Mary Kay Kennedy, Executive Director 651-641-0297 ext 11 kennedy@selfadvocacy.org
Mary Kay Kennedy. Mary Kay joined ACT as director in 1987. Since that time, she has built ACT into a nationally respected figure in the self-advocacy movement. Under Kennedy’s leadership, ACT has built the state’s first and only organized structure for self-advocacy, Self-Advocates Minnesota (SAM) as well as:
– Trained hundre
ds of self-advocates leaders to know and work for their rights through ACT’s various programs, including the recently launched the state’s Olmstead Academy,
– Led a coalition of groups to restore state hospital cemeteries, marking over 9000 graves through its Remembering with Dignity program,
– Launched the innovative Disability Equality Training Series, a curriculum of 12-session courses that give self-advocacy groups the tools for building a culture of disability equality.
Mary Kay’s ability to see the big picture is the engine that powers ACT forward. Her equally great ability to lead participatory workshops that build self-advocate leaders is the secret of ACT’s success.
Patrick Mitchell, Agency Coordinator 651-641-0297 pmitchell@selfadvocacy.org
Patrick Mitchell. Patrick came to ACT in 2015, after serving two terms with AmeriCorps VISTA, most recently for the Phillips Family Foundation as the VISTA Leader. He has a Bachelors degree in political science from the University of Minnesota Duluth. As agency coordinator, Patrick has a hand in most of ACT’s programs, and supports board members and other self-advocates to help lead those programs. Patrick works alongside self-advocate leaders to organize ACT’s statewide conference, manage ACT’s Remembering with Dignity program, and lead trainings via ACT’s new job readiness program.