I’m bringing business expertise to CDC
Kent “Oz” Nelson, Chair, Board of Directors, CDC Foundation Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, United Parcel Service Inc
CDC’s Strategic Plan
CDC director Dr. Julie Gerberding asked the CDC Foundation for help in shaping CDC’s business strategy. Foundation Board Chair Oz Nelson identified consultant Jim Down to lend his expertise. “The CDC Foundation is a critical partner in helping CDC achieve excellence in strategy and program development, and in looking at CDC from a longer term view, to ensure that we have clear priorities and road maps for achieving them.
“The Foundation helps us by bringing us into contact with experts like Jim Down and other visionaries who help shape our agenda, as well as by getting pilot programs and projects off the ground that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to start. In a sense, it’s like having access to ‘venture capitalists’ who identify opportunities and give us the support and flexibility to try them.”
- Julie L. Gerberding, MD, MPH, CDC Director
Kent “Oz” Nelson, former chairman and CEO of United Parcel Service, has a wealth of knowledge about business strategy. Now retired, Nelson, like many CDC Foundation board members, is sharing his expertise with CDC.
“After Dr. Julie Gerberding was appointed director of CDC, she mentioned that she’d like to find someone to help her with CDC’s business direction,” he recalls.
“I told her I’d be glad to help and began searching for someone. Coincidentally, around that same time, I got a phone call from Jim Down.”
Down is former vice chairman and CEO of Mercer Management Consulting, one of the world’s leading corporate strategy and operations firms, based in Boston. Nelson had worked with Down personally at UPS and knew that he had over 20 years experience working with some of the largest and most dynamic companies in the world.
“When Jim told me he was getting ready to retire at 50, I said, ‘Isn’t that a little young?’” laughs Nelson. “He said he was interested in working with the non-profit sector and wondered if I had any ideas for him. I asked him how fast he could get on a plane to Atlanta.”
Nelson introduced Down to Gerberding and her senior team, and they proved to be the ideal match. As a result, Down is helping CDC initiate a far-reaching strategic planning process to evaluate the agency’s efficiency and effectiveness and adopt a blueprint for the future.
“I wanted to shift my focus to the non-profit sector, and, specifically, to apply business principles to a non-profit,” says Down. “I got very excited about working with CDC. Their work is so important. CDC has all the right ingredients: a visionary leader, energy, talent and a willingness to step back and think about how to do things differently.”
In addition to securing a business advisor for CDC, Nelson serves on CDC’s strategic planning executive steering committee and is connecting CDC with other useful business resources.
Charles Stokes, president and CEO of the CDC Foundation, notes that CDC Foundation board members add value to CDC in a host of different ways - from sharing their expertise and making major financial contributions to forming the Friends of CDC, a group of corporate leaders who are successfully lobbying Congress to improve CDC facilities.
“Jim Down’s appointment is just one example of how the CDC Foundation works behind the scenes all year long to enhance CDC’s efforts - in ways that go far beyond the scope of specific programs,” says Stokes.