This week’s “50 for 50” story features Mariah Cone (‘96), who participated in JEP during her time at USC. She’s also the daughter of Dick Cone, one of JEP’s former directors. Dick Cone was a strong advocate for public education and increased interaction between universities and their neighborhoods. He was named JEP’s director in 1980, and though he passed away in 2020, is remembered still for his “empathy and morality.” Mariah Cone says that her work with the organization “influenced [her] beliefs about organizational structure,” and has fond memories about her time in the program.

She reflected on her time at JEP, sharing the following:

“As a JEP staffer, I experienced a bottom-up management style, where 18 to 22-year-olds voices and viewpoints were as valuable as [that of] the JEP Director. The non-hierarchical structure and value in young people inspired my own leadership orientations and the way that I have set up teams I have led.  Now as an educational consultant, I am drawn to help other organizations utilize approaches I learned at JEP to listen to the margins and to solve problems with those who experience them directly. My hope is that this [approach] helps more and more organizations lead with [achieving] the equity-centered approach.”