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Be yoU@CPO – Mario Vicente

Mario Vicente, Manager of Trades Services on the BU Medical Campus, began his career 10 years ago as a part-time custodian. He then transitioned to the overnight zone manager and was later promoted to his current position. Working in facilities management on the Medical Campus means Mario and his team are witnesses to, and work to support, the progress taking place there.

“The type of work and research being done at the Medical Campus is universally recognized,” he said. “It’s great to be even a small part of that, it’s so rewarding.” While he values the impact of his work, it’s the people he is surrounded by every day that he appreciates the most.

“BU is a large institution with such a diverse group of people, it’s really special to see everyone working together to achieve common goals,” he said. “World-renowned doctors and scientists are doing research and the staff in CPO are doing their best to keep the physical plant up and running.”

Due to the nature of their work, Mario and his colleagues often exist behind the scenes, but Mario wants others to know how important it is for their work to be recognized.

“It is so gratifying when the community recognizes just how important our facilities workers are to BU,” he said. On the Medical Campus, Mario says they’ve been lucky enough to have leaders who truly understand the impact of the facilities team.

“Dean Antman has always created an environment of belonging and appreciation,” Mario says. “When one of our staff members was in the hospital, she made it a point to visit. Everyone on our staff noticed that. We all appreciated it, and it made us feel good about the job we do every day.”

Beyond BU, Mario’s biggest inspiration comes from his son, Ryder

“Ryder is autistic. Raising him has shown me the world through a different lens,” Vicente explains. “He has taught me to be non-judgmental and accept people for exactly who they are. Ryder has a huge heart and is open to everyone he interacts with. His acceptance and openness inspire me to be the same.”

Mario offers one important piece of advice: no matter where you come from or where you started, it’s where you’re going that is important. Everyone has something to contribute.

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. 

If you would like to share your own story, please contact us.

Be yoU@CPO – Maureen Sullivan

Maureen Sullivan, Assistant Director for Continuous Process Improvement & Special Projects, has been working at BU since 2017, and with CPO since 2018. When asked what she enjoys the most about working with CPO, Maureen says the people are what keep her coming back.

“I have so much respect for the expertise and work ethic that exists across CPO,” she says. “Keeping our campuses running is no small feat. I love coming to work every day.”

Maureen is passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion for one big reason: family. Both sides of Maureen’s family are Irish immigrants. She remembers stories of her maternal grandmother raising seven children in a new country, a task she undertook alone, as her husband had passed not long after they arrived in the United States. Understanding the challenges her grandmother faced helped Maureen to understand the importance of accepting everyone, no matter their background.

On her father’s side, Maureen remembers getting increasingly frustrated with her grandmother, who lost her hearing when Maureen was young. As a self-proclaimed selfish teenager, Maureen found it easier to avoid conversation with her grandmother, rather than yell or repeat herself. It wasn’t until her second child, her eldest son, also faced hearing issues that Maureen truly understood how isolating it can be to live with a disability.

When Maureen’s eldest son turned five, he began rapidly losing his hearing. The family doctor told Maureen that, eventually, he would lose his hearing altogether.  Maureen’s initial reaction was fear. Would the world treat her son the same way she had treated her grandmother? Would he fit in?

At the age of nine, Maureen’s son received a cochlear implant that allowed him to 'hear' by translating sounds through electrodes implanted in his cochlear. Now, he often jokes that he is “100% deaf” but can still hear better than Maureen, who is unashamed to say that she is “officially hard of hearing” and wears hearing aids on a regular basis.

After reflecting on how prejudice and disabilities shaped her family’s story, Maureen encourages others to constantly strive for acceptance.

“Don’t wait until an issue impacts you directly to care about it,” she says. “Listen to people, learn from their experiences. Accept and celebrate yourself and others not for what they can’t do, but what they can do. Meet people where they are.”

As of September 1, 2024, Maureen has moved to the Fiscal Analysis & Analytics team, a team that supports all of Operations at BU, not just CPO. However, not one to let go of something she loves, Maureen will still be working closely with her colleagues at CPO and will remain a member of the CPO DEI working group.

 If you would like to share your own story, please contact us.

Be yoU@CPO – Sonia Richards

Sonia Richards began her career in construction, a famously male-dominated industry, almost 42 years ago. At the time, the job site secretary was usually the only other woman on site. Sonia, a field engineer, was the target of off-color jokes and insults, and even saw her name included in scribbled comments on the walls of the job site Porta Potties.  

However, some colleagues supported her and performed incredible acts of kindness for Sonia as she made a place for herself in the industry. It was those colleagues who strengthened her resolve, making her work harder to prove herself and make it clear that she was worthy of that support and kindness.  

“Those experiences instilled in me the desire to always treat people with respect, no matter what their position or role was on the job. It also led me to being a mentor for other women who joined me in the industry.”    

Now the leader of Planning, Design & Construction, Sonia uses her experiences, positive and negative, to shape how she approaches her work and her team. To her, this means accepting every person for who they are, and recognizing the value they bring to the University and her, personally. When asked what advice she would give to those with similar experiences to her own, Sonia encourages respect, especially for oneself.  

“Sadly, we will always run into people who want to bring us down. I believe that many of these people suffer from their own insecurities and lack of self-esteem. We should never encourage this behavior, and we should certainly stand up for ourselves. But always remember to treat others with the respect that you want and deserve.” 

 If you would like to share your own story, please contact us.