family would eventually be leaving him in the U.S. This would be the first time they would be so far away from one another. I am so grateful that, as a Portuguese speaker myself, I was able to speak with the entire family, hopefully making them feel as comfortable and welcomed as possible.”
On a personal level, DEI resonates with Susana because of her family’s history. As the first person in her family to come to the U.S. from Portugal, she faced the challenges of living in America—learning a new language, adjusting to a different culture, and being on her own for the first time. She credits her work ethic and determination to her late father. Through words of encouragement, he emphasized the importance of the power held in hard work, respect, honesty, and maintaining a great character. Susana hopes to impart those same values onto her coworkers.
Susana offers one important piece of advice: be open to learning from others, no matter what their background, because everyone has something to teach you.
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