Alice Musabende (left) and Dr. Ellen Kennedy, Executive Director
About Us
In 2005, Dr. Ellen J. Kennedy spent two weeks in Rwanda. She met a young Rwandan woman, Alice Musabende. Alice was orphaned at age 14 during the Rwandan genocide, losing her grandparents, parents, 12-year-old sister, and 9-year-old and 2-year-old brothers. Alice’s experience affected Dr. Kennedy deeply, particularly because Alice is the same age as her own daughter. Dr. Kennedy shared her experience of visiting post-genocide Rwanda with one of her classes. Upon learning that in 1994 nearly a million people were slaughtered in a hundred days, one of Kennedy’s students asked, “What are we going to do about this?”
Using the model of the Genocide Intervention Network, founded by Mark Hanis, Kennedy began World Without Genocide with a dedicated and gifted group of students. Over the past 18 years our organization has focused on education through many different opportunities – classes, workshops, films, exhibits, conferences – and we have advocated successfully for city and state legislation. We address conflicts in the past, those occurring today, and the challenging problems of child soldiers, human trafficking, gender-based violence, weapons trafficking, and resource scarcity or abundance as causes of conflict.
Mission
World Without Genocide works to protect innocent people around the world; prevent genocide by combating racism and prejudice; advocate for the prosecution of perpetrators; and remember those whose lives and cultures have been destroyed by violence.
Vision
World Without Genocide envisions a future in which genocide and other mass atrocities, perpetrated against innocent people based solely on who they are, will disappear from the earth.
Core Values
- We believe that people care deeply about each other.
- We believe that we must create opportunities for people to develop empathy for others and a social and political climate in which people will stand up to protect marginalized people everywhere.
- We empower educational, faith, and community leaders to make genocide prevention an important goal at the local, state, national, and international levels.
- We believe that we must end a culture that allows perpetrators of mass atrocities to act with impunity.
- We believe in the importance of preserving the stories of individuals and cultures whose survival has been at risk.
Organization Information
World Without Genocide is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
World Without Genocide is formally associated with the United Nations Department of Global Communications and is in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 2022.
World Without Genocide is a member of the Association of Holocaust Organizations, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, American Coalition for the International Criminal Court, and Minnesota Alliance for the International Criminal Court.
Download World Without Genocide’s non-discrimination policy here.
World Without Genocide formally changed its name from “Genocide Intervention Network – Minnesota (MNGIN)” in 2009. Name change certificate available here.
Non-partisanship Statement
World Without Genocide is a 501(c)(3) organization, with tax-exempt nonprofit status granted by the IRS on June 10, 2009. To comply with IRS regulations for this status, the organization cannot be involved or intervene in political campaigns on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for political office.
Contact us
We want to hear from you.
E-mail: info@worldwithoutgenocide.org
Phone: 651-695-7621
Mailing Address: Mitchell Hamline School of Law,
875 Summit Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105