Aaron Desmond
Mr. Desmond is the director of business preparedness at CIDRAP. Since 2005 he has led CIDRAP's work to engage and lead the business community in preparedness for infectious disease threats. He has managed three national summits that drew more than 800 participants, including high-level corporate executives and government officials, and more than 100 expert speakers. Mr. Desmond also founded and continues to manage CIDRAP's ongoing Web-based seminar series for businesses, a service that has drawn more than 4,000 participants and has consistently received exceptional reviews from attendees.
In 2006, Mr. Desmond co-authored "A Proposal to Provide Critical Intelligence for Business Preparedness, Continuity and Strategic Planning for Pandemic Influenza and Other Catastrophic Events." The project was funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, providing initial capital for the CIDRAP Business Source (www.cidrapsource.com) subscription service designed to drive worldwide business preparedness for pandemic influenza and other infectious disease or public health crises. Mr. Desmond helps guide development of content for the service, which includes original expert commentary, summaries of pertinent government guidance and reports, and a robust archive of Web-based seminars, PowerPoint presentations, and sample planning documents. He contributed an original commentary discussing the "predictable surprise" of the credit crunch and its parallels to the next influenza pandemic, published Jun 19, 2008.
Mr. Desmond is responsible for marketing and selling the subscription service to the business community. Under Mr. Desmond's leadership, more than 20 organizations have marketed CIDRAP events or products. These organizations include the US Chamber of Commerce, Building Owners and Managers Association International, American Bankers Association, Disaster Recovery Journal, and Continuity Insights. CIDRAP Business Source currently services more than 400 professionals on full subscription accounts, and a free biweekly update is distributed to more than 5,000 professionals.
Mr. Desmond is an active speaker with national and local engagements, including appearances at Harvard, US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), and Edison Electric Institute. Additionally, Mr. Desmond works to maintain pandemic preparedness visibility within the private sector through print, radio, and podcast interviews, including two for Fortune magazine. He is a member of the Minnesota Inter-Company Pandemic Planning Subcommittee on Human Resources.
Mr. Desmond also leads CIDRAP's Web content licensing program, which affords select clients the opportunity to significantly increase the value of their Web site by providing daily CIDRAP news stories and other relevant CIDRAP Web content.
Mr. Desmond has previously served on the Board of Directors for two not-for-profit organizations focused on educating and inspiring youth and entrepreneurs through peer-based programs. He is a cum laude graduate of the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota, where he earned a BA in business administration with a minor in legal studies. He is currently a part-time student in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.
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