Conservative Donors Focus on Bio-Terror Preparedness

Newt Gingrich's plenary address at the Council on Foundation's conference in early May was the first time I remember hearing that philanthropists should support emergency preparedness for both bio-terror and natural disasters.

(As an aside, COF's Steve Gunderson made a strong leadership statement by bringing his old conservative buddy into such a high-profile plenary and while there was talk of walk outs, none emerged.)

In the past year, conferences have been rife with convenings on the topic of natural disaster preparedness as a response to Katrina, but bio-terror hasn't been a visibile part of that mix. .

Not so with the Philanthropy Roundtable's upcoming annual conference (November 9-11 in Charleston) which will include keynotes from Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on "Bioterrorist Attacks and Epidemics: Challenges and Opportunities to Strengthen the Public Health Infrastructure" and David Grange, President, Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation on "How Private Enterprise Can Improve Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Response."

If you are an institutional or private donor that is currently or considering funding in this area, I'd love to hear more about the whys and wherefores we can share with visitors to GoodFlow.

Susan Herr