Partnering with CDC

CDC works with the private sector because public-private partnerships advance CDC’s mission of protecting Americans. Public-private partnerships are powerful tools that help extend public health’s reach to save lives in the workplace and at home, speed innovation, and change the way CDC conceptualizes and solves problems. There are opportunities for both formal and informal collaborations that can lead to valuable, mutual benefits.

Private sector partners include for-profit businesses, professional organizations that represent businesses, philanthropies, and private individuals/groups.

Public-private partnerships at CDC involve CDC staff cultivating dynamic formal and informal collaborations.  There is a wide spectrum of these collaborations at CDC. These relationships can involve funding or no funding at all.

Opportunities for public-private partnerships at CDC are numerous:  

• A Memorandum of Agreement (MOU/MOA) can be used to describe in very broad terms the mutual understandings, concepts, goals, and plans shared by the parties.
• CDC’s Technology Transfer Office facilitates use of Collaborative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs).
• CDC’s Gift Policy outlines how CDC can legally accept gifts from outside entities.
• CDC’s Ethical Considerations for Public-Private Partnerships describes the process CDC uses to review all gifts for potential conflicts of interest.
• CDC’s Sponsorship of Conferences Policy outlines required procedures for co-sponsoring an event.
• CDC Grants includes information on applying for a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). All CDC grant and cooperative agreement opportunities are posted on www.grants.gov .

In some cases, partnerships are arranged through the CDC Foundation. The CDC Foundation, which began operating in 1995, supports numerous program activities that extend the impact of CDC’s work.

Although the CDC Foundation was chartered by Congress, it is not a government agency nor is it a division of CDC. It is a private, nonprofit organization classified as a 501(c)(3) public charity. To connect with CDC Foundation, click here.

To learn how CDC and the Private Sector can work together, read CDC’s Guiding Principles for Public-­Private Partnerships: A Tool to Support Engagement to Achieve Public Health Goals.