LOUISVILLE, Ky— Since 2010, Mission Behind Bars and Beyond, or MB3, has worked to facilitate the successful re-entry of women and men who have been incarcerated back into Kentucky communities.

MB3 enhances public safety by providing a statewide network of volunteers who work as nurture, support and accountability groups to provide the support that returning citizens need to avoid going back to incarceration. The organization has also become involved in justice reform.

The Rev. Dean Bucalos, founder and executive director, retired at the end of 2020. The Rev. Dr. D. Anthony Everett has been named MB3’s new executive director, the first African American to lead the organization.

As Kentucky continues to struggle with severely overcrowded detention facilities at the local and regional levels and in state prisons, MB3 works to reduce the recidivism rate in Kentucky and champions public policy that will reduce the incarceration of Kentuckians. This work will continue and expand under Everett’s leadership. He brings to the position a wealth of knowledge and an array of experiences in business, church, civic and nonprofit leadership. He joins MB3 in January.

“My passion for human rights, transformative justice, and prophetic activism is grounded in support and advocacy for oppressed and marginalized incarcerated citizens of our commonwealth. The Rev. Dean Bucalos is a national hero in the movement to give incarcerated citizens a second chance and more,” Everett said.

Everett graduated magna cum laude from Paul Quinn College receiving a B.S. degree in organizational management. He earned the Master of Divinity degree with certification in urban ministry from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. Everett also earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from United Theological Seminary. He is an ordained elder and served as associate director of New Church Development for the Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church. He often is referred to as a “criminal justice minister.” His advocacy led him to once serve as a representative from the Kentucky Council of Churches to the Kentucky Smart on Crime Coalition.