GAMA has announced the hiring of John Ward, a 20 year government service veteran with experience in criminal justice, as the organization’s new Executive Director.  Ward has most recently held two Bureau Chief positions in Ohio state government:  Bureau Chief of Parole and Bureau Chief of Community Facilities.  In his most recent role, he supervised 12 small correctional facilities and managed revenue generation for Ohio’s juvenile corrections agency.

Ward also consults on a national level in the criminal justice arena and runs a small martial arts studio.  He’s a retired Army officer with 23+ years of military police and engineer corps experience.  He’s got a Masters degree in public administration with emphasis on fiscal and policy management. 

The selection of Ward by the GAMA board followed an extensive recruiting process (see “GAMA to Announce ED”).  Ward replaced Anthony Gallela, who left the organization last year (see “Gallela Leaving ED Post”).