FOCUS Q+A
Meeting for
our Health
To plan successful meetings for the Office of Rural Health and Primary
Care, Kristen Tharaldson must combine her knowledge of health policy and
government guidelines with that of site selection and food and beverage.
> INTERVIEWED BY AMANDA FRETHEIM GATES
After starting off her career as a scientist in human genetics with the goal of becoming a researcher, Kristen Tharaldson decided she needed more inter- action with people. She went back to school for a
master’s in public health and received a degree in community
health education with an emphasis in health policy. For the
past six years she’s worked as a planner for the Office of Rural
PHOTO BY TODD BUCHANAN
Health and Primary Care in the Minnesota Department of
Health. She also currently holds the position of secretary with
the Northern Lights Chapter of the Society of Government
Meeting Planners. Tharaldson talked to us about her unique
responsibilities as a government meeting planner, some of
the new guidelines she’s following, and how she weighs the
positives and negatives of a tight economy.
