President and CEO

James J. Ackerman joined Prison Fellowship in 2016 as president and CEO and oversees the strategic direction, operations, and fundraising for the ministry.

James 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.

Prior to joining Prison Fellowship, James volunteered in prison as a counselor to a man on death row in California's San Quentin State Prison and as a prerelease instructor in Tennessee's Riverbend Maximum Security Prison.

James spent more than a 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. He and James maintain a close friendship today.

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

Vice President, Marketing & Communications

Justin Camozzo oversees Prison Fellowship’s marketing and communications efforts with primary responsibilities in digital marketing, creative production and innovation, and campaign strategy.

With more than 20 years of experience across the fields of marketing, web development, and graphic design, Justin has held a variety of leadership roles within Prison Fellowship’s marketing division since 2010.

Justin holds a bachelor’s degree in media arts and design from James Madison University and lives in Virginia.

Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications

Kelly Friedlander leads Prison Fellowship's marketing and communications teams. She and her staff develop campaigns to increase brand identity and awareness among the ministry’s constituents, as well as providing marketing and communications support to the entire ministry.

Kelly is a member of the 2015 class of the Colson Fellows program. Prior to joining Prison Fellowship, she led marketing, product development, and sales teams at a variety of publicly traded companies, including Discovery Communications and Morningstar Inc. Kelly has more than 25 years of experience in strategic planning and managing multimillion-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 Colorado with her husband.

Vice President, Human Resources

Daniela Gleason serves as the vice president of human resources for Prison Fellowship. She isresponsible for all aspects of human resources management, including talent acquisition, organizational and performance management, HR policy and compliance, compensation, and benefits administration. Additionally, Daniela serves as co-chair of Prison Fellowship’s diversity, equity, and inclusion council.

Prior to joining Prison Fellowship, Daniela held HR leadership roles in various industries, including financial services, technology, and senior living. She has built and led HR teams on regional and national bases and successfully developed and implemented HR strategies to align with the strategic plans of the organizations she served.

Daniela earned her Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from George Mason University and holdsHR certifications through the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM-SCP) and HR Certification Institute (SPHR).

Executive Vice President, Field Programs

Dan Kingery oversees all of Prison Fellowship's prison-based programming. He has more than 30 years of experience working in prisons and community-based corrections and has held various leadership roles with Prison Fellowship since 2000.

Previously, Dan served as a parole officer in the adult and juvenile systems in Iowa. He earned a bachelor’s degree in social work at Iowa State University.

Dan and his wife of 38 years live in Iowa and have one daughter and share a love of outdoor activities.

Vice President, Direct Response Marketing

Annie Nichols serves as vice president of direct response marketing at Prison Fellowship. In partnership with her talented team, and with her 15 years of Christian nonprofit experience, Annie is responsible for strategizing and overseeing the execution of authentic, timely, and effective development campaigns that fuel life-transforming ministry and programs in prisons across the country.

Prior to joining Prison Fellowship in 2018, Annie led strategic fundraising and marketing efforts as an account executive at Masterworks. She was also responsible for directing marketing, recruitment, and oversight of the International Studies program at Wheaton College.

Annie earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Abilene Christian University and received a Master of Arts in industrial and organizational psychology from Elmhurst College.

Executive Vice President, Strategic Initiatives

In January 2023, the Prison Fellowship Board of Directors announced that it had unanimously selected Heather Rice-Minus to serve as the ministry’s next president and chief executive officer effective July 1, 2024, succeeding her mentor, James Ackerman.

Heather, currently the executive vice president of strategic initiatives, first joined Prison Fellowship in 2013. In her role, she leads teams that build partnerships with churches, help strengthen relationships between incarcerated parents and their children, foster partnerships with donors at every level, and advocate for restorative criminal justice reform. In her previous role as the head of Prison Fellowship’s advocacy team, she was a leading voice behind the passage of the FIRST STEP Act.

A sought-after public speaker on the intersection of faith, justice, and incarceration, Heather has addressed audiences at national conferences and events including Wilberforce Weekend, Q Ideas Conference, and more. She has also contributed to Christianity Today, Slate, CBN News, The Marshall Project, PBS' Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, and many other media outlets.

Previously, Heather managed prison reform advocacy efforts at the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and taught English in East Africa.

She graduated cum laude from Colorado State University with a degree in liberal arts and social work. After earning her J.D. from George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, she became a member of the Virginia State Bar, a member of the American Enterprise Institute’s Leadership Network and Faith & Public Life Ideas Council, and a Colson Fellow.

She resides in Southeast Washington, D.C., with her husband and two daughters.

Vice President, Church Programs

Will Riddle leads the Prison Fellowship Angel Tree program and the organization’s outreach to churches.

After interning at NASA’s Advanced Development Group, Will joined IBM, where he rose from application developer to become a leader in a major enterprise transformation. A proven innovator with published research, Will was recognized at IBM’s highest technical recognition event.

Will’s work in ministry includes taking part in three church plants. He launched a Cincinnati-based men’s recovery program, which led to his book Free at Last and his desire to build redemptive pathways out of the incarceration pipeline.

Will holds a master of divinity in urban ministry from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Arts in computer science from Duke University. He and his wife Jaime live in Kansas City. Married for 20 years, they have four teenagers.

Chief Operating Officer

Tim Robison provides executive leadership to Prison Fellowship's finance, human resources, talent development, information technology, contracts and legal, and facilities functions. In addition, drawing from his 31 years of experience in nonprofit management, Tim provides leadership to the ministry’s strategic planning process and supports Prison Fellowship’s board of directors.

Tim also led the design, construction, and project management for Prison Fellowship's Northern Virginia headquarters in 2005, and he provided strategic oversight for its sale and staff relocation in 2021.

Tim holds a degree in business administration from Liberty University and certification in facilities management from George Mason University.

Vice President, Advocacy

Kate Trammell leads the advocacy team to change culture and law through leveraging research, grassroots mobilization, and legislative campaigns. Kate oversees the development of policy positions on criminal justice issues and directs the organization’s advocacy initiatives designed to bring justice that restores to those impacted by crime and incarceration at the state and federal level.

Trammell has contributed to stories on crime and incarceration in the New York Times, Christian Post, Business Insider, and a variety of regional publications.

Previously, Kate worked 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 Maryland with her husband and two children.

Vice President, Finance

Stephen Tucker serves as the vice president of finance for Prison Fellowship, bringing more than 25 years of accounting experience. Prior to joining Prison Fellowship, Stephen spent seven years in his consultant business, which aided Fortune 500 companies in financial restatements and the implementation of internal controls. He also served in various accounting and finance roles for Capital One and Circuit City in Richmond, Virginia.

Stephen graduated from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia, and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Stephen lives in northern Virginia and is an avid golfer.

Vice President, Program Design and Evaluation

Jesse Wiese serves as vice president of program design and evaluation. He manages the expansion of Prison Fellowship’s Good Citizenship Model^™, an innovative approach to measuring success in the prison system.

Previously, Jesse served seven-and-a-half years in prison for robbery and later earned his law degree. A Prison Fellowship Academy graduate, he advocates for justice solutions that prioritize human dignity, accountability, and second chances.

In 2006, he joined Prison Fellowship as a reentry specialist. After law school, Wiese returned to Prison Fellowship in 2012 as a policy analyst. He has testified before Congress and state legislatures and helped shape criminal justice dialogue through coverage in the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, National Journal, CBN, and more.

Wiese, a native of Oklahoma, graduated magna cum laude from Regent University School of Law and earned his bachelor’s degree from Moody Bible Institute. A licensed Virginia attorney, he resides in Chesapeake, Virginia, with his wife and two children.

Vice President, Academy Programs

Cody Wilde leads Prison Fellowship’s Tier 2 Academy team and our national network of post-release reentry providers. Cody previously served as an Academy director at Lino Lakes Correctional Facility, as a regional director for the Midwest and Great Lakes territory, and as national director of operations for the Academy team.

Originally from North Dakota, Cody is a former officer in the United States Army. He received his undergraduate degree in history from Northwestern College in St. Paul and holds graduate degrees in theology and international affairs from Bethel Seminary and the Bush School of Government at Texas A&M University. He is a student in a business management certificate program at the University of Texas, Austin.

Cody is married with three children and lives in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, where he serves on the elder board at his local church.