Jean Friedman-Rudovsky and Cassie Haynes

About Jean

Jean Friedman-Rudovsky

Jean Friedman-Rudovsky is a Philadelphia native and is passionate about journalism’s vital role in creating a fair and just society. She co-founded Resolve Philadelphia in 2018, with the hope that sustained collaborative, engaged solutions reporting would help bring about a more informed and inspired city. During 2017, she was the project editor of The Reentry Project, Resolve’s pilot initiative, which focused on the challenges of – and solutions to – prisoner reentry. Prior to that, Jean was an award-winning freelance journalist, having spent more than a decade reporting from the Global South and specializing in longform investigative and solutions pieces. She’s a Vice Magazine contributing editor and has been published in The New York Times, Time Magazine, Cosmopolitan and Bloomberg Businessweek, among others.

About Cassie

Cassie Haynes

Cassie Haynes is an accomplished leader and co-founder of Resolve Philly, a renowned nonprofit organization fostering collaboration and innovation in journalism. With a passion for social impact and amplifying excluded voices, she has transformed local news through innovative initiatives that bridge the gap between journalists and marginalized communities. Cassie’s exceptional leadership skills and strategic vision have garnered widespread recognition, making her a respected figure in the media landscape. She holds degrees in classical theater, public health and law, driving her mission to redefine the relationship between social policy and storytelling. During her tenure at Resolve Philly, Cassie spearheaded collaborative journalism initiatives and established groundbreaking reporting and community engagement projects, raising over $10M in just under five years alongside Resolve’s co-founder, Jean Friedman-Rudovsky. She continues to be a force for change, advising media organizations on revenue strategy, consulting on community engagement and advocating for a more inclusive media landscape.

Jean and Cassie’s impact

As co-founders and co-Executive Directors, Jean and Cassie:

• Navigated organizational growth through a global pandemic, building Resolve’s capacity from a scrappy startup team of two to a strategy-oriented team of 25 leaders representing a wealth of professional and educational backgrounds, experiences, and identities.
• Welcomed many individual donors and institutions into leadership, catalyzing over $10 million in service of Resolve’s mission to develop and advance journalism rooted in equity, collaboration, and the elevation of community voices and solutions.
• Consulted with dozens of news organizations across the country to build more equitable practices and increase the resiliency of teams and operations.
• Facilitated the launch of numerous award-winning collaborative reporting and community engagement initiatives, projects and storytelling series including Broke in Philly, Equally Informed Philly, With Love, Our Kids, Shake the Table, The Toll and The High Cost of Being Broke.
• Demonstrated the power of shared leadership at the executive level, paving the way for many other journalism and mission-driven organizations to experiment with this model in recent years.