Executive Team
Ramsey County’s Executive Team consists of the following leaders:
- Ryan O’Connor – County Manager.
- Johanna Berg – Deputy County Manager of Economic Growth and Community Investment.
- Karen Francois – Deputy County Manager of Information and Public Records.
- Lidiya Girma - Interim Director of Policy & Planning.
- Kathy Hedin - Deputy County Manager of Health and Wellness.
- Alexandra Kotze – Director of Finance (Chief Financial Officer).
- Annie Porbeni - Director of Human Resources (Chief Human Resources Officer).
- Elizabeth Tolzmann –Chief of Staff to the County Manager.
- Scott Williams – Deputy County Manager of Safety and Justice.
Johanna Berg – Deputy County Manager of Economic Growth and Community Investment
Johanna Berg
Johanna Berg has served as Deputy County Manager of Economic Growth and Community Investment since January 2018. Berg joined Ramsey County in 2011 as the county’s chief information officer. She was promoted to Deputy County Manager – Information and Public Records in August of 2015.
Prior to joining Ramsey County, Berg held multiple senior leadership positions throughout 16 years with the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
Berg holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Minnesota where she also studied business administration.
Departments that make up the Economic Growth and Community Investment Service Team are Community & Economic Development, Library, Parks & Recreation, Property Management, Public Works and Workforce Solutions.
Karen Francois – Deputy County Manager of Information and Public Records
Karen Francois
Karen Francois has served as Deputy County Manager of Information and Public Records since May 2018. Prior to joining Ramsey County, Francois served as assistant commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. Prior to that, she served as director of the contract compliance and employment equity divisions at the City of Minneapolis from 2011 to 2016. From 2006 to 2011, Francois was director of Jacobs Well and Oasis India, an anti-human trafficking non-governmental organization which she founded based in Bangalore, India.
Francois earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and has completed several leadership programs, including the Mini MBA at the University of Saint Thomas and The Shannon Leadership Institute. She also serves on a number of boards and councils that promote entrepreneurship, workforce development and equity, diversity and inclusion. Francois lives in Saint Paul.
Departments that make up the Information and Public Records Service Team are Communications & Public Relations, County Assessor, Information Services, Property Tax, Records & Election Services, Project Management Office, and Information and Public Records Administration.
Kathy Hedin - Deputy County Manager of Health and Wellness
Kathy Hedin
Kathy Hedin was promoted to Deputy County Manager of Health and Wellness in November 2020. Prior to that she served as director of Saint Paul - Ramsey County Public Health since 2018. Hedin joined Ramsey County in 2001 as an Environmental Health Technician and has been promoted into a number of roles within the department since. These include Health Educator - where she worked on issues such as reducing community violence and chronic disease prevention through community engagement - and Manager of Healthy Communities where she worked on issues such as healthy youth development, mental health, aging, health equity, and sexual violence help and prevention.
Hedin is a 2020-2021 Minnesota Young American Leader and a 2018-2020 Kresge National Emerging Leader in Public Health. She has a bachelor’s degree in community health - health science from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and earned a master’s degree in human services - social and community work, from Capella University, as well as a certificate from the Harvard Kennedy School. Hedin lives in Saint Paul with her husband and two children.
Alexandra Kotze – Director of Finance (CFO)
Alexandra Kotze
Alexandra Kotze joined Ramsey County as its Chief Financial Officer in March 2020.
Prior to joining the county, Kotze served as CFO of the Minnesota Department of Human Services and in fiscal and budget management roles at Milwaukee County.
Kotze holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Harris School at the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota.
She was named 2018 CFO of the Year – Government Division by Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. Kotze actively volunteers for a number of organizations and resides in Saint Paul with her husband and two daughters.
Annie Porbeni - Chief Human Resources Officer
Dr. Annie Porbeni
Dr. Annie Porbeni joined Ramsey County as its Chief Human Resources Officer in September 2022.
Dr. Porbeni has more than 20 years of experience managing strategic human resources operations. She served in human resources leadership roles with the state of Minnesota for more than four years prior to joining Ramsey County, and previously served as the vice president of human resources at YWCA Minneapolis and the director of human resources at Open Cities Health Center.
Dr. Porbeni holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics and extension from Rivers State University of Science and Technology in Nigeria and a master’s degree in international development studies from Dalhousie University in Canada. She completed her doctorate studies in organizational leadership policy and human resources development at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.
She resides in Woodbury with her husband and three children.
Elizabeth Tolzmann – Chief of Staff
Elizabeth Tolzmann
Elizabeth Tolzmann has served as the Chief of Staff to the County Manager since May 2023, and prior to that as the county's director of Policy & Planning since July 2017. Prior to joining Ramsey County, Tolzmann served as the assistant city manager for the City of Bloomington where she facilitated strategic planning, organizational leadership, employee engagement, workforce development, inclusion and equity, and community engagement efforts for the city and community.
Prior to this role, she worked for Hennepin County as the workplace culture specialist for Public Works and for the City of Brooklyn Park as a community engagement coordinator.
Tolzmann holds a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of St. Thomas School of Law and a bachelor's degree in business/marketing from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.
She resides with her family in Saint Paul.
Scott Williams – Deputy County Manager of Safety and Justice
Scott Williams
Scott Williams has served as Deputy County Manager of Safety and Justice since July 2015. He has also served as Director of Emergency Communications since March 2005.
Before joining the county, Williams served as assistant radio systems manager for the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and as a planner, emergency management coordinator and 911 supervisor for the city of Richfield.
Williams holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geography from the University of North Dakota.
The departments that make up the Safety and Justice Service Team are the County Attorney’s Office, the Sheriff’s Office, Emergency Communications, Emergency Management & Homeland Security, and the Medical Examiner’s Office