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Leadership

James J. AckermanJAMES J. ACKERMAN

PRESIDENT AND CEO

James Ackerman formally joined Prison Fellowship in 2016 as President and CEO.

Ackerman has more than 20 years of experience as a highly effective executive, helping media companies like Documentary Channel, British Interactive Broadcasting, Broadway Systems, and Open TV navigate periods of transition and growth. In 2005 he founded Spinnaker Media to develop innovative entertainment and digital media companies. He also previously held roles at British Sky Broadcasting, A&E Television Networks, Hearst Entertainment, International Family Entertainment, and Grey Entertainment & Media.

He has served on the boards of several companies and nonprofit organizations, including Saving Innocence, which provides social services to underage girls rescued from sex trafficking, the International Documentary Association, and Stockholm-based Accedo, a global pioneer in video applications.

Prior to joining Prison Fellowship, Ackerman's volunteer service in prison includes as a counselor to a man on death row in California's San Quentin State Prison and as a pre-release instructor in Tennessee's Riverbend Maximum Security Prison. Ackerman has spent the last dozen years volunteering with Prison Fellowship, leveraging his business experience to teach prisoners important life skills, such as resume writing, job interviewing, household budgeting and personal planning. He also spent 10 years mentoring prisoners and former prisoners, including a man who, though convicted of murder, went on to start a successful business of his own following his release from prison. Ackerman maintains a close friendship with him today.

Ackerman is also a veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard. He and his wife Martha reside in California. They have two adult children, Holden and Lily.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM

Prison Fellowship's Senior Leadership Team is composed of seasoned experts, leading the ministry with collaboration, transparency, and accountability.

TAMMY BOYLE

Vice President, Strategic Gifts


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TAMMY BOYLE

Vice President, Strategic Gifts

Tammy Boyle guides Prison Fellowship's efforts to secure major gifts and planned gifts. This includes executing fundraising campaigns to increase revenue, so that the transformative mission and the vision of the ministry can continue and expand. Boyle has been with Prison Fellowship since 2010, and has 20 years of experience in development working with organizations such as the American Cancer Society and Junior Achievement. She is also the author of "Becoming: The Woman God Made You to Be," published in 2011. She lives in Colorado with her husband and has three grown children.

SAM DYE

Senior Vice President, Warden Exchange


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SAM DYE

Senior Vice President, Warden Exchange

Sam Dye oversees Prison Fellowship’s in-prison, reentry, and family ministry programming all across the country. Prior to joining Prison Fellowship, Dye worked in health care for 20 years. After a short stint as an in-prison volunteer, he left health care to pursue his love of prison ministry and served as the director of Prison Fellowship’s intensive faith-based reentry program in Iowa, where he led participant recruitment, taught classes behind bars, and served as liaison for Prison Fellowship and the DOC. Dye loves seeing prisoners and former prisoners transform into contributing members of the community.

Dye has served on his church leadership board for 25 years and on the board of Open Arms Ukraine for the past three years. He attended Central Christian College for his undergraduate degree and Des Moines University for his graduate degree in health care administration.

KELLY FRIEDLANDER

Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications


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KELLY FRIEDLANDER

Vice President, Marketing & Communications

Kelly Friedlander leads Prison Fellowship's efforts to develop and execute marketing and communications campaigns to increase brand identity and awareness among the ministry’s constituents, as well as measure the ministry's strategic outcomes and key program performance metrics. Friedlander is a member of the 2015 class of the Colson Fellows program. Prior to joining Prison Fellowship, Friedlander led marketing, product development, and sales teams at a variety of publicly traded companies, including Discovery Communications and Morningstar, Inc. She has more than 20 years of experience in strategic planning and managing multi-million-dollar consumer, business-to-business, and direct marketing campaigns. Kelly earned her bachelor of arts degree from Wisconsin's St. Norbert College and lives in Virginia with her husband and stepson.

DAN KINGERY

Executive Vice President, Field Programs


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DAN KINGERY

Executive Vice President, Field Programs

As executive vice president of field programs, Dan Kingery oversees all of Prison Fellowship's prison-based programming. He has 30 years of experience working in prisons and community-based corrections and has held various leadership roles with Prison Fellowship since 2000. He has served as a parole officer in the adult and juvenile systems in Iowa. He is a graduate of Iowa State University. He and his wife of 35 years have one daughter and share a love of outdoor activities.

Heather Rice-Minus

HEATHER RICE-MINUS

Senior Vice President,
Advocacy & Church Mobilization

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HEATHER RICE-MINUS

Sr. Vice President, Advocacy & Church Mobilization

Heather Rice-Minus serves as senior vice president of advocacy 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 and how churches play a critical role in meeting the needs of those impacted by crime and incarceration.

Rice-Minus provides strategic leadership to several teams at Prison Fellowship, including grassroots and policy staff, to advance campaigns on pivotal criminal justice issues. She spearheads Prison Fellowship’s efforts to build new church resources and deepen church partnerships through programs like Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree. Additionally, she directs Prison Fellowship’s outreach to and partnerships with foundations.

A valued shaper of the criminal justice reform debate because of her wide-ranging policy expertise, Rice-Minus has contributed to Christianity Today, Slate, CBN News, the Marshall Project, PBS' Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, and WORLD Magazine, among others. She is the co-author of Outrageous Justice, a multimedia Bible study curriculum and companion book produced by Prison Fellowship. She 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. They welcomed another child as foster parents in 2020. 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.

Tim Robison

TIM ROBISON

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

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TIM ROBISON

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

With 30 years of experience in nonprofit management, Tim Robison provides executive leadership to Prison Fellowship's finance, human resources, talent development, information technology, customer support, contracts and legal, and facilities teams. He also provides leadership to the strategic planning process and board support. Tim led the design, construction, and project management for Prison Fellowship's Northern Virginia headquarters in 2004 and 2005.

Robison holds a degree in business administration from Liberty University and certification in facilities management from George Mason University. He also served on the Board of Dominion Christian's classical school of education for three years. Effectively equipping those on the frontline of ministry to restore men and women impacted by crime and incarceration motivates Robison and his team each day.

NATIKA WASHINGTON

Vice President,
Corporate Sponsors

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NATIKA WASHINGTON

Vice President, Corporate Sponsors

Natika Washington leads Prison Fellowship’s efforts to engage foundations and corporations, helping these entities invest in solutions to crime and incarceration, and strengthening the ministry’s financial foundation. An international development expert, she has worked to ensure equal access to human rights opportunities around the world, especially for women and girls. She comes to Prison Fellowship after serving as the chief development officer at Polaris, a leader in the fight to eradicate modern-day slavery. Before that, she was the director of global programs and gender integration at the U.S. Department of State for eight years. There, she managed the implementation of several multi-million dollar initiatives in more than 90 developing countries. She liaised with foreign governments, foundations, and private-sector partners, including Delta Airlines, the Gates Foundation, the Goldman Sachs Foundation, and the Danish government, to build joint women’s empowerment partnerships. Washington is a decorated war veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

She holds a master’s degree in business administration with a minor in cyber security and a bachelor of science in business communications.

SENIOR STAFF

BILL AGGEN

National Director, Evaluation & Research

Joe Avila

JOE AVILA

National Director, Events & Sports Clinics

DAVE BAER

Regional Director

Vanessa Blaylock

VANESSA BLAYLOCK

National Director, Field Operations

Justin Camozzo, Director, Digital Marketing

JUSTIN CAMOZZO

Senior Director, Digital Marketing & Acquisition Strategy

CHARLES DELEON

Director, Contracts & Legal Services

JIM FORBES

Director of Communications

Daniela Gleason

DANIELA GLEASON

Senior Director, Human Resources

ED HARRISON

Senior Director of Information Technology

Dave Hatch

DAVID HATCH

Regional Director

Sarah Kang

KAREN LOPEZ

Director, Development Events & Operations

Jennifer Lowrey

JENNIFER LOWREY

National Director, Programs and Special Events

MICHAEL MADSEN

Regional Director

KRIS MCWILLIAMS

Director, Facilities Operations

Annie Nichols

ANNIE NICHOLS

Senior Director, Direct Response Marketing

Will Riddle

WILL RIDDLE

Vice President, Church Programs

CHARLES ROCK

National Director, Angel Tree Programs

KAY ROOK

National Director, Development

Audrey Santos Fay

AUDREY SANTOS FAY

Regional Director

KRISTINE STEAKLEY

Director of Planned Giving

Kate Trammel

KATE TRAMMELL

Director, Policy & Research

Dennis Truesdell

DENNIS TRUESDELL

Regional Director

Leadership - Stephen Tucker

STEPHEN TUCKER

Senior Director, Finance

Jesse Wiese

JESSE WIESE

National Director, Academy Advancement

CODY WILDE

National Director, Academy Operations

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Prison Fellowship Board of Directors draws on the wisdom and experience of its diverse members to move the ministry forward with integrity and excellence.

Chairman of the Board

Carl F. Dill, Jr.

Managing Director
TriCour Partners
Naples, FL
Vice Chairwoman

Heidi A. Huizenga

Manager
Huizenga Capital Management
Oakbrook, IL

Treasurer

Paul S. Cauwels

CEO/Manager
Cauwels Investments, LLC
Albuquerque, NM

Shaun Alexander

President & CEO
Shaun Alexander Enterprises
Purcellville, VA

Dipo Ashiru

Senior Vice President & Associate General Counsel
TCW Group, Inc.
New York City, NY

Dr. W. Brian Byrd

Founder and CEO
Texas Family Medicine
Fort Worth, TX

N. Burl Cain

Commissioner
Mississippi DDC
Jackson, MS

Christian B. Colson

Senior Vice President
Trust Bank
Charleston, SC

Louis Green

President
Supplier Success
Detroit, MI

Dorcas A. Haque

Board Member
Lighthouse for Women
Milpitas, CA

Erika N. Harold

Attorney of Counsel
Meyer Capel, P.C.
Urbana, IL

Thomas E. Mader

Former CEO
Guardity Technologies, Inc.
Plano, TX

Monique Miles

Managing Principal
Old Towne Associates, P.C.
Alexandria, VA

Robert S. Milligan

Chairman
Wood-Stieper Capital Group
Lincoln, NE

Benny Pough

Founder
DVERSE MEDIA
Fort Lee, NJ

Chip Skowron

Co-founder
NCS-Inside (New Canaan Society)
Old Greenwich, CT

Thomas J. Usher

Former CEO
U.S. Steel
Pittsburg, PA

Terry Van Der Aa

CEO
TLV Holdings Inc.
Hinsdale, IL

RESOURCES & INFORMATION

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PF®

NEW ON OUR BLOG

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