Meta-Leadership Summit for Preparedness

The CDC Foundation is working with CDC’s Coordinating Office of Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response (COTPER), the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative - Harvard School of Public Health, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to pilot and then institutionalize a series of learning and networking experiences for leaders called the Meta-Leadership Summit for Preparedness. The objective of the program is to develop a cadre of business, government and nonprofit leaders who are capable and committed to leading across organizations and sectors during a crisis. The program will provide current and future leaders with the skills needed to act more cohesively and effectively in planning for and reacting to urgent health threats.

Says CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding, "We need to learn how to build a connectivity that includes people who are not like us – people in business, people in the faith-based sector, people in the health care delivery system, people in the nonprofit community – and there is one absolutely essential requirement to our capacity to do this kind of collaboration. It is the concept of meta-leadership."

Currently, the Foundation has completed five pilot courses and is preparing to roll out the program across the country in fall 2008.

Learn more: www.metaleadershipsummit.org

CDC/Business Interface

The CDC/Business Interface encompasses two programs to promote ongoing exchange of expertise and knowledge around areas of shared interest in public health. The CDC Experience for Business will bring leaders from U.S. corporations to CDC for an intensive program to learn about public health, epidemiology and CDC. And the CDC/Business Leadership Engagement will enable corporations and CDC to identify areas of mutual interest and develop productive collaborations around specific health issues.

Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use

The CDC Foundation has received a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies to establish systematic surveys to monitor global tobacco use among adults. The grant is part of a $125 million initiative by Bloomberg to create a partnership devoted to reducing dependence on tobacco around the world.

The two-year grant to the CDC Foundation will support the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) and CDC’s efforts to design a standard survey protocol to collect data on tobacco use in low- and middle-income countries with the highest smoking rates and to track countries’ progress in implementing tobacco-free programs.

“CDC has a strong track record of working collaboratively with countries and partners to develop global tobacco surveillance systems, but these have primarily been focused on youth and in schools,” says Charles Stokes, Foundation president and CEO. "This infusion of new resources from Michael Bloomberg will enable the world for the first time to systematically track and compare rates among adults in countries where tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death. Most importantly, we will be able to see where progress is being made in reducing tobacco use through effective interventions,” he says.

In addition to the CDC Foundation, other key partners in the initiative include the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the World Lung Foundation, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the World Health Organization.

Tobacco is the world’s leading killer, causing more than 5 million deaths each year.

Learn more:

Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use - Global Adult Tobacco Survey

First Six Months Set Pace for global Tobacco Fight - Frontline 2007

CDC Foundation Receives Grant from Michael Bloomberg's $125 Million Initiative to Promote Freedom from Smoking - 2006 News Release