Fourth Purpose Foundation

Our Purpose

Almost two million people are incarcerated in the United States and 95% of everyone serving a sentence is getting out at some point. These returning citizens come home to our communities as our next new neighbors. To give them the best chance at success, our mission is to make prison a place of transformation.

Inmate Resources

In prisons we provide inmates with inspiring programming, and the relationships and resources they need to live with meaning and purpose while equipping them to re-enter society.

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Staff Resources

We are also deeply committed to the corrections workforce. We provide thought leading, innovative tools and training designed to help staff perform their duties in ways that lead to a healthier workplace culture, and better staff and inmate outcomes.

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Community Resources

We engage the community in the true mission of corrections which is to enhance public safety and to prevent future victims of crime. We partner with businesses, educators, faith-based organizations, and social service providers to increase private sector participation.

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Our Team

Josh Smith

Founder

In just over a decade and a half, Josh Smith built a small service company into a $30 million enterprise with more than 180 employees. But for a 5-year period before that, he was incarcerated in a federal prison camp in Kentucky for his involvement in marijuana and cocaine trafficking...Smith grew up in a single-mother household, lived in government housing, was removed from his home at age 11 due to abuse and was convicted of 10 felonies by the time he was 16. He entered prison at age 21 as an 11th-grade dropout with no plans to exit it any differently than how he entered. Instead, he found redemption through God and was guided by several highly educated white-collar criminals who he was able to learn from. But all the books he read, studying he did and plans he made didn’t alter the reality of the world he was released into, one where ex-convicts are still punished by an onerous set of legal restrictions. Upon his release, the government housing his wife lived in was no longer available to them because of his status as a felon. He had to beg for his first job making $6 per hour. Since exiting prison, Smith has spent the past 15 years actively involved in criminal justice reform in Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee and countries in Central America. Smith has supported programs that provide hope, training and reentry support for prisoners and their families who earnestly want a new life, including hiring and mentoring many felons. In June of 2019 he was named to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s Criminal Justice Reinvestment Task Force. He and his wife of 23 years, Tracy, are now driven to reshape the reality for offenders, from the time they enter prison through their re-entry.

Tony Parker

President

As the President of the Foundation, Mr. Parker provides guidance and leadership on national initiatives as well as work in support of corrections and the criminal justice system in Tennessee. Mr. Parker has more than 38 years’ experience in the field of corrections... He began his career as a Correctional Officer and rose through the ranks to Warden, Assistant Commissioner, and finally Commissioner. Mr. Parker was first appointed Commissioner in June of 2016 by former Governor Bill Haslam and was reappointed in January 2019 by Governor Bill Lee. Parker also currently serves as the President of the American Correctional Association (ACA). Mr. Parker earned an Associate’s degree in Criminal Justice from Dyersburg State Community College, a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Tennessee at Martin and a Master of Arts degree in Security Studies with an emphasis in Homeland Security from the prestigious Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California. Parker resides in Union City, TN with his wife Misty and their three children, Madison, Mia and J’Coy.

Kristi Anderson, PhD

Research and Programs Officer

Dr. Kristi Miller Anderson serves as Research and Programs Officer for Fourth Purpose Foundation. She has worked in the Louisiana prison system in various capacities including chaplaincy, education, and as Assistant Warden of Programs... Her corrections experience also includes special projects at Angola Prison (Louisiana State Penitentiary), after which she went on to work for the former Angola Warden, Burl Cain, as the COO of Global Prison Seminaries Foundation. Along with Cain, Kristi worked with correctional leaders in more than 18 state departments. Kristi has authored three books geared toward the female inmate, called the Hannah’s Gift series. She has authored numerous articles and presentations concerning prison reform and inmate rehabilitation. Kristi has multiple graduate degrees in theology/biblical studies, and is a board certified psychiatric mental health RN.

Eric Anderson

Executive Director, Governor's Volunteer Mentorship Initiative

The Volunteer Mentorship Initiative is a public, private partnership between the Office of Governor Bill Lee, the Tennessee Department of Corrections and Fourth Purpose. VMI’s mission is to equip Tennesseans returning home from prison with the skills they need to successfully reenter society through community engagement in corrections… Having never stepped foot in a prison, Eric first visited the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in 2010. The transformational encounter with the men there changed the trajectory of his life. Since that time, he’s been to Angola over 25 times in various capacities taking members of the community – pastors, business leaders, musicians, and professional athletes – into the prison for the purpose of inspiring, encouraging, and equipping the men to live with hope and meaning despite their sentence and circumstance. Over the years, he has volunteered and worked in many prisons and jails across the country. Eric’s marketplace experience includes over 25 years of experience in driving revenue growth in for-profit and not-profit settings through sales, sales team leadership, marketing, and partnership development.

Fourth Purpose Foundation

Make Prison a place of Transformation

Micro Lesson

Our Purpose

Inmate Resources

Staff Resources

Community Resources

Our Team

Josh Smith

Tony Parker

Kristi Anderson, PhD

Eric Anderson

Updates

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The Fourth Purpose

From rehabilitation to transformation

The prison system typically has four purposes. The biggest problem is that the fourth purpose—rehabilitation— does not prepare people to leave. That requires transformation. Transforming America’s prisoners requires transforming the way America thinks about prison and its overarching purpose.

Retribution

Incapacitation

Detterence

Transformation

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