NASHVILLE, Tenn. – November 2006 – The Dismas, Inc. Board of Directors has appointed Bill Coleman as executive director of the organization, which is the parent organization

for Dismas Houses in Nashville, Cookeville and South Bend, Ind.

Coleman has served as a senior management leader with nonprofit organizations in Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio. He was previously director of audience development at the Tennessee Repertory Theatre, executive director of the City Ballet in Knoxville and executive director of The Stephen Foster Story in Bardstown, Ky. Most recently, he was a consultant for the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg, Ky., the Ruben Dario National Theatre in Managua, Nicaragua, and the Johnny Appleseed Heritage Center near Mansfield, Ohio.

Coleman received a BA from the University of Tennessee and a master’s degree in business administration from Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the chair of Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s board of directors and was instrumental in bringing the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America’s annual conference to Nashville in January of 2007.

ismas House is a nonprofit interfaith organization founded in 1974 to provide transitional housing and support services to men and women who have been recently released from prison. Dismas provides a unique form of crime prevention by working with at-risk individuals to integrate them with community volunteers, college students, and staff.

The program has been recognized nationally for its success and has been used as a model for similar organizations throughout the U.S. and overseas. In addition to the three Dismas Houses, four additional houses, while once a part of the Dismas, Inc., network, have branched off to become independent projects in their respective communities in New England and the Western U.S.