Ronette Burkes is in the business of saving lives and will tell her staff and anyone who listens the same thing. She works for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and is currently the Warden of the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville and as a matter of fact, was recently named “Ohio Warden of the Year.” Warden “Roni” oversees the operation of the largest female prison in the state where there are currently over 2,600 women incarcerated and over 500 staff members. “I feel so strongly regarding the work we do. It is a serious business and we are dealing with human lives on a daily basis. How we treat people really does matter – including how we treat each other.”
Roni didn’t go to school thinking that she would be in corrections. She always wanted to go to law school. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Akron, Roni began working at the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center as a victim advocate. She worked with survivors of assault and became passionate about victims’ issues. She then began volunteering at the Office of Victim Services at the Ohio Department of Corrections where she later took a paid position coordinating the program. Later Roni would spend a couple years as a deputy warden of special services and ops at the Franklin Pre-Release Center and then transferred to the Ohio Reformatory for Women. “I feel like I was put on earth to do exactly what I do now, which is working with women and helping women.”
The best advice Roni ever received was from her mother, who taught Roni and her brother that kindness matters and to treat people with kindness, regardless of how they treat you. “I remember a time in elementary school when there was another student, his clothes were often dirty and he had an odor. No one would play with him and many bullied him. I played with him regardless of what others said. I can remember my mother telling me to ALWAYS be kind to others! How you treat people matters. Her message of kindness resonates with me still today.”
Roni also volunteers with the Harmony Project of Columbus, which is a 225-person choir that performs two major concerts per year. One of the requirements to be in the choir is to serve the community. Roni has assisted painting murals in the community, served meals to homeless families at the YMCA Shelter, packed toys for Firefighters for Toys during the holiday season and more.
There is not too much that Roni has seen or would consider an obstacle. “Part of life is that things do not always go the way we want. I am a positive person, and often the glass that many see as half empty, I see half full. I look for ways to get things accomplished and sometimes that means getting as far away from the box as possible and not losing yourself in the process. Often working in the correctional field, we are quick to say no. I advise my staff to look for ways to say ‘yes’ not ‘no.’ It is amazing what the journey of looking for ways to say yes will take you on in this world.”