Cynthia McFadden

Cynthia McFadden has been among the nation’s leading broadcast journalists for more than 30 years. Formerly an anchor of ABC’s esteemed broadcast, Nightline, she was the first woman to anchor a news program in late night and was instrumental in establishing the program as number one in its time slot. More recently she served as the senior legal and investigative correspondent for NBC News where she travelled the world investigating complex humanitarian and human rights issues, often involving women and children.

McFadden has been widely recognized for her interviewing skills having questioned Presidents and policy-makers, celebrities and criminals. Her reporting has taken her to hot spots in Bangladesh, Rwanda, Bosnia, El Salvador, China, Israel, South Africa, Peru, Liberia, India and Sierra Leone.

Over the years her work has been the recipient of many of journalism’s most coveted awards including multiple Emmys, the Foreign Press Club Award for Investigative Reporting, two Peabody Awards, the Edward R. Murrow Award, the Loeb Award and a Dupont Award. The Poynter Institute called her “the most impactful” of journalists for her work exposing child labor in the mica mines of Madagascar and for investigating conditions in the refugee camps in the Central African Republic. Many of her reports have led to policy changes.

McFadden holds a law degree from Columbia University and is a summa cum laude graduate of Bowdoin College where she was recognized with an honorary degree. She is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and is a juror for the Peabody Awards.

She joined the Board of Save the Children in 2025 and serves on the Marketing Committee and the Development Committee.