F&M Stories
2024 Honorary Degree Recipients
Jason Cone ’99
Jason Cone will deliver the address at Franklin & Marshall’s 237th Commencement and also will receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters. Jason, who graduated from F&M in 1999 with a joint major in biology and government, has more than 20 years’ experience leading nonprofit organizations that respond to complex humanitarian crises, mount international and national social change advocacy campaigns, and manage security and risk incidents.
Jason is the chief public policy officer of Robin Hood, New York City’s largest anti-poverty philanthropic organization. In this capacity, he oversees a $12 million grant-making portfolio tackling issues such as child poverty, criminal justice, affordable housing, child care, and tax policy reform.
Prior to working at Robin Hood, Jason worked for 15 years at Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF-USA). He completed his tenure there as its U.S. executive director, leading a staff of more than 200 with an annual budget of $370 million. He led international communications and policy advocacy campaigns on childhood malnutrition, access to medicines, the global refugee crisis, and epidemics from the West African Ebola epidemic to HIV/AIDS.
Jason was MSF-USA’s chief liaison and negotiator with the Obama and Trump administrations on issues ranging from global health and counterterrorism to the protection of health care in conflict zones. After the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, while continuing to work at Robin Hood, he was among the co-founders of BlueCheck Ukraine, which has provided more than $4.2 million to local Ukrainian organizations providing emergency humanitarian aid in besieged regions of the country. He is president of BlueCheck’s Board of Directors.
Jason is an internationally recognized speaker and writer on global humanitarian issues and has published essays and opinion pieces in The New York Times, Time, Politico, Harvard International Review, Foreign Policy and other publications. He was nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy for his executive producer role on “Starved for Attention,” a documentary series on childhood malnutrition.
Jason is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has completed programs on nonprofit leadership and public policy at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School and the Harvard Kennedy School’s Executive Education program. He lives in Rutherford, N.J., with his wife, Christie Del Rey-Cone, also a member of Franklin & Marshall’s Class of 1999, and an employment attorney for NBC Universal, and with their two children, Anabella and Leo.
Madeline Anderson
Madeline Anderson, a Lancaster native and a media pioneer who is the first Black woman to produce and direct a TV documentary, will receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters at Franklin & Marshall’s 237th Commencement.
Madeline produced and directed the landmark documentary film, “Integration Report 1.” Televised in 1960, it chronicles the events leading to the first attempt at a civil rights march on Washington, D.C. Her next film, 1970’s “I Am Somebody,” tells the story of African American women hospital workers in Charleston, S.C., who went on strike to demand fair pay, unionization, and respect in the workplace.
Madeline enjoyed a long career in public television, helping to create such cultural touchstones as “Sesame Street” and “The Electric Company” for Children’s Television Workshop. She was the first Black employee at National Education Television (NET), the New York City-based public TV station, where she helped create “Black Journal” with pioneering filmmaker William Greaves. She also is the first Black woman to executive produce and direct a nationwide syndicated TV series, the PBS educational program “Infinity Workshop.”
Madeline was one of the first Black women to join the Motion Picture Editors Guild. She was twice honored by the Sojourner Truth Festival of the Arts, first in 1970 and again in 2023. She is a member of the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame and helped create what would become WHUT-TV at Howard University, the country’s first, and only, Black-owned public television station. Her works are archived at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Library of Congress National Film Registry.
Madeline was born in southeastern Lancaster City’s 7th Ward neighborhood and graduated from J.P. McCaskey High School in 1945. She often expressed her desire to become a filmmaker, but was told no Black women were Hollywood producers or directors. So she worked in a factory for two years to save enough money to move to New York City. There, she received a partial scholarship to New York University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology. She then decided to pursue her passion for film.
Today, she lives in Brooklyn and is directing and editing “I’m Still Standing,” a feature documentary about her life as a filmmaker, media pioneer, and activist. At 96 years old, Madeline is unable to travel; her daughter will accept the honor on her behalf.
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