Elissa Jones

Elissa Jones discovered Best Friends more than 20 years ago as a member, and then as a volunteer at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. She joined the staff in 2005, and her first project was the creation of the Guardian Angel program and the associated website. She also created the DogTown television show with National Geographic and oversaw the production of the show at the Sanctuary for the four seasons that it was on the air. In addition, she acted as Executive Producer on The Champions, a documentary film about the Michael Vick dogs after they were rescued.

In her capacity as Senior Director of Communications and Creative Content, Elissa oversees a diverse team of talented people who help tell the story of Best Friends through photos, videos, stories and other creative content and work to share the culture, history and ongoing stories of the animals of Best Friends, as well as the amazing lifesaving work being done, with our members and the public. Elissa's team also produces Best Friends magazine.

Elissa brings 25 years of video production, special events, public relations and sales experience to her work at Best Friends. In all of her work, storytelling has been both a key job function and a personal passion. Elissa graduated from Oregon State University with a B.S. in broadcast media communications.