World Without Genocide Staff
Ellen J. Kennedy, Ph.D., Executive Director, has received many awards for her work, including the Director’s Community Leadership Award from the FBI, Distinguished Alumni Award from Northern Michigan University, Woman of Valor Award from Forward Global Women, Liberty Bell Award from Ramsey County Bar Association, ’50 Over 50′ from AARP Minnesota, Outstanding Citizen from the Anne Frank Center, New York, Higher Education Leader of the Year from the National Society for Experiential Education, Outstanding Service Award from the Midwest Sociological Society, Community Service Award from the University of Minnesota, Human Rights Award from the United Nations Office of Church Women United, Change-maker Award from the Minnesota Women’s Press, and she is designated as a Prominent Minnesotan for her human rights work. Kennedy has three masters’ degrees and two doctorate degrees from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Kennedy is the representative of World Without Genocide to the UN Department of Communications. 952-693-5206
Randi Markusen, Associate Director, is an English teacher and reading specialist who has taught in international schools in Botswana and Denmark and in several regions of the US. In addition to teaching, she worked in the former Yugoslavia as a researcher and field interviewer examining the effects of war and ethnic cleansing on small rural communities. In 2007 she started an NGO in Rwanda that restored a rural medical clinic that serves women and children. She was one of the founding members of the Post Genocide Education Fund. She served as a Co-President of the United Nations Association of Minnesota and the chapter President of Delta Kappa Gamma, an international society of women educators. Currently she is on the Advisory Board of the Post Conflict Research Center in Bosnia.
Sen. Sandy Pappas, Legislative Director, is the former President of the Minnesota Senate. She was first elected to Minnesota’s House of Representatives in 1985 and subsequently has served in the Minnesota Senate since 1990. Throughout her legislative career, Sen. Pappas has advocated for human rights for women, children, and other vulnerable groups, to prohibit the trafficking of persons; to make higher education affordable for individuals brought into the state as children; to provide emergency contraception for sexual assault victims; to establish licensure for midwives, and to promote responsible sex education programs in high schools. She led Minnesota’s successful ban on child marriage. She is a former member and chair of the Board of Directors of World Without Genocide. She completed her undergraduate studies at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, where she was also on the adjunct faculty. She has an MPA degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Marcy Olson, Graphic Designer, is an award-winning designer based in Marshall, Minn. She has worked with World Without Genocide since 2009 to create materials and maintain brand standards for both print and digital media including newsletters, special events, promotions, and other external communications.
Communications Director
Event Associate
Holly Dolejsi, J.D., pro bono legal counsel, is a Partner at Anapol Weiss where she represents those harmed by the wrongful conduct of others. She’s represented hundreds of individuals harmed by medical devices and pharmaceutical products, as well as cities, counties, Native American Tribes, and the State of Minnesota in their public nuisance claims against the manufacturers of opioids and vaping products. Her pro bono work includes work on behalf of LGBTQ+ individuals and trafficking victims.
Patti Ellingson Solheim, CPA, pro bono accountant, is a principal at Ellingson and Ellingson, Ltd. in Edina, MN that has provided accounting services to businesses, nonprofits, and individuals for more than 40 years. Patti has handled accounting for World Without Genocide on a pro bono basis since 2006.
Doug Carlson, Exhibit Coordinator, relocated from Connecticut to Minnesota in the late 1960s and spent his early career years as a bricklayer. He used his trade skills to participate in short-term volunteer experiences in the Borana region of Ethiopia, Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, and Cebu City in the Philippines. These tours exposed Doug to new ways of doing and being, and prompted his interest in learning about international genocides and human rights issues. Doug coordinates booking and transportation of our exhibit, “Genocide and Justice: From Nuremberg to the International Criminal Court.”
For security reasons, some staff members’ names and affiliations are not listed.
World Without Genocide is committed to hiring and fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce that leverages the skills and talents of all employees in our organization, regardless of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, familial status, genetic information, or any other protected status.
Our staff, interns, associates, and board members have come from India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Senegal, Thailand, Armenia, Cambodia, Somalia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Ukraine, and Pakistan; people from many religions and of no religion; Indigenous people, recent immigrants, and Holocaust survivors; and people from 12 to 85 years of age.
We celebrate the multiplicity of experience that people with diverse backgrounds bring to our organization.