Experience. Integrity. Mission-focused.

The Board

Community leadership

Meet Our Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors are experienced community leaders in criminal and social justice who ensure we make consistent progress toward our mission to create new models for justice and safety outside of Arizona’s punishment system. 

Together, we’re creating a world free of prisons and punishment, where reconciliation, truth-telling, and mutual interdependence foster healing instead of retribution.

Marilyn Rodriguez

Chair

Steven Scharboneau

Vice-Chair

Liane Hernandez

Secretary

Zachary Stout

Treasurer

Daniel Howe

Director

Ronald D. Simpson-Bey

Director

Beth Meyer

Director

Tasha Menaker

Director

Jenny Guzman

Director

Kesha Dawson

Director

Marilyn Rodriguez

In 2017, Marilyn founded Creosote Partners, Arizona’s progressive lobbying, government relations, communications, and legislative advocacy firm.

Marilyn is one of the foremost government relations and public affairs professionals in Arizona.

A widely respected lobbyist at the Capitol, Marilyn approaches her work with the utmost grace and humility.

She’s proud to serve as the steward for all her clients’ issues and policy objectives. 

Steven Scharboneau

Steven is an attorney with Stone Rose Law, focusing on criminal defense, legislative advocacy, and appellate advocacy.

As a Legislative Advocate with Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice (AACJ), Steven has had a hand in groundbreaking criminal justice reform legislation. In 2020, he received a Presidential Commendation from the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice in recognition of his dedicated work at the legislature to improve the lives of Arizonans fighting for a second chance.

Steven graduated cum laude from the University of Arizona, with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a Juris Doctorate degree from ASU Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and is licensed to practice law in Arizona and in the U.S. District Court in the District of Arizona.

Steven sits on the board of two non-profit organizations and serves as the Vice-Chair of the Phoenix Rio Vista Village Planning Committee by appointment from the former Mayor, Greg Stanton.

Liane Hernandez

E. Liane Hernandez

Liane is the Community Outreach and Education Director for YWCA’s Women’s Leadership and Wellness Center.

Trained as an art historian, chef, and cultural anthropologist, Liane has served in several roles in the Tucson nonprofit arts community for many years, including sitting on boards, committees, and grant review panels. She was a founder of Raices Taller 222.

She currently sits on the Bond Oversight Commission and is a member of the Tucson Meet Yourself Festival as the City of Gastronomy Culture Kitchen Coordinator.

Formerly, Liane was a member of the Tucson Voices Op-Ed Project 2016, and the Latino Graduate Training Seminar on Qualitative Methodology at the Smithsonian Institute. In 2015, she was recognized as the Adelita Del Año by Las Adelitas PAC.

She lives in her beloved city of Tucson, Arizona with her partner, Peter, and their two dogs.

Zachary Stout

Zachary is co-founder of Easter & Stout Consulting and a Magellan Circle Scholar in the College of SBS.

He is currently in the accelerated master’s program in philosophy at the University of Arizona, where he received the Kathryn A. Governal Perseverance Award from the Department of Philosophy and was a finalist for the Provost Award. 

Zachary, who is working towards his law degree, found his calling advocating for criminal justice reform and increased access to higher education and hopes to help change the way our prison system works.

Outside of the classroom, he consults with government officials to try and make it easier for incarcerated individuals to go back to college.

Daniel Howe

Daniel is owner and director of The Earnest House LLC, Heavy Kettle Popcorn LLC,  and Co-Executive Director of Second Chance Tucson.

He has over a decade of experience assisting formerly incarcerated people in the Tucson, Arizona area overcome barriers to finding housing and employment.

Daniel uses the combination of his troubled childhood along with his years in the state prison system to connect with individuals who are facing the same struggles he once faced.

Ronald D. Simpson-Bey

Ronald is a national leader in the movement to decarcerate America, currently working as the Executive Vice President for JustLeadershipUSA (JLUSA) and an alumni of their 2015 Leading with Conviction (LwC) Fellowship.

Ronald is an LPI Trained Leadership Coach and is prominently featured in the book, Halfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration, by Dr. Reuben Jonathan Miller. Ronald is also a contributing author to the book, Smart Decarceration: Achieving Criminal Justice Transformation in the 21st Century.

Ronald on the boards and governing committees of several organizations:

  • Vice-Chair for the ABA Criminal Justice Section Victims Committee
  • Special Advisor for the ABA Criminal Justice Section council
  • Board member for the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA)
  • Board member of the Michigan Center for Youth Justice (MCYJ)
  • Steering team member of the Michigan Collaborative to End Mass Incarceration (MI-CEMI)
  • Steering team member of Nation Outside.

He is an engaged, thoughtful, and creative leader, founding many enrichment programs rooted in transformation, redemption, and self-accountability. Ronald attended Eastern Michigan University, Mott Community College, and Jackson Community College. 

Beth Meyer

Beth is President and CEO of the non-profit, Leading For Change (LFC). Through a variety of training programs, LFC works with leaders and emerging leaders to advance progressive values and social justice in their communities.

Prior to joining LFC, Beth served as the National Vice President of State Operations for the Center for Progressive Leadership in Arizona, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Colorado. She also served as the Vice President of External Affairs for Planned Parenthood of Central and Northern Arizona (now PPAZ).

She has served on a number of Arizona-based Boards, including Community AIDS Council (co-founder), ACLU-Arizona, NARAL, Planned Parenthood, Phoenix Theatre, Opera League, Defenders of Children, Arizona Advocacy Network (co-founder).

And currently serves on:

  • Arizona Family Health Partnership’s public policy committee
  • Labor’s Community Service Agency (LCSA) board

Beth is the recipient of the Arizona AFL-CIO Community Leader award and the Business Journal’s Outstanding Women in Business award.

Tasha Menaker

Tasha is a former social services executive with 20 years of cross-sector experience addressing sexual and domestic violence and improving responses to survivors.

With an MA in Clinical Psychology and a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice, Dr. Menaker has been conducting research related to sexual and domestic violence since 2005, with particular focus on correlates of victim blame. She served as an expert on domestic and sexual violence in multiple forums, including national and international media, statewide task forces, and national research collaboratives.

Before becoming a Senior Director of Social Impact at Match Group, she was the Director of Sexual Violence Response Initiatives with the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence. In this role, she provided training and technical assistance to sexual assault responders and service providers and assists communities in developing sexual assault response teams and forensic nursing programs statewide. 

Tasha specializes in training development and facilitation and fostering effective partnerships to enact social or system change. She has extensive experience working collaboratively with grassroots organizations created by and for communities of color and LGBTQ+ communities on anti-violence initiatives, including prevention and awareness campaigns, outreach activities, system reform advocacy, standards and guidelines, and community education.

Jenny Guzman

Jenny Guzman is the Arizona Program Director at Common Cause.

Born and raised in Yuma, Arizona, Jennifer Guzman leverages six years of experience in policy, political advocacy, and bilingual communications, giving her the expertise to support the organization’s legislative work. The core of her work has centralized on the fight for socioeconomic equity, having executed successful campaigns for voting rights, state ballot measures, reproductive freedom, LGBTQ+ rights, and protecting public education.

Based in Phoenix, Guzman is an alumna of the Monzón Fellowship, a prestigious and highly-competitive political leadership fellowship in Arizona; the New American Leaders Ready to Lead program, a training program for immigrants and communities of color; and Arena Academy, an interdisciplinary political training program where she recently returned as a trainer for the communications track session.

Kehsa Dawson

Kesha is an ordained minister on a mission to inspire the natural, creative power within the human spirit, and she regards her work, the people she touches, and their life experiences as sacred.
Currently serving as the Corporate Learning & Development Manager at Tucson Electric Power, she is accountable for developing transformational leaders in Belize, the Cayman Islands, and the United States.
Before joining TEP, she was the Director of Organizational Development at CPES, Inc., a Learning Systems Architect at Intuit, the Program Manager for the Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona, and owner of Taking Care of Her, LLC.

She studied Positive Organizational Scholarship under Dr. Kim Cameron at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and holds a B.A. in Sustainable Community Development from Prescot College. She is a Green Belt Instructor and certified Six Sigma, Master Black Belt.

Kesha is a master facilitator certified in over a dozen disciplines by world-renowned program authors, including Franklin Covey, Crucial Learning, TalentSmart, CliftonStrengths, InsideOut Development, and Landmark Worldwide.

She chairs the Fast Pitch Mentor program with Social Venture Partners and is a member of Women in Energy at UNS Energy. The YWCA named her a Women on the Move award nominee, and the Women’s Funding Network honored her as a Bridgebuilder.

Kesha builds custom programs for groups looking to enhance collaboration and performance and has worked with Tucson organizations, including Women at the Top and Educational Enrichment Foundation.