PLP 08 Profile: Liane Rozzell

Name:  Liane G. Rozzell
Age: 47
Born: Cincinnati, Ohio.  Lived there and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, before moving to Northern Virginia at age 10.
Current Digs:  Arlington.
Occupation:  Executive Director of Families & Allies of Virginia’s Youth
Favorite part about the job:  We’re a new organization and I’m figuring it out as I go — and it already feels like we’re starting to make a difference.
Your first job ever?  I worked in the summer of ‘76 for the Youth Conservation Corps and stayed on Apple Orchard Mountain.  I met kids from all over Virginia and had a blast.
Favorite book? Several by Chaim Potok: The Chosen, The Promise, My Name is Asher Lev.  Also The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, several by Octavia Butler.  I’m not good at picking one favorite!
Favorite movie?  Hard to pick one from The Bicycle Thief, Meet John Doe, Sugar Cane Alley, Fried Green Tomatoes.
Comfort food? Pad Thai or a good old peanut butter and jelly sandwich — triple decker.
What's in your car CD player right now? Books on tape (yes, cassette tape) from the library for long road trips.  The latest is a Sherlock Holmes mystery collection.
Next journey?  To the Tidewater area to connect with families there.
Favorite Virginia vacation spot? I enjoy a picnic at Great Falls or camping in Prince William Forest. 
First political memory?  In third grade, I had a papier mache hippopotamus piggy bank that I named Hubert Horatio Humphrey Hippo because I was rooting for Humphrey in the presidential election of 1968.
Whom do you admire and why?  Marian Wright Edelman, because she is a tremendous advocate and has managed to create and sustain an organization that has a great impact on the lives of children.  Katharine Jefferts Schori, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, because in a situation of great acrimony she leads with grace, sensitivity, intelligence and humor — while taking a firm stand.
Best advice you ever got?  At the end of the day, there’s always more to do. It’s important to recognize that and go home and have a balanced life.  Dyana Mason (PLP 05) told me that when I asked her for advice on running a statewide nonprofit.
If you could have dinner with any one currently living, whom would it be and why?  Nelson Mandela, because he is an amazing leader and person, full of integrity, dedication, and dignity.
Describe a perfect day.  An off-season day with my beloved at our beach place: lounging around reading, playing Scrabble (without keeping score), biking to the beach for a picnic or watching the dogs romp down the beach, going on mini shopping sprees at the dollar store and the thrift store, topped off by watching a good movie.
One thing most people might be surprised to learn about you?  I’ve been an avid soccer player since I turned 30 and was eligible for a local women’s master’s league.  Now I’m our team’s goalie.
Ambition, political or otherwise?  To transform Virginia’s juvenile justice system so that youth get fair and appropriate treatment and the best possible chance of becoming productive adults.