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 a BA degree from the University of Michigan, 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.
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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.
Tara Kalar, Of Counsel, is Assistant County Attorney with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. She has experience in the legal offices of the Minnesota Department of Revenue working on potential legislative solutions to the opioid crisis, the Minnesota Department of Transportation bringing the state’s first autonomous shuttle to fruition, and as a judge with the Minnesota Department of Human Services. For her work at the Department of Transportation determining the legalities of inspecting the state’s bridges by drone, she won the State Government Innovation Award and the Governor’s Award for Continuous Improvement in State Government. She has volunteered for the FBI Opioid Abuse Prevention Task Force and chaired the MSBA Human Rights Committee. Kalar is an alumna of Mitchell Hamline School of Law, where she is a member of the adjunct faculty.
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.
Ryan Blegen, Webmaster, supports advocacy, events, and education through website functionality, usability, and updates.
Rachel Hall Beecroft, Communications Director, has a Master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Resolution and has held various roles within in the nonprofit sector, including education and advocacy, fundraising and donor correspondence, marketing and communications, and program management. She has worked across the world, including in Tanzania, Haiti, India, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, and Australia, and is passionate about educating and empowering others to take a stand against injustices worldwide. She is the founder of the Summer Institute for High School and College Students at World Without Genocide, which received Minnesota’s Ethical Leadership Award in 2014, and she is the designer of World’s traveling exhibit “Genocide and Justice: From Nuremberg to the International Criminal Court.” She has served at World Without Genocide as both staff and as a consultant since 2010.
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.”
Joanna Michalopoulos, Research Associate, is a recent law graduate from the University of Ottawa currently completing her Articles of Clerkship. She works at a legal clinic focused on dealing with issues pertaining to human rights, housing, and social assistance in Canada. While working alongside at World Without Genocide, she has attended the assembly of State Parties at the International Criminal Court, published articles on international conflict, and completed a course on Genocide studies.
Olivia Paulson (she/her), Research and Advocacy Associate, is a first-year law student at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, MN specializing in civil and human rights law. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, double majoring in Psychology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. In undergrad, Olivia conducted research on gender-based violence in Ireland. In the future, she hopes to serve a legal career as an advocate for women’s rights.
Tess Register (she/her/hers), Minnesota Justice Foundation Fellow – Remembering Holocaust Survivors, is a second-year law student at the University of St. Thomas School of Law. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2020 with degrees in Philosophy and English, as well as an Interdisciplinary Writing Certificate. She serves on the Executive Board of Atlanta Women for Equality, a legal-aid nonprofit that provides free services to survivors of sexual assault and harassment on college campuses.
Maggie O’Brien, Events Coordinator, is a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota. She graduated from the College of Liberal Arts in 2023 with Strategic Communications and Political Science degrees. Maggie joined the non-profit sector in 2021 when she interned with Open Arms of Minnesota to aid in the creation and delivery of meals to Minnesotans with terminal illnesses.
Brieanna DaSilva, Research Associate, is a second-year international law student at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, deeply committed to the fields of international human rights law and health law. She earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Toronto. During her undergraduate studies, Brieanna researched and wrote extensively on the Rwandan, Armenian, and Cambodian genocides. Aside from her passion for international human rights law and healthcare policy, specifically as it relates to Medical Aid in Dying legislation across North America, Brieanna is also actively engaged in and passionate about animal rights advocacy. With a steadfast commitment to effecting positive change, Brieanna aims to advance human rights, promote equitable access to healthcare and contribute to animal welfare initiatives.
Jessica Zaiken, Research Associate, is “second generation off the farm” and the first member of her family to attend and graduate from law school. She received a B.A. in Law, Politics, and Society/International Relations from Drake University in 2010 and has a professional background in political campaign work and governmental communications. She graduated with her J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law (now Mitchell Hamline School of Law) and was admitted to the Minnesota Bar in 2014. She currently works as an Attorney Editor at Thomson Reuters. She has been volunteering with World without Genocide since 2010.
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.