Rick Rosales
Director of Social & Community Programs at the Resurrection Project
Topics: community organizing; intersections between criminal justice, universities & community engagement; mobilizing public health ambassadors during COVID-19 in under-resourced communities; cycling advocacy and transportation equity
About
Rick Rosales is currently the director of social & community programs at The Resurrection Project. Prior to that, he spent 10 years with the Indiana Department of Correction in roles beginning as a case manager and finally as the statewide director of community and mentor engagement. He is an avid cyclist that believes social change is only possible through civic engagement. Rick holds a BA and MS in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University.
My experience with community-based efforts around public health issues began as a case manager supporting residents and their re-entry back into the community and continued as I oversaw community engagement at the facility level and eventually the state level. I currently manage teams of public health ambassadors that promote COVID vaccinations and provide healthcare information and resources, in addition to managing a team supporting, training, and advocating for breast cancer survivors.
I would enjoy speaking about my experience in the criminal justice field and how that intersected with universities (occupational therapy, internships, service learning, etc.) and community engagement thereby addressing a critical public health issue. I can also talk about my time so far in Chicago mobilizing public health ambassadors to address the COVID-19 pandemic in under-resourced communities. Lastly, I could talk about my cycling advocacy and how our cities and communities are designed for cars instead of for people and how our car-centric culture leads to traffic violence that claims the lives of 40,000 people per year.
I have a wide array of experience speaking and engaging with groups of people from guest lectures at universities, holding trainings for staff and volunteers, to public speaking at public and private events.