Cathy Nedd’s meteoric rise in Detroit’s political and public relations scene, was not be the lighting strike event that you might think. Nedd had been working in the trenches for years, having run her own public relations firm, and her successful handling of Dennis Archer’s mayoral campaign garnered her both local and national acclaim.
The infinitely talented Nedd has returned to Detroit after a two year stint in Atlanta and pretty much picked up where she left off, meaning she hasn’t missed a beat. The Associate publisher of Who’s Who in Black Detroit, has turned her sights to focusing on black philanthropy in Detroit’s African American community and reports that she is more than pleased with how Detroiters have risen to the call. –roz edward
On fundraising …
In my capacity as a public relations consulting I’ve worked a lot on fundraising campaigns for non0profits and programs and initiatives in the community. So I have sat at the table with people who have opened their own personal check books to write checks for $10,000 on up to $100,000 … These are African Americans, but people don’t really know about it because they don’t do it for recognition. On the flip side, I have had to go to corporations and ask for money to raise funds — I don’t know about other places, but in Detroit — that person is almost invariably African American.
Why are African Americans in Detroit so prone to giving?
I think that these people have a special sensitivity to the black community and they have a special understanding of the needs in the black community and I thinks it’s important to recognize these people because they are the ones who go back and convince corporations to make it a part of their portfolios. I also established another category for folks who had given a million dollars of their own money and $5 million dollars of their own money, and there are a few…. People are giving more now [given this economic environment] because the need is greater.
Why is it important to recognize these contributions?
Because they don’t do it for them, they do it for us. And it’s also so that young people can see what they should aspire to. They shouldn’t just aspire to finishing college and getting a job, they should aspire to give back to the community because that is how the community sustains itself.
When did you know public relations was the thing you were called to do?
It was one of those things that before i got into it people always assumed I was into it, so there was always something there I guess. Then when I did the Archer campaign it was a defining moment for me because when you do a campaign on that level, you’re entrenched and it’s no longer a project. That’s when I knew how much I liked it.
What’s next for you?
When I closed Nedd Worldwide, my PR firm I had 17 employees and $2 million is sales. I thought I didn’t want to do that again and I like the idea of using the new media so I’ve changed my mind and I am going to create [Nedd Worldwide] again.
