Prison Fellowship’s Advocacy and Public Policy Team

Senior Vice President, Advocacy & Public Policy

Craig DeRoche serves as senior vice president for advocacy and public policy at Prison Fellowship, the nation’s largest outreach to prisoners, former prisoners, and their families. He leads the organization’s efforts to advance restorative criminal justice reform at the state and federal levels. A recognized subject-matter expert, he has testified before Congress and confers with lawmakers to help them design legislation that prioritizes accountability, community participation, and second chances.

DeRoche made front-page news when, at 34, he became the speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives. In 2010, he made national headlines again for two alcohol-related arrests, revealing a long-concealed addiction to alcohol. It was only after his arrests, the ensuing rehab, and a renewed focus on his Christian faith that he entered lasting recovery. He relates the story in Highly Functional, his 2015 memoir.

Since joining Prison Fellowship, DeRoche has brought his political acumen and personal experiences to the pursuit of restorative criminal justice. He pens op-eds for publications including The New York Times, The Washington Times, and The Christian Post. He serves on the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections, a bipartisan body charged with making recommendations to Congress and the president about how to improve the federal corrections system. He is also a signatory to Right on Crime’s Statement of Principles on conservative criminal justice reform. Right on Crime is a project of the Texas Public Policy Foundation in cooperation with Prison Fellowship and the American Conservative Union Foundation.

Vice President of Government Affairs & Church Mobilization

Heather Rice-Minus serves as vice president of government affairs and church mobilization at Prison Fellowship, the nation's largest Christian nonprofit serving prisoners, former prisoners, and their families. She is a powerful, knowledgeable voice articulating the case for restorative criminal justice solutions.

Rice-Minus directs a team of grassroots and federal policy staff to advance campaigns on pivotal criminal justice issues. She spearheads Prison Fellowship’s efforts to strengthen Prison Fellowship’s relationships with national Christian organizations and denominations and deepen church partnerships.

Rice-Minus has contributed to stories about criminal justice reform in outlets including Christianity Today, Slate, CBN News, the Marshall Project, PBS' Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, and WORLD Magazine. She is the co-author of Outrageous Justice, a multimedia Bible study curriculum and companion book. A valued shaper of the criminal justice reform debate because of her wide-ranging policy expertise, Rice-Minus maintains a vested interest in justice reform as someone who has both been a victim of crime and walked alongside a family member during his incarceration.

A native of Virginia, Rice-Minus resides in Washington, D.C., with her husband and daughter. Prior to her tenure at Prison Fellowship, she managed advocacy efforts on behalf of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. She is a graduate of Colorado State University and George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. She is a member of the Virginia State Bar and a Colson Fellow.

Director, State Policy

Kate Trammell serves as the director of state policy at Prison Fellowship, the nation’s largest Christian nonprofit serving prisoners, former prisoners, and their families. She is well-versed in criminal law and research, and has unique expertise conducting state-level issue advocacy campaigns and equipping local churches for political engagement.

Each year, Trammell leads more than 10 state policy campaigns designed to bring justice that restores to those impacted by crime and incarceration across America. This work includes negotiating strategic partnerships, building and maintaining local and statewide coalitions, and directing state policy staff and lobbying activity.

Trammell also directs Prison Fellowship’s research and technical writing to build a data-centered approach to justice that restores. She serves the state policymaker members of the Faith and Justice Fellowship, a bipartisan body of members of Congress, governors, and state legislators motivated by their faith traditions to advance restorative values in criminal justice reform. Trammell has contributed to stories on criminal and juvenile justice reform in the Christian Post and Business Insider.

Prior to joining Prison Fellowship, Trammell worked directly with law enforcement, victims of crime, and criminal defendants as a magistrate for the Supreme Court of Virginia. She is a graduate of Liberty University School of Law with added studies in international law and comparative criminal procedure, and is a member of the Virginia State Bar. She resides in Northern Virginia with her husband and daughter.

Grassroots Engagement Manager

Elizabeth DeMeyere serves Prison Fellowship’s advocacy team by creating strategic content and advocacy campaigns to activate the organization’s growing advocacy network at the federal and state levels. DeMeyere views political engagement as important for every American and believes that Christians have an even higher calling to live out the Gospel by advocating for Christian values. Her goal is to make this as easy as possible for Prison Fellowship’s advocates by clearly communicating about the issues and how their actions can make a difference in criminal justice reform.

Prior to her time with Prison Fellowship, DeMeyere worked in government relations in Washington, D.C. She also spent time working on the Romney for President campaign and the last three Republican National Conventions, where she helped manage backstage operations and the line by line script. Elizabeth started her career as an event planner for the Council for National Policy. She is a proud graduate of Hillsdale College, where she studied political science. DeMeyere lives in Virginia with her husband and daughter.

Legislative Research Manager

Chelsea Friske serves Prison Fellowship’s advocacy team by managing the tracking of criminal justice trends at the state and federal levels, authoring technical writing pieces in support of justice reform campaigns, and producing resources that raise the profile of values-based criminal justice reform.

Friske is a graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law and Bay Path College, where she studied criminal justice and psychology, with a research focus on the experience of children in the courtroom and the treatment of those convicted of sex offenses. She completed internships in probation and police departments during college and gained experience in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Commonwealth Attorney’s Office during and after law school. Friske and her husband reside in Northern Virginia.

Justice Ambassador Program Manager

Sammy Perez serves Prison Fellowship’s advocacy team by building and mobilizing a network of people who are passionate about justice that restores. Perez equips Prison Fellowship’s Justice Advocates in the eastern U.S. to improve the criminal justice system through strategies including constituent lobbying, media engagement, and storytelling. After rediscovering faith in Christ, Perez, who has spent time in prison, overcame his past and began to serve others impacted by crime and incarceration. His letters to the editor have been published in regional Virginia outlets, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch and NoVa News. Perez was appointed by Governor Terry McAuliffe to the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice and Prevention in the Commonwealth.

Perez graduated from Liberty University with a degree in psychology, specializing in addiction and recovery, and is currently completing graduate studies in professional counseling. He enjoys life with his lovely wife and twin boys.

Advocacy Operations Manager

Olivia Schoffstall serves Prison Fellowship’s advocacy team by providing the strategic administrative support required for successful public policy campaigns. While helping to apply strategies for various advocacy initiatives, Schoffstall coordinates projects with other internal teams to best leverage ministry resources for justice reform. Schoffstall previously served as the assistant editor of Shared Justice, a publication of the Center for Public Justice in Washington, D.C.

Schoffstall completed an undergraduate degree in economics and religious studies at the University of Virginia, then participated in the Falls Church Fellows Program, a fellowship focused on integrity and excellence in the workplace. She is passionate about adding value to meaningful dialogue, learning from others, and facilitating innovation across racial and socioeconomic lines through advocacy.

Senior Legislative Strategist

Andrew Brashier serves on the state policy team as the senior legislative strategist, representing Prison Fellowship on issues of adult and juvenile justice reform before lawmakers, partner organizations, and members of the faith community. He is committed to encouraging lawmakers to model legislation on the biblical values of justice, equity, mercy, and restoration. Brashier’s areas of expertise include incarceration, reentry policy, and other issues related to criminal law.

Prior to joining Prison Fellowship, Brashier was a partner at Beasley Allen, one of the nation’s most prestigious plaintiff’s law firms, and was named 2018 Fraud Section Lawyer of the Year. He graduated from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University with a Juris Doctor and certificate in trial advocacy and earned a double major in political science and history from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. An Alabama native, Brashier resides with his family in the Birmingham metro area.

Federal Legislative Strategist

David Jimenez serves as a federal legislative strategist for Prison Fellowship’s advocacy and public policy team. His background is in public policy advocacy and institution building, most recently as one of the primary managers for the American Enterprise Institute’s outreach to college students, faculty, and administrators. As an undergraduate at Bowdoin College in Maine, Jimenez studied history and political theory. After graduating, he participated in the Hudson Institute’s Political Studies Fellowship and was a Fulbright English teaching assistant in Romania.

A proud alumnus of Prison Fellowship’s internship program, he first became passionate about criminal justice reform while serving urban youth in New Jersey, where he saw up close the urgent need for restorative approaches to incarceration, law enforcement, and violence. He is passionate about theology, social policy, ethics, and culture. A Pittsburgh native, Jimenez lives in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

Legislative Research Associate

Jack Brown serves Prison Fellowship’s advocacy team by collecting criminal justice research data at the state and federal levels and assisting in the production of resources. His role at Prison Fellowship is in coordination with the Koch Associate Program. Brown is a recent graduate of George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School and the University of Delaware, where he completed degrees in history and Greek and Roman studies. He previously completed internships with the Institute for Justice, John Boneta & Associates law firm, and Cato Institute.

Justice Ambassador Specialist

Steve Gordon serves Prison Fellowship’s advocacy team by building and mobilizing a network of people passionate about justice that restores. He equips Prison Fellowship’s Justice Advocates in the western U.S. to impact the criminal justice system through strategies including constituent lobbying, media engagement, and storytelling. He previously directed the Oklahoma Partnership for Successful Reentry and was the founder and president of the Strategic Reentry Group, a consulting firm specializing in community reintegration for people returning from incarceration.

Gordon is the author of five books, including Purposeful Neighboring: Creating Reentry-Ready Communities. He studied computer science and systems analysis at Oklahoma State University and resides in Fort Worth with his wife Karen.

Advocacy Events and Program Specialist

Angela Kim serves Prison Fellowship’s advocacy team by planning and executing national and federal events to advance justice that restores. She manages the advocacy team’s participation in conferences and speaking engagements, and oversees the logistics of events for major initiatives like Second Chance Month. She also provides program support to the policy and grassroots teams, including tracking outcomes and administrative assistance. Kim’s experience with the criminal justice system and her faith in Christ motivate her to help those who are marginalized and work to advance criminal justice reform.

Kim completed undergraduate studies in crime, law, and justice at Pennsylvania State University. In addition to her work at Prison Fellowship, she frequently volunteers in the community through children’s ministry, outreach to those who are homeless, and a local church-based media ministry.

State Events Specialist

Samuel Mariscal serves on the state policy team as the state events specialist, planning and executing state-level grassroots, faith leader, and policy events to advance justice that restores. Mariscal also manages the advocacy team’s participation in state-level conferences and speaking engagements and serves as program support for the Faith and Justice Fellowship.

Mariscal graduated Cum Laude from Ashland University with a double major in history and political science. Prior to joining Prison Fellowship, he served as the northeast regional field coordinator for Leadership Institute, organizing and equipping students for events on college and university campuses.

Justice Ambassador Specialist

Krista Ortiz serves Prison Fellowship’s advocacy team by building and mobilizing a network of people who are passionate about justice that restores. She equips Prison Fellowship’s Justice Ambassadors in the eastern United States to improve the criminal justice system using strategies like constituent lobbying, media engagement, and storytelling. Ortiz’s passion for seeking justice and serving others is founded upon one of her favorite quotes from Winston Churchill: “I never worry about action, but only inaction.” Her faith in Christ and belief that change is possible when Christians act on behalf of others motivates her to help individuals find and raise their voice to advance justice that restores for all.

Ortiz holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees in social work, with specialties in community mobilization, research, advocacy, and public policy. She currently resides in Northern Virginia and cherishes life with her husband.

Advocacy Administrative Assistant

Kathy Scherrer serves Prison Fellowship’s advocacy team by providing administrative and scheduling assistance in a fast-paced environment. She studied business management at the University of Phoenix.