Lyndsey Burcina and Mickale Jones: New Fifth District Human Rights Commissioners

This story was originally published July 8, 2020.

Supervisor Lynda Hopkins brings two new commissioners on to represent the Fifth District on Sonoma County Commission on Human Rights! Lyndsey Burcina and Mickale Jones.

Lyndsey Burcina was born in Santa Rosa and has resided there ever since, spending the majority of her childhood in her grandparent’s West County home. It was there where she had been raised to value and honor her Japanese-American heritage, keeping up with the traditions of her family. She is a Japanese folk dance instructor with Enmanji Buddhist Temple in Sebastopol and the 2020 & 2021 title holder of Japanese-America’s Miss California.

Lyndsey attended Elsie Allen High School where she was able to launch her career as a Restorative Justice Practitioner at the age of 17 becoming one of the youngest specialists in the country to present and be recognized by the International Institute for Restorative Practices at their Word Conference in 2017. Since graduating in 2018 she has developed a curriculum now used in 13 states.

She has worked with many organizations within Sonoma County and has dedicated the last 5 years of her life to serving her community. Lyndsey looks forward to continuing to serve the county and to continue to grow and learn as new opportunities arise.

Mickale Jones (28) is a Sonoma County native, born and raised in the Roseland area. Growing up with a white teacher and a black pastor as his mother and father, Mickale was given a unique view into our community. This developed into a passion for mental health and for providing resources to kids in lower-income areas to help give them a hand up in life.

As a recording artist and entrepreneur, he is no stranger to hard work and doing what it takes to complete the task at hand. This passion and dedication has carried over into his work with the community, helping to organize protests and speaking at many of the events that have taken place in Santa Rosa over the last few weeks.

He is a firm believer that ALL people were created equal. “Regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or economic status, we all deserve the same opportunities in life. Period.” Upon joining the commission, Mickale is very excited to show more minority representation in our local government. He has happily opened the doors of communication to the people of Sonoma County to make sure every voice is heard.

LEARN about the Commission on Human Rights: https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/Commission-on-Human-Rights/