Cristina E. Blough
Senior Director of Philanthropy
Cristina E. Blough serves as the Senior Director of Philanthropy at the Trust for the National Mall. In this role, she plays a leadership role in elevating the individual, corporate and foundation giving programs across the Trust. In addition to mentoring a team of gift officers, Cristina supports the management of the major gift pipeline and collaboratively guides strategy for relationship-based cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship. Cristina is actively involved in campaign planning and building organizational infrastructure to support a successful fundraising operation.
Most recently, Cristina was the Director of Development at New America where she strategically led the cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of over $40M in restricted and unrestricted revenue for the organization. Prior to New America, Cristina was the Director of Corporate & Foundation Philanthropy at World Learning where she cultivated, solicited, and stewarded corporate and foundation donor relationships for the organization. She has also previously served as the Director of Corporate Partnerships & Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at Volunteers of America (VOA) where she cultivated HNW individuals and corporations for special events, sponsorships and engagement.
Outside of her professional role, Cristina serves as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for abused and neglected youth. She is also a member of the Harvard Club of Washington, D.C. and volunteers with Kids In Need of Defense (KIND) as an interpreter/translator for unaccompanied, immigrant youth seeking asylum in the US. In addition, Cristina volunteers with local animal rescues across the DMV as a foster for adoptable dogs.
Cristina has an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University and a B.A. in Global Studies from the College of William and Mary. In her free time, she enjoys volunteering for local causes, spending time at the beach, baking for her friends and family, learning languages, and traveling the world. Cristina is a first-generation Hispanic American, a proud citizen of both the United States and Uruguay and she is natively fluent in Spanish and English. A northern Virginia native, she currently lives in Alexandria, VA with her husband and two rescue dogs.