The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spent over $25,000 for media training and executive coaching for Director Rochelle Walensky to improve her communication skills as she heads the agency’s public health messaging.
The agency has paid $16,000 to Mandy Grunwald, a longtime Democratic political consultant, for media training since October 2021 and $9,750 since March 2021 for executive management coaching with Tim Sullivan, the founder of management consulting firm Wellesley Partners.
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Training with Grunwald would “assist [Walensky’s] team in crafting clear language to communicate CDC’s public health guidance and coach Dr. Walensky to effectively deal with television interviews and other public communications,” expense authorization filings detailed, according to Politico.
A spokesperson for Walensky, Kathleen Conley, told the Washington Examiner that media training is a typical practice for CDC directors “to ensure they are effectively and clearly communicating to public health partners and the American people.”
“This type of training is not an unusual practice,” Conley added. “It is a long-standing, prudent practice inside and outside of government for high-level officials to seek executive coaching.”
One year into her tenure, Walensky admitted that she has not always been clear with her messaging, having previously been criticized for how she communicated pandemic guidelines such as mask-wearing.
“I think what I have not conveyed is the uncertainty in a lot of these situations,” Walensky told the Wall Street Journal in January.
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Walensky was first appointed as the CDC director in January 2021 during a period of high transmission for the coronavirus, tasked with building the agency’s credibility under the new Biden administration at a critical point in public health.
Agencies have the discretion to pay for employee training under the Government Employees Training Act.
