| Please register to receive the benefits of our network-wide features. |
         Register (It's Free!) |
Log In
|
| Please register to receive the benefits of our network-wide features. |
Register (It's Free!) |
Log In
|
Tom Lehner, director of public policy for Business Roundtable, conducts an audio interview with Neal Denton about the collaboration between the Red Cross and the Business Roundtable's Partnership for Disaster Response.
One organization, says Denton, can't handle a disaster by itself. The Red Cross concentrates on feeding disaster victims and providing them with temporary shelter and emotional support. It relies on support from the private sector for supplies, volunteers, expertise, warehousing, and other needs.
The formalization of the collaboration with the Partnership for Disaster Response means that representatives of the Business Roundtable participate directly in the Disaster Operations Center that the Red Cross opens when disaster strikes. This significantly streamlines communication and speeds up the response from the private sector. This relationship has already proven its worth during the 2007 California wild fires, the midwest floods of 2008, and hurricanes Ike and Gustav.
Denton also discusses the challenges of achieving good communication with the private sector and plans to strengthen and improve the partnership between the Red Cross and the private sector in the future through preparedness and training.
Neal Denton has been involved with the American Red Cross since he was 8 year old, when he responded with his father to his first Red Cross disaster, a fire in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. It was Denton's first mission for the Red Cross, but far from his last. His relationship with the humanitarian organization would span nearly 40 years, taking him down a variety of paths and leading him to the position of Sr. VP, Government Relations and Strategic Partnerships at the American Red Cross, which he holds today.
Denton has also served the Red Cross as Sr. Vice President - Service to the Armed Forces. Prior to joining the Red Cross senior staff in 2006, Denton served as Executive Director at Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers for 19 years. He graduated from Ohio University in 1985.
Resources:
Business Roundtable Partnership for Disaster Response web site
This free podcast is from our Disaster Response series.
For The Conversations Network:
Play