ABOUT US
Leadership
Jack Cowley
National Director
Jack retired with 30 years of service from the State of Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Most of his career with the state was as a prison warden where he served in that capacity at three facilities. Upon retirement in 1996 he joined the staff of Prison Fellowship Ministries where he served as National Director of Operations for the InnerChange Freedom Initiative establishing reentry programs in Iowa, Kansas and Minnesota. Through IFI a model was established which vastly reduces the rate that inmates released from prison re-offend. As the National Director for Prisons & Reentry with Alpha USA since 2004 his primary function is to link Faithbased and community organizations with correctional facilities to reduce recidivism and thereby increase public safety.
Jack consults nationally and internationally regarding criminal justice issues to include testifying before Congress and was previously appointed to an 8-year term by the US Attorney General to the Advisory Board of the National Institute of Corrections. He earned his Bachelors of Science from Oklahoma State University in Sociology as well as a Masters of Science in Correctional Administration. He completed his course work toward his Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma in Organizational Leadership.
Jack and his wife Mel live in Wichita Falls, Texas and are thoroughly enjoying life.
Bruce Paulus
National Deputy Director
Through his six-year appointment as Vice-Chairman of Prison Fellowship’s Justice Fellowship National Leadership Advisory Council he worked with the Missouri “Jobs for Missouri” Committee, which specifically addressed Prison Industry legislation. During this time Bruce developed a strong interest in the criminal justice system. He has also served on the Restorative Justice Council of the National Diocese Association of St Louis and was a presenter at the National Community Sentencing Guidelines Association of Chicago. As a result of his contributions to this work he was hired by Prison Fellowship as the Program Manager of the Iowa “InnerChange Freedom Initiative”, which is an intensive prison pre and post release program for inmates. For two years he served as the Director of Prison Ministries for “Child Evangelism Fellowship”, developing resources and programs for the highest at risk population in the world, the child of a parent in prison.
Bruce is primarily responsible for developing local church communities to invest in prisoners through not only the delivery of the Alpha Course but also for assisting in their transition back into the community through partnering with local prisons and jails through the establishment of the Alpha USA model of prisoner reintegration.
Contact Us
State Contacts
Arizona
Tedi McClain Tedimcc@gmail.com
Kevin Carson kecarsaz1@aol.com
Scott Bagshaw scottbagshaw@alphausa.org
California – North
Linda Miller
Lindaleemiller11@gmail.com
California – South
Melinda Williams
melindawilliams@alphausa.org
Florida
David Juliano jdavidjuliano@gmail.com
Kentucky
Gregg & Keene Howard
greghoward@twc.com
Minnesota
Brittany Williams brittanywilliams@alphausa.org
Nebraska
Jodi Meyer jodimeyer@alphausa.org
New Jersey
Linda Tiner lintinpeoples@gmail.com
New York
Peter Johnson pkjohnsonpm@aol.com
Nada Pottinger NadaPottinger@alphausa.org
North Carolina – West
Susan Garland spg60@hotmail.com
Ohio
Jessica Gatton JessicaGatton@alphausa.org
Matt Rankin mattrankin@alphausa.org
Alan Starr AStarr@tabuilding.com
Michael Swiger micswig@sbcglobal.net
Oklahoma
Jack Cowley JackCowley@alphausa.org
Oregon
Kirk Petersen KirkPetersen@alphausa.org
Juliana Helwig juliana.helwig@gmail.com
Susan Triplett Triplett.S@comcast.net
Pennsylvania
Jacki Tase JackiTase@alphausa.org
Rhode Island
Willard Cook WillardCook@alphausa.org
South Carolina
Margaret Cotton
margaretcotton@alphausa.org
Tennessee
Denise Santella DeniseSantella@alphausa.org
Texas
Casey Miner caseyminer@suddenlink.net
Terry Strom Terjean@mac.com
Texas – Dallas
Harden Wiedemann hardwied@sbcglobal.net
Texas – Houston
Gregg Bergersen gwbergersen@gmail.com
Texas – Weatherford
Jeff Wagner wagner7376@sbcglobal.net
Utah
Gayla Totaro GaylaTotaro@alphausa.org
Vermont
Lisa Oelerich LisaOelerich@alphausa.org
Virginia
Rebecca Dorn RebeccaDorn@alphausa.org
Washington
Christian Downs ChristianDowns@alphausa.org
Wisconsin
Dave Deshazer Dave.Deshazer5@gmail.com
Wyoming
Kirk Petersen KirkPetersen@alphausa.org
Endorsements
Charles W. Colson
“I know of many people whose lives have been transformed through the Alpha course. I rejoice at how God is using it so powerfully to renew many churches both inside and outside prison walls.”
Charles W. Colson
Prison Fellowship Ministries
Reverend John C. James
“I commend the Alpha course because I know that many hundreds of our Baptist churches are finding it very helpful in reaching rank outsiders to the local church.”
Reverend John C. James
President of the Baptist Union
Reverend Gordon Scruton
“God is using the Alpha program to transform the lives of churched and unchurched people in parishes across our diocese. We need this kind of basic evangelistic and formation process to build healthy Christians and congregations.”
The Right Reverend Gordon Scruton
Bishop of Western Massachusetts, Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts