Lia Spirka

Director, Development Administration NYU Langone

Lia holds a Master of Science in Human Resource Management & Development with a concentration in Organizational Effectiveness & Leadership from New York University and is change management and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certified. Her professional career spans sixteen years (the last 9+ at NYU) in leadership/administration positions at top professional schools with a focus on fundraising, including Columbia University’s Business School and Mailman School of Public Health, University of California, and NYU’s School of Law where she directed all development operations/advancement services and also worked closely on HR strategy for her department. Lia is currently the Director of Development Administration for NYU Langone Health System. In this unique role for over the past 5.5+ years, she is positioned within the Office of Development and has partnered closely with other corporate service departments, including HR in the areas of talent acquisition/recruitment, compensation & performance management, employee & labor relations, organization development & learning, and benefits/systems. Lia’s commitment to accurately interpreting and implementing institution-wide policies for her non-clinical department has resulted in and is focused on attracting and retaining talent in a competitive market for the institution’s critical fundraising function while lowering turn-over rates and increasing engagement through examples that positively impact work-life balance, productivity, and resource optimization.

In her role, she is also responsible for working across Development & Alumni Affairs providing strategic administration for critical functional areas, including the evolving human capital, budgetary, and business operations needs of a highly successful academic medical development team, and she also works closely with HR to welcome multiple merged entities to her department as the institution has grown from 9,000 to over 40,000 in the last years. Lia leads a team who creates infrastructures that maximize efficient and effective workflow and processes, and she works with leadership across the office and institution to plan and execute strategic growth of the department while empowering manager accountability. She directs the department’s operational budget plans that supported recently surpassing their $3 billion dollar campaign goal, including exciting initiatives such as making NYU School of Medicine’s tuition-free dream possible. Lia fosters departmental leadership-supported employee-based engagement initiatives by leading committees focused on positive change, including training & resources, recognition, and community activities. In addition to her career in administration, Lia is also a professional tap dancer.