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Major gift fundraisers rarely get to study each other's work the way athletes study game tape — what was said, when, in what order, over how many months. This episode is Hillary's attempt at getting as close to that tape as possible: a rare three-way conversation between a fundraiser, her donor, and the host trying to reverse-engineer what actually happened between them.
Hillary sits down with Deema Salem Syed, Senior Director of Individual Giving at Central Park Conservancy, and Nadia Block, one of the conservancy’s major donors, to unpack their relationship–how it moved from an unplanned phone call to a significant multi-year commitment. You’ll hear:
- Deema's favorite cultivation question: "What's your Central Park story?"
- Behind the scenes on how Central Park Conservancy’s major gift team operates.
- How Nadia knows when she trusts a fundraiser.
Guests:
Deema Salem Syed is Senior Director of Individual Giving at the Central Park Conservancy, where she helps lead the major gifts strategy for the nonprofit responsible for the care and restoration of Central Park. She joined the Conservancy in 2020 as Director of Major Gifts and was promoted through Senior Major Gifts Officer before stepping into her current role.
Before Central Park Conservancy, Deema spent five years at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), rising from Coordinator, Membership to Senior Manager, of Leadership Giving. Her development career also includes a decade-long engagement with The Public Theater’s Mobile Shakespeare Unit, bringing Shakespeare into New York City public schools, as well as experience at Roundabout Theatre Company.
Deema holds a BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and an MFA from Pace University. Her background as an artist and her career in philanthropy have given her a firsthand understanding of both the creative and organizational sides of the cultural institutions she has spent her career supporting.
Nadia Block is a philanthropist, artist, and the Executive Director of her parents’ private foundation. For nearly twenty years, she has helped shape and lead her parents’ philanthropy. The foundation is currently on track to complete its spend-down at the end of 2026.
Nadia holds a master’s degree in philanthropy from New York University. The family’s approach to giving is deeply relationship-based, with an emphasis on building long-term partnerships with nonprofit organizations.
Separately, Nadia is an artist and photographer. She has helped nonprofit organizations tell their stories through powerful imagery and deeply enjoys bringing her creative and philanthropic worlds together. She is looking forward to more art and more storytelling through her art after the family philanthropy work is complete.
