Each Summer, Kristan McMahon, the Center’s president, provides a State of the Center address at our Society Dinner. This State of the Center is as of July 27, 2025 and shares the Center’s successes, opportunities, and goals, both near-term and longer-term. We look forward to engaging you on our journey and to your feedback.
The State of the Center was also recorded, so if you prefer to watch it, the video appears at the end of the text.
Thank you all for joining us this evening. My name is Kristan McMahon, and I have had the privilege of serving as the President of the Robert H. Jackson Center for the last six years.
For the last few years, this dinner has been deliberately planned to occur in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Center’s Board. We appreciate their help in expressing our gratitude to you as well as giving them an opportunity to share their excitement about their service and our accomplishments and path.
Each year, I take this opportunity to share the State of the Center through the lens of a focus word or phrase. This year, that word is elevation and I am so genuinely pleased to celebrate our accomplishments with you and give you a peek into where we are going.
Three years ago, with the help of a grant from the Western New York Foundation, we embarked on a capacity building journey. I think everyone knows that this is the kind of journey that never really ends because there always are more aspirations and attendant work to achieve those goals. Two years ago, we shared the three phases of the Center’s life so far and how that was shaping our future. Last year, we spoke about the internal work we were doing on cornerstones and infrastructure. Now, as our Board discussed this weekend, our foundations are firmly in place and we are ready to build on those and elevate our mission to our audiences, our work in new ways, and the Jacksonian principles to new ears and hearts.
First, let me speak about our programs. Elizabeth Hosier, our inaugural Director of Programs, has been in her role for almost 10 months. In that time, she has expanded the types of programs we do for students, teachers, and the public. She developed 1A Day - a community event to celebrate and learn about our First Amendment rights. She also created Bob’s Pop-Up Court, and with the help of this summer’s intern cohort, gave everyone the opportunity to be a judge. She has executed two educator workshops so far this year to raves – with one participant calling it the most impactful professional development she has ever been to in her 15 years of teaching. We have a long tradition of educating the educators, and we are excited to bring these ideas to new audiences. And there are more to come.
In November 2025, we begin the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, which Robert H. Jackson once described as the hardest thing he ever had to do and which we at the Center see as one of the most tangible touchstones of his legacy. Elizabeth is launching an international series of virtual programs with partners in the United States, Great Britain, and Germany, which will include both historic and contemporary points of view, to mark this history. This will kick off in November to coincide with the anniversary of the trial itself.
Second, we will be opening a new exhibit in our Banquet Room called Robert H. Jackson’s Legacy of Justice from Nuremberg to Today in November. The international criminal justice system is rooted in and markedly similar to the systems established for the IMT and the subsequent trials, and will trace the throughline from that beginning to the ad hoc tribunals to the International Criminal Court to the questions the global community is wrestling with today.
Third, this fall, we kick off an upgrade the audio and video capabilities of the Carl Cappa Theater to elevate our programs, move to more eco-friendly options, and make the Center a better partner for our communities by expanding our capabilities to host their performances, conferences, and work. This has been a long time coming.
Finally, we’ve launched the Center’s new website - a more visually appealing and informative platform to advance our goal of educating the world on the life, legacy, and continuing importance of Robert H. Jackson. Now, we will focus on adding information and resources to the site, everything from lesson plans to biographies and histories to archives to articles to exhibits and games. This is a long-term project in light of the vast amount of information on and impact of Robert H. Jackson.
I do not do my work in isolation, and the Center’s amazing and passionate team are a force to be reckoned with: Elizabeth, Sherry Schutter, David Niles, Kenny MacDonald, Ed Tomassini, our docents, and our Board. I am grateful for their brain power and thoughtfulness, their talents, and their contributions, which enable us to be so successful.
I would like to ask you to help me celebrate the service of two Board members in particular. First, the Honorable Stephen Cass, who completed nine years of Board service this summer. He is a power-house idea generator and is always contemplating how the Center can capitalize on our strengths to move beyond even what we thought we could do. He could not be with us this evening, and he will be missed. The second is Julia Craighill, who completed her third year of service as our Board chair this weekend. Julia, who is a Jackson grandchild, always describes her trepidation in taking on the role of first Board member, then Program Committee chair, and then Board Chair. She is the first family member to serve in that role, and I will say that our Board and the Center are tremendously grateful for her leadership these last three years. She is a passionate advocate for our mission and work, a great thought partner, and a champion for our direction. Thank you, Julia.
Our 2025 Programming theme is Accountability – the Role We Have and that has guided not only our program development but also our internal conversations about the work of the Center. I know you invest in our mission and work because you see the same things we see – the decline in the trust of our institutions and in civic participation, the polarization in our communities, the global tests to the rule of law, and the need for the Jacksonian legacy and lens to provide information and guidance to navigate these challenges and opportunities. Your support enables us to educate students and teachers, to work with young adults, like our interns, and contribute to their future successes, and to provide a space to ask questions and foster conversations on vital topics like civics, cases and legal work, humanitarian issues, and justice. This work takes deep commitment and an understanding that we may not be the ones to benefit from it. We are planting seeds in current and future generations and eagerly awaiting to see how and where they bloom. We could not do this critical work without you. Thank you
