To open the second day of the 2025 Preparedness Summit, Dr. Tom Frieden, President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, spoke about the resilience of public health efforts, and how, “local health departments have been central to innovation and finding a pathway forward.” He talked of public health’s “superpower” to see things that are invisible and to make them visible to our communities through facts, technical rigor, and humility. Frieden also reminded attendees that “we’ve overcome challenges before, and we can overcome them now with leadership and strategic action.” 

The day’s plenary session, led by Eric McNulty, Associate Director of the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative at Harvard University, also focused on leadership through the session, “You’re Still It: How to Lead in Recovery.”

McNulty opened by acknowledging that these are “tough times for public health” and that it’s “not just communities that need to heal—it’s all of us.” He spoke to the need to bring people into an uncertain future with “hope, confidence, and agency.”

In introducing the concept of Meta Leadership, McNulty talked about the need to lead from where you are, leading up and down to your team, and clarifying and helping to explain what public health does to the public, media, and elected officials. 

Echoing the highlight of public health’s “superpowers,” McNulty spotlighted the public health community and those in the room as foundational. He talked of the need to reweave the community tightly and make it strong, adding that “we need to find new ways of collaborating to meet the challenges we face together.” He also pointed to the need for humanity and transparency and the acknowledgment that no one has all the answers in order to build trust within communities. McNulty emphasized the power of doing things with people and a desire to move forward together.

To bring the session to a close, McNulty talked of the need to nourish each other even as the pull of day-to-day work returns.

“I want you to go into the community and say, we are here for you. We are here for each other. That is how we’re going to lead for recovery…You were born to be it. You’ve got this. We’ve got this. We are here for you; we are here for each other. Be there and we will get there,” said McNulty.

Additional Highlights from Day Two

The day included over 40 demonstrations, learning sessions, and workshops. Over lunch in the Exhibit Hall, participants had the opportunity to learn from and interact with over 50 posters and their presenters. 

Later in the afternoon, attendees convened in four Town Hall sessions exploring the topics of:

• Building Resilient Public Health Systems: Leadership, Policy Engagement, and Recovery Strategies
• Building the Evidence Base: Network of Regional Centers for Public Health Preparedness and Response
• Ditch the Bottled Water: Overcoming Obstacles to On-Site Treatment of Water After a Disaster
• Lessons from the Storm: Hurricane Response and Recovery in Florida and North Carolina

Click here to see photos from the day.