Leadership
Executive Committee
Evelyn Lemly
CMCA President
Education:
B.S., North Carolina State University
M.B.A., Columbia Business School, Columbia University
Evelyn Lemly is the CEO of Kairos Prison Ministry International (“Kairos”) serving over 500 communities in ten countries utilizing over 30,000 volunteers. Previously, Evelyn worked in the business world, was President of a Bible translation ministry, as well as Executive Vice President of a ministry focused on teaching locals to study the Bible and to establish churches. She holds a MBA in leadership of organizations, marketing, and finance. Evelyn also serves as Secretary for the Coalition of Prison Evangelists Board of Directors.
Karen Swanson
CMCA Co-Founder
Education:
B.A., Calvin College and Cornerstone University
M.A., Western Michigan University
Ed. D., Curriculum Leadership, Northern Illinois University
Karen has been the Director of the Correctional Ministries Institue (CMI), Wheaton College Billy Graham Center since 2005. As Director, she oversees the Charles W. Colson scholarship program and pursues the goals of the Correctional Ministries Institute through networks, collaboration and strategic partners. She has more than 25 years of higher education experience and has developed and teaches Certificate Program in Correctional Ministry courses offered through the Correctional Ministries Institute.
FULL BIO
Karen has co-authored with Lennie Spitale, Released.
Karen lives in West Chicago, IL with her dog Luther (who she has co-custody with a friend) and part-time with her unofficial adopted grandsons Cameron and Caleb.
Jonathan Evans
CMCA Vice President
Education:
B.A., Washington Bible College
M.Div and Master of Theology, Capital Bible Seminary
Jon joined Good News Jail & Prison Ministry as the third President in the 54 year history of the organization in September 2013. Previously, he served as a volunteer in Anne Arundel County (MD) jails and as part of the Chaplain Support Team since 2001. Jon joined the Good News Board of Directors in 2005 and has served as the Secretary as well as a member of the Membership, Executive and Governance Committees. From 1997 to 2013 he worked for D.P. Associates (DPA), a division of L-3 Communications, serving as the Vice President of Operations (COO) for DPA since 2004. Prior work experience includes 11 years of full and part time ministry with Washington Bible College/Capital Bible Seminary (now part of Lancaster Bible College) in Washington DC.
FULL BIO
Jonathan Miles Evans
President Good News Jail & Prison Ministry
Joined Good News Jail & Prison Ministry as the third President in the 60 year history of the organization in September 2013. Previously, he served as a volunteer in Anne Arundel County (MD) jails and as part of the Chaplain Support Team since 2001. Joined the Good News Board of Directors in 2005 and served as the Secretary as well as a member of the Membership, Executive and Governance Committees.
Prior to joining Good News as a staff member, Mr. Evans served as the Vice President – Corporate Operations for L-3 Communications – D.P. Associates Inc. responsible for overseeing all non-product development efforts including contracts, accounting, business operations, human resources, security, and corporate policy. He began at DPA in April 1997 as the first Human Resources Manager for the company rising to the VP (COO) position in 2004. Between 1997 and 2013 the company grew from 13 locations and 175 employees to 33 locations, 3 countries and nearly 600 employees. Revenues during the period grew from $10 million to $125 million.
Mr. Evans has two master’s degrees from Capital Seminary and has completed additional graduate work in organizational communications and business policy development. Undergraduate work was completed at Washington Bible College in christian education/sports and recreation administration.
Good News is the largest organization of its kind placing Christian chaplains in jails and prisons around the world. Currently Good News has 80 chaplains in the US and 335 abroad. Good News chaplains serve 300,000 incarcerated men, women and youth daily in 22 states and 25 countries worldwide. Our chaplains share the love of Christ to these inmates and staff, while facilitating the ministry of thousands of volunteers. In many foreign prison systems, inmates are not fed, clothed or provided medical care by the government. All of these essentials must be supplied through family or others on the outside. Good News international chaplains step in the gap, often serving as the “humanitarian” providers and the spiritual lifelines for inmates.
Jerry Blassingame
CMCA Treasurer and President Emeritus
Education:
Course work at Greenville Technical College
School of Correctional Ministries
Jerry Blassingame is the Executive Director of Soteria Community Development Corporation and Senior Pastor of Soteria Christian Fellowship. He endeavors to empower individuals and the community through education, affordable housing, financial literacy, community and economic development, and entrepreneurship. His passion is assisting individuals who have been incarcerated through reentry and helping them to become productive citizens.
FULL BIO
Jerry attended Columbia International University and studied architectural engineering at Greenville Technical College. Jerry received a 20 year prison sentence in 1995 and only served 3 ½ years after being paroled in 1999. He is also a social Entrepreneur who believes in social enterprise for the non- profit sector. Jerry has continued to fight for change in legislation since he was granted a pardon in 2004. One of his greatest accomplishments was to receive the Charles W. Colson Scholarship from IPM through Wheaton College in 2014.
Jerry currently resides in Greenville South Carolina with his wife, Stephanie of 17 years and 3 of their 6 children. He’s an active part of the community and serves on several boards including the PTA of his son’s middle school.
Joseph Williams
Executive Director Emeritus
Education:
A.A., William Tyndale College
B.A., William Tyndale College
M.A., Wayne State University
Leading social entrepreneur Joseph Williams is on a mission to restore the lives of those affected by crime. His passion for helping the incarcerated, formerly incarcerated and their families reach their God-given potential is born from his own personal battles. In his gripping memoir, Sheep in Wolves’ Clothing: When the Actions of a Christian Turn Criminal, Joseph simultaneously recounts his own personal triumph over drugs, crime and prison and becomes a conduit of freedom for others.
FULL BIO
As Founder and President of the Christian Association for Prison Aftercare (CAPA) he used his vast experience and knowledge to inspire and teach numerous organizational leaders and criminal justice professionals around the world. These successes continue to provide Joseph with the opportunity to share his expertise, as well as his surprising humor and quick wit with other professionals at various forums around the nation. Among them are the prestigious bodies of the U.S. House of Representatives and the National Institute of Corrections. Joseph also serves on the national advisory board for the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism’s Institute for Prison Ministry.
Ilinda Jackson
CMCA President Emeritus
Education:
B.A., Biblical Studies
B.S., Organizational Leadership
M.A., Applied Behavior Studies
Under supervision as a LPC and LADC
Ilinda Jackson is pastor of the Secret Place Community Church, a church with a heart for the surrounding community, including hurting women and their children. She is dedicated to taking a message to the community; that it will take not only the participation of individuals, but also that of the business owners, churches, and foundations to bring community wholeness. She is the founder and CEO of Raising the Standard Ministries, Inc., located in Oklahoma City, OK, a unique and innovative ministry that has apprehended the true essence of “transitional living” with five life-changing houses.
FULL BIO
RTSM, Inc. offers faith-based transitional services for women and their children. Her passion is to address the spiritual condition of individuals and to develop and mature the body of Christ as she believes that true and lasting transformation must come through the building of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Healer and Redeemer! As she reaches out with unconditional love and acceptance, she endeavors to facilitate heart change through the power of the blood of Jesus Christ as well as assist with realistic and essential needs such as housing, food, clothing, employment, substance abuse treatment and education.
She has served as the Chaplain in a tri-level female prison to include maximum security and death row where she also served as the Coordinator of the Faith and Character Community Program; one of the first of its kind for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. She currently is the coordinator of the Victim Services Unit for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, providing help and support to the citizens of Oklahoma who have been impacted by crime as well as providing restorative justice measures for offenders to take responsibility for crimes they have committed.
Steve Lowe
Executive Committee Member
Education:
M.A., Intercultural Studies, Talbot Theological Seminary – Biola University
M.A., Psychology-clinical, Pepperdine University
M.A., Criminal Justice, California State University, San Bernardino
Doctoral Coursework, Claremont University
As a former probation counselor and therapist and today as a seasoned juvenile correctional chaplain, Steve has provided over 40 years of professional institutional service to California’s San Bernadino, Riverside, and Orange counties. Supervising the Protestant Chaplaincy ministry for the Orange County Juvenile Justice Complex’s seven institutions since 1981. Steve’s purpose is to help fulfill the Great Commission with incarcerated and hurting youth, adults, and their families.
FULL BIO
As the Founder, President, and Executive Chaplain for Pacific Youth Correctional Ministries, an international chaplain-placing ministry, Steve also assists Christian organizations and penal agencies as a consultant in program organization and development. He has experience as an adjunct faculty member, specializing in criminology and juvenile delinquency.
Steve is an ordained minister and is joined in ministry by his wife Jan. Steve and Jan have three grown children: Jeff, Morgan(deceased), and Jessica.
Heather Rice-Minus
Executive Committee Member
Education:
- B.A., Social Work, Liberal Arts, cum laude, Colorado State University
- J.D., George Mason University, Antonin Scalia Law School.
- Member of the Virginia State Bar and a Colson Fellow
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.
FULL BIO
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.
Advisory Committee
Don Allsman – CEO/ Completion Global, Inc.
Stacey Campbell – President/CEO, Prison Fellowship Canada
Leticia Chavez-Paulette – Executive Director, A Peaceful Habitation
Boyd Chikatulah-Lead Minister/Founder, Kingdom Commission Church, Zambia
Doug Cupery – Director of Church Mobilization, Crossroads Prison Ministries
Vance Drum – Correctional Ministries Consulting/ret. Dir. of Chaplaincy Operations, TX DOJ
Vanessa Gardner – Founder, Reentry Consultants of America, LLC
William Harrison– Director Pastoral Care, JUMPSTART
Mark Inch– Retired Secretary of Corrections, state of Florida
Jonathan Lewis – Executive Director, Life Abundant, Inc.
Romney Ruder – President, Lifeline Global Ministries
Miea Walker – Criminal Justice Advocate