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Debbie Kennedy is a lifelong leader and volunteer who supports all people as they pursue their educational, professional and creative dreams. She has been involved with and chaired numerous community, university, church and school projects.
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She has been active in the arts, particularly theater arts and textiles. She earned a bachelor’s degree from North Dakota State University in home economics education and textiles, and a Master of Fine Arts in costume design from The George Washington University. Her interests lie in textiles, ranging from needle arts to costume design.
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Debbie and Mark Kennedy have four children and seven grandchildren. She is strongly committed to faith, family and community.
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Kennedy is co-secretary for the Smithsonian Women's Committee. She is a member of the National Western Stock Show and the Congressional Club. She previously served as a member of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science’s Kitchen Cabinet, President of the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 121 and on the Board of Directors of Read Indeed. While First Lady at the University of North Dakota, she served on the Soaring Eagle Prairie Garden and on the Coulee to Columbia committees and as a corporate member of the Altru Health System. Debbie was an integral part of the Kennedy for Congress and Senate campaigns.
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Her professional theater credits include It’s a Wonderful Life, A Live Radio Play for the Washington Stage Guild, which was favorably reviewed by the Washington Post. She designed for Back to Methuselah, Elling and Absurdities, An Evening with Ionesco in Washington, D.C. and Romeo and Juliet for the 2017 North Dakota Shakespeare season.
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Debbie uses her textile skills today as a volunteer stitcher as part of the sewing ciricle at Mount Vernon. She also designed and built space-age costumes for the 50 performers of the Minnesota State Fair 4-H Arts In for their 2015 run. She has served as judge for the fashion revue and clothing construction competition for the Minnesota State Fair 4-H program.
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Awarded the 2014 Bradley William Sabelli Design Award, Kennedy has had museum exhibits displayed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and the Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection, part of the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C.
