During Marlene’s time working with the City, she championed many vital projects and partnerships to assist in building relationships with diverse communities and organizations. A few examples that come to mind which represent Marlene’s ability to cultivate these relationships are her work with partnering with Latino organizations to creating a Hispanic Heritage Celebration at Las Colonias Park; partnering with Juneteenth to help elevate and give visibility to the annual Juneteenth celebration; creating the “Who We Are” art exhibit to showcase Diverse Artists within the City; and creating strong relationships with several local cultural nonprofits such as Native American Cultural Programs, BAM, Latin Anglo Alliance, Cesar Chavez Celebration Committee, Black Citizens and Friends, and Latino Student Alliance.

Marlene’s ability to connect and understand the importance of inclusion and diversity speaks to her success within this field. She has a true ability to unite groups and have open dialogue about often hard conversations. Marlene’s leadership within our city cultivated relationships that continue to this day.

I had the honor of being involved with Marlene Godsey during her way too brief of a stay in Grand Jct. Colorado. Not only during employment with the city, but she also graciously served on the Black Citizens and Friends Committee of Mesa County.

Working for the Arts and Culture department she displayed a tireless enthusiasm and a “get it done” attitude ensuring that an “inclusive culture” was truly brought to the forefront as she pushed for a broader outreach on the behalf of the Parks and Recreation Department. Marlene singularly elevated the Arts and Culture portion of the Parks and Recreation Department mandate, reaching out to marginalized population of the community that had historically been left behind. She assured them of their worth and value by creating grants where funds could be applied for, enabling organizations to carry forward their desired missions. Hosting festivals and special events where the community could engage and experience different cultures and activities and finally, supporting many organizations by being the representative of the Grand Jct. Parks and Recreation Department at their events.

As a member of the Black Citizens and Friends Committee she brought organizational skills that were unmatched as she assisted in our 6-day Dr. Martin Luther King Day Celebration, our month-long February Black History Month and our single day Juneteenth Celebration. Her innovative ideas and planning foresight enabled our committee to provide innovative educational, entertainment and rich heritage value to our events.

Marlene’s ability to work with multi-generational populations in our community provided a voice for those in the community who sometimes lacked such. Her compassion for the youth and senior citizens was displayed in her efforts to keep both not only involved but to remain engaged in social activities and to continually have their voices heard.

As I indicated above Marlene stay was way too short, I say this because she accomplished 10 years’ worth of “work’’ in less than 2. Our community lost an individual who will be impossible to replace. However, her legacy of ideas and innovation will carry on.

When I first met Marlene Godsey - it was through a grant I applied for Trail Lamp Youth Services a Colorado nonprofit which empowers underserved youth through the arts. She was the new Arts and Culture Coordinator and had set a professional goal to bring more diversity, equity and inclusion to our conservative, rural mountain town. Our nonprofit works with many LGBTQ+ youth and has faced barriers to getting grants as we were in our first 2 years in a rural area with a majority of conservative decision makers. Marlene went out of her way to help us through the portions of the grant we struggled with and advocated for us to the Arts and Commission board. We did receive the grant! In her time in Grand Junction, she became known as an effective communicator, an advocate for the underserved, a liaison between individuals and organizations, and a person the youth in our program reached out to and trusted. Any time our organization needed help, Marlene took time out of her schedule to assist, whether it was finding us volunteers for an event or connecting us with opportunities in the arts.

Marlene does what she says she will do.

She fights for the underserved.

She is a professional, natural leader.

She has lived experience & is relatable.

She is passionate and interested in others’ stories.

She is a bridge builder and extremely personable.

I spent time getting to know Marlene Godsey while she worked for the city of Grand Junction. I witnessed the equity work that she accomplished in the region of Grand Junction. She expertly brought diverse communities together, creating strong relationships, and added new perspectives and management to the Arts & Culture Commission. She helped to broaden the commission's program funding and visibility to the public. I believe Marlene's efforts contributed greatly to the Grand Junction community.

I had the good fortune of serving on the Grand Junction Commission on Arts and Culture both before and after Marlene Godsey directed the commission. Marlene brought a much higher sense of vision and accountability to GJCAC and the commission members. She helped us find our voice and successfully directed us to expand our commitment to ensuring that "arts" were available to all members of our community and that "culture" represented all the groups in our valley. She was a strong advocate for our organization both within the city and with the other arts and culture groups in the community.

I’ve had the privilege of working alongside Marlene Godsey between 2017-2021 in Portland Oregon in her role with Portland Parks and Recreation.
Marlene was part of the Planning Committee for Tonga Day 2018, 2019 and 2020 representing Portland Parks and Recreation as Partners for Tonga Day. Tonga Day is the first public festival in the nation to celebrate the cultural and history of our Tongan heritage in a public square. As the founder of Tonga Day in 2017, I am confident to share my testimony of the valuable contribution Marlene offered to our Tongan community.

Marlene was a representative from the city that had a positive impact in our community with her leadership. She showed compassion to our historical challenges and lack of voice in the society we live in. She encourages our youth and elderly to speak up, get engaged, and take ownership of the festival to be an education to the public of our rich heritage.

Marlene worked well with our multi-generational community. She set good examples for our youth girls, and they look up to her over the years working with our community. Our community accepted Marlene as the pillar of support from Portland parks through her leadership and visibility for the community. Her leadership and festival organizing had a huge impact of making our community Tonga Day festival a success.

Marlene is connected to underrepresented communities and her experiences work well with our requirements. Marlene naturally offers a safe welcoming space; she offers alternatives to challenging situations and is always open to hear community input. She assures us that our concerns are being valued and heard and she is prioritizing it. This alone is a victory for our community regardless of the outcome, just knowing that our concerns are valued is a win for us. This is the leadership we want on our side and Marlene is a champion in our community.

Working with Marlene Godsey was a game changer for me! Marlene’s significant Skills and expertise had a huge impact on the annual Cesar Chavez event and the community. Marlene has a strong sense of detail and employs strong ways to bring the community together. Marlene not only met our expectations, but far exceeded them in every aspect. Her dedication and commitment to achieving excellence and equity was evident throughout our partnership. Her contributions to the community were instrumental in the Cesar Chavez Celebration Committee achieving its goals, and I would highly recommend Marlene Godsey to anyone.

I am incredibly grateful for the transformative impact that Marlene Godsey initiated for diversity, equity, and inclusion programming events in our community through parks & rec. As someone who has been involved in various initiatives over the years, I witnessed a significant shift in the inclusively and cultural richness of our gatherings and events during Marlene’s tenure in our community.

Marlene’s commitment to fostering diversity has not only broadened the representation within our community but has also created a sense of belonging for individuals from all walks of life. The programs’ emphasis on equity has leveled the playing field, ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute their unique talents.

Marlene went beyond mere token gestures and actively sought out events to celebrate the diverse cultures that make up our community. This intentional approach has not only deepened our understanding and exposure of one another but has also fostered a sense of unity that is truly heartening.

The inclusiveness promoted by the new and innovative events is not just a checkbox-it’s a commitment to creating a space where everyone feels heard, respected and valued. Our community events are becoming more and more a reflection of the diverse tapestry that is our society, and ’it’s heartening to see the positive ripple effects throughout our entire community.

Kudos to Marlene for her unwavering dedication to making our community celebrate and create events that inspire and focus on cultural inclusiveness. The impact is evident, and I am optimistic about the continued positive changes and look forward to future progress.

I had the honor of working with and getting to know Marlene Godsey in the creation of the first ever International Cultural Muslim Festival in Portland Oregon. Marlene was a Special Events Coordinator for the City of Portland. During our time working together Marlene was a champion for our community, extremely equitable in everything she did, and always made sure that our voices were heard. She found ways to make us feel safe, and included and made sure that the day of our event was an extreme success. Marlene is shown to be a champion for marginalized communities of Portland, and it was a pleasure to work alongside her. She is devoted and a natural leader and a bridge builder for underserved communities. After her work with our community, we had the honor of serving her with the Friends of Muslim Educational Trust award. Marlene will always be a friend and ally to the Portland Muslim Community. We wish her all the best in any of her future endeavors.