Mary King
Former Executive Director; Consultant

Mary King served as MCYJ's Executive Director from 2016 to the end of 2020.  She is officially retired, but continues to work with MCYJ as a part-time contractor on various projects.

 

Mary began working with people in prison as an intern at Huron Valley Women’s Correctional Facility in the early 80’s. In 1988 she created the Women’s Program at Option’s Center, for women with a felony conviction, and went on to become the first Coordinator for the Children’s Visitation Program, which brought children from all over Michigan for structured visits with their incarcerated mothers. This was also Mary’s first experience working with MCYJ and the indomitable Beth Arnovits, who Mary still refers to as “her favorite boss.” In 2006, Mary began working as Community Coordinator for the Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative (MPRI) in Washtenaw and Livingston Counties, where for eight years she engaged key stakeholders in a unified effort to provide evidence-based services for returning citizens.