CDC Foundation Promotes Alison Moran Thompson to Chief Advancement Officer

The CDC Foundation today announced the promotion of Alison Moran Thompson as chief advancement officer. In this role Thompson will lead the Advancement Department with overall responsibility for the Foundation’s resource mobilization efforts and donor relations strategy and will work strategically with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other public health leaders to address public health priorities and critical needs through philanthropic and public-private partnership engagement. As part of her responsibilities, Thompson also leads fundraising efforts for public health emergency response and readiness needs.

“I am excited to have Alison lead the Advancement department. Her exceptional leadership, vision and deep experience in nonprofit advancement make her the ideal person to lead our resource mobilization and donor relations strategies,” said Judy Monroe, MD, president and CEO of the CDC Foundation.

Thompson has 14 years of nonprofit advancement experience, and she has a track record as a strong leader and manager, excelling at building high-functioning teams where each member’s skills are identified and utilized to the fullest.

Before this promotion, Thompson most recently served as vice president for Advancement after returning to the CDC Foundation following nearly four years at Emory University. At Emory, Thompson served as the assistant dean of Advancement and Alumni Engagement at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, leading all development efforts. She then served as senior managing director in the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations with Emory, overseeing a team focused on partner engagement efforts across the institution’s health sciences and medical enterprise.

Prior to Emory, Thompson served at the CDC Foundation from 2011‒2020 in a variety of advancement roles, culminating in associate vice president for Advancement. In this role, she oversaw and strengthened the organization’s public-private partnership fundraising efforts.

Thompson holds a master’s degree in public administration with a concentration in nonprofit management from Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University, a Bachelor of Arts in English from Davidson College, and has completed coursework towards a master’s degree in public health at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, with a focus on prevention science.