2025 GALA HONOREES

Blake Hazard is one of three trustees representing the Estates of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, her great-grandparents. She helps with both the literary and the licensing sides of their legacy. Blake was born in Vermont and attended Sarah Lawrence and Harvard. As a musician, she has toured and made records as one half of the indie-pop duo The Submarines, who have licensed their songs extensively for film and television. She recently became an attorney and is currently focused on creative projects and working on behalf of her family. She’s a genuine fan of GATZ and couldn’t be more pleased to help celebrate Elevator Repair Service, and The Great Gatsby’s 100th birthday.

Eleanor Lanahan has been a trustee of the estate of F. Scott Fitzgerald since 1987, a stewardship that was previously held by her mother, Scottie Fitzgerald Smith, daughter of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. She has been involved in the arts since attending Rhode Island School of Design; as an illustrator of books; as the biographer of her mother, Scottie, the daughter of…, (Harper Collins); as the producer of Zelda, An Illustrated Life (Harry Abrams); and as the editor of The Paper Dolls of Zelda Fitzgerald (Scribner). Her work as a filmmaker includes a series of animated shorts and a documentary feature. Currently, Eleanor is writing and illustrating a tale that includes a tincture of wisdom about getting along with each other.

Eleanor says, “For decades, it was believed there could not be a faithful or lyrical theatrical production of The Great Gatsby, largely because Scott’s prose could not be compressed into dialogue. Elevator Repair Service has brought us a brilliant production that includes every beautiful word.” Eleanor is honored to have a small role in ERS’s work, even from the wings.

Robert A. Wilson, Jr.  joined Select Equity Group, L.P. in September 1998, nine months into the Off-Broadway run of Shakespeare’s R&J, where he understudied three of the four actors until the show closed the following year. It wasn’t long before collaborating in the corporate world took hold and he became a lead member of Select Equity’s Client Service team. In 2006 he was given the opportunity to take a major pivot in the firm and become the Executive Director of the Select Equity Group Foundation, a 100% inclusive, democratic, and employee-lead corporate foundation. Within this position he has had the privilege of staying connected to the arts in NYC in a way he had never imagined, including serving 12 years as an ERS board member. He strongly believes that if you work or live in NYC you have an obligation to give back to the arts in whatever way possible.

The Select Equity Group Foundation has been practicing inclusive, democratic grant-making since inception in 2000. The Foundation was created to empower Select Equity Group, L.P. employees to effect positive change in the world, giving them the opportunity to tackle issues that they feel strongly about and that are often informed by their own experiences. Our giving is not limited to a single vision, or sector, and should reflect the cares, concerns, and passions of our entire community.