Our Team

MARILYN JONES, Ed. D.

Founder and Executive Director

Marilyn Jones EdD Founder and Executive Director Profile Photo

  • Dr. Marilyn Jones is the founder and Executive Director of Because Black is Still Beautiful. She has several years of experience conducting academic and professional research on formerly incarcerated men and women, as well as teaching this population.

    She has previously worked as a consultant for the National Council on Crime and Delinquency in collaboration with the Santa Clara County Strategic Planning Team, a group comprised of key stakeholders with a collective goal of reducing the county’s recidivism rate. Her publications include: Nowhere to Go: How Stigma Limits the Options of Female Drug Users after Release from Jail (2009), Santa Clara County Adult Reentry Strategic Plan - Ready to Change: Promoting Safety and Health for the Whole Community (2012), and From Crack to College and Vice Versa (2013).

    Dr. Jones holds a BS in Health Education, an MA in Adult Education, and recently completed an EdD in Educational Leadership at San Francisco State University. In addition to her academic and professional experience, she has over 20 years of life experience in the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems.

ZINA BUTLER, B.A.

Board President

  • Zina Butler recently was nominated as our Board president. Initially, she became involved with BBISB through volunteer work, eventually becoming a participant of the Just Say Know program while pursuing a higher education. She managed to obtain two degrees while participating in the program and became an Advisory Board member, working her way through the ranks all the way to Board President. Her passion lies in assisting young girls and women who have been impacted by the criminal justice system with moving forward academically. She is currently pursuing a Master of Philosophy at San Francisco State University with an ultimate goal of obtaining a Doctorate in Philosophy. Zina is an extremely dedicated member of our team and the community, working at her church on the Media Team Ministry and POI Eshe Program. In addition to her passion and dedication, Zina has over 20 years of life experience in the criminal justice system.

D'ANDREA ROBINSON, Ed. D.

Board Treasurer

  • Dr. D’Andrea Robinson is a dynamic, energetic, community and instructional leader serving in education for over a decade as an elementary school teacher, academic intervention facilitator, dean, elementary school principal and consultant. Teaching and providing social and academic learning opportunities for Black girls is her passion. She is dedicated to ensuring Black women and girls have safe spaces for dialogue, critical thought, learning and developing lifelong skills. Liberation is at the heart of her work and she is proud to serve in any and all capacities when it comes to the elevation of Black queens and future Black queens.

Board Secretary

SONJA TONNESEN-CASALEGNO, Esq.

  • Sonja is the Policy & Legal Director of Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ), based in Oakland, CA. She is a civil rights attorney committed to transforming the criminal legal system. Before CURYJ, Sonja was part of the founding staff and Deputy Director of Root & Rebound, supporting people and families impacted by mass incarceration. For her work, Sonja was honored as a Harvard Law School Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow and a California ChangeLawyers Impact Awardee.

    Sonja received her J.D. from UC-Berkeley, School of Law, where she advocated for survivors of violence, criminal legal system reform, and youth justice. As a law student, she was co-president of the Student Association at Berkeley Law; Director of Advocates for Youth Justice; and held leadership positions with the queer caucus and women’s association. She was an editor of the California Law Review and the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice, in which her article “‘Hit It and Quit It’: Responses to Black Girls’ Victimization in School” was published in 2013, drawing connections between the school-to-prison-pipeline and race, gender, and implicit bias.

ROBYN FISHER, Ed.D.

Board Member

  • Dr. Robyn Fisher serves as President and C.E.O. of R.T. Fisher Educational Enterprises, Inc. (RTF). Since founding RTF in 1999, Dr. Fisher has subsequently co-founded and chaired an umbrella of initiatives directed towards academic excellence in the Bay Area’s communities of color, including both The African American Regional Educational Alliance, Inc. (AAREA), and The Choose College Educational Foundation, Inc. (CCEF). Dr. Fisher's educational consultancy and curriculum design work have impacted students across the state of California for nearly 20 years.

Board Member

ELIANA GREEN, Esq.

  • Eliana Green Esq. is a proud board member of Because Black is Still Beautiful and supports the organization with their strategic program planning and philanthropic fundraising. Eliana is a sociologist and movement lawyer with an academic concentration on global drug policies and their impact within the Latin America and Caribbean region. She is licensed to practice law in the state of California and Illinois and has a background as a reentry attorney, helping individuals navigate civil legal consequences caused by their criminal convictions.

    Eliana, a native of the west side of Chicago, is a double alumnus of Loyola University New Orleans where she earned her J.D. (cum laude) with a certificate in Social Justice as well as her B.A. in Sociology and African Diasporic Studies. Currently within her career, Eliana serves as a Senior Policy Advisor at both The Minority Cannabis Business Association, as well as the The Hood Incubator– a national grassroots organization that leverages the regulated cannabis industry as a model for healing and equity so every Black person can generate wealth, health, and prosperity for their communities. At the Hood Incubator, Eliana advises the organization’s Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Oakland affiliate chapters.

    Prior to law school, Eliana worked for the Department of Corrections at South East Regional Reentry where she provided in custody reentry services. During her time at Loyola law, Eliana served as a law clerk at the Orleans Public Defenders Office as well as a student practitioner in her school’s felony criminal defense clinic. As a student practitioner, she successfully represented clients in criminal trials and parole hearings facing charges ranging from drug possession to second degree murder. During Eliana’s second summer of law school she served as an Ella Baker Intern at the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City. There she engaged in community organizing and impact litigation, particularly in regards to the racially disproportionate impact of New York City’s anti-gang policing and teaching community members how to use the Freedom of Information Act as a tool to propel activism. Eliana has also engaged in grassroots public policy work as a law clerk at Women with a Vision.

    Sonja received her J.D. from UC-Berkeley, School of Law, where she advocated for survivors of violence, criminal legal system reform, and youth justice. As a law student, she was co-president of the Student Association at Berkeley Law; Director of Advocates for Youth Justice; and held leadership positions with the queer caucus and women’s association. She was an editor of the California Law Review and the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice, in which her article “‘Hit It and Quit It’: Responses to Black Girls’ Victimization in School” was published in 2013, drawing connections between the school-to-prison-pipeline and race, gender, and implicit bias.

DANI JOHNSON, AMFT

Board Member

  • Dani Johnson has overcome many obstacles in her life, such as overcoming recidivism and other unhealthy choices. Through determination, Ms. Johnson was able to beat the odds and she graduated with her Bachelor degree in Interdisciplinary studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco. She recently completed a Masters Degree in Community Mental Health at CIIS, and she has received her Associate Marriage Family Therapist credentials. Her interest lies in decreasing violence among the youth in her community, particularly involving young Black men, and helping women heal from the various intersections of trauma.