Our Staff

Executive Director

Joanna Woolman, JD

Joanna is an innovative and strategic non-profit executive with a strong foundation in child welfare law and community informed policy. She has expertise in organizational leadership, program design, development, management, and evaluation. Joanna has led community-driven policy initiatives in Minnesota and nationally to create diverse coalitions for change in the non-profit, public, and higher educational sectors. For the last fifteen years she been a Professor of Law at Mitchell Hamline School of Law where she directed the Institute to Transform Child Protection and taught Criminal Law and Feminist Legal Theory. She is a nationally recognized expert and advisor to policy makers and agencies leveraging twenty plus years of litigation experience. For her entire legal career, she has directly represented parents and relatives in child welfare cases. She began her legal work as a state public defender in Minnesota.

Joanna lives in South Minneapolis with her 12-year-old son, partner, and two cats. She loves poetry, yoga, and playing soccer with her son.

Fionna Ek (she/they) joined the KFCMN team in September of 2025. They were drawn to representing relatives and kin because of their deep belief in policy and action promoting family unity and passion for direct client service work. Prior to KFCMN, Fionna clerked for Judges Amber Brennan and Sarah West in Minnesota's Fourth Judicial District.

As a law student, Fionna clerked with various legal non-profits, including Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, the Great North Innocence Project, HOME Line, and as a Public Interest Law Initiative and Equal Justice America Fellow at Land of Lincoln Legal Aid (Illinois). Fionna also served as president of the University of Minnesota Law School's queer student affinity organization ("OUTLaw"), board member of the National Lawyer's Guild UMN Student Chapter, and as a teaching assistant in the LL.M. Legal Writing program. In 2023, the Minnesota Lavender Bar Association named Fionna Student Leader of the Year.

Fionna graduated with their J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2024 and a B.A. in Music and Educational Policy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2021. Outside her legal work, she's a classical musician, lifelong Cubs fan, avid bird watcher, and devoted trinket collector.

Kelli is a passionate family law attorney committed to advancing justice and equity for families navigating Minnesota’s child protection system. With experience representing parents and relatives in complex family law matters including custody disputes, surrogacy, and child protection – Kelli brings a trauma-informed, client-centered approach to every case she handles.

Kelli is a graduate of Mitchell Hamline School of Law, where she participated in their Child Protection Clinic, providing direct representation to parents and children in child protection cases. That experience solidified her dedication to ensuring access to empathetic and effective legal services. Kelli also clerked with Central Minnesota Legal Services and Anishinabe Legal Services, deepening her understanding of systemic barriers and the need for holistic, culturally responsive advocacy.

Kelli is especially drawn to work that combines direct legal representation with systemic reform. She believes deeply in the mission of KFCMN and is proud to contribute to efforts that prioritize both immediate support and long-term policy change.

Outside of her legal work, Kelli enjoys hiking, knitting, and baking.

Michelle has had a variety of opportunities to provide leadership in Minnesota’s child welfare system since 1990. Her experience includes being a youth advocate, designing and leading a federal demonstration project to increase rates of adoption for teens, co-founding and leading a non-profit to provide permanency services to older youth and families who face barriers to equity in child welfare, and working in policy at the state level.

After a long career in child welfare, Michelle knows how essential the work of KFCMN is to the community, and she is proud to provide operational and fund development support to the organization.

Michelle earned her MSW from Augsburg College and a B.A. from Colorado College. She is a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW). Michelle aged out of foster care in Colorado and has been a foster and Host Home parent to six teens who are now adults.

When Michelle is not working she can often be found wandering a gravel road or knee-deep in Lake Superior hunting for agates. She is a fan of water- whether on the shore, in a canoe or scuba diving. Michelle also gets pretty excited when she has the chance to photograph northern lights or to take off on a road trip.