Five Questions With: Carol A. Peterson

CAROL A. PETERSON retired as senior vice president, administration from FM Global in 2001 to focus her efforts on community volunteering, primarily helping children. In 2000, she established The Carol A. Peterson Foundation to help facilitate her philanthropic efforts. / COURTESY BRADLEY HOSPITAL
CAROL A. PETERSON retired as senior vice president, administration from FM Global in 2001 to focus her efforts on community volunteering, primarily helping children. In 2000, she established The Carol A. Peterson Foundation to help facilitate her philanthropic efforts. / COURTESY BRADLEY HOSPITAL

Carol A. Peterson, a lifelong resident of Cranston, retired as senior vice president, administration from FM Global in 2001 to focus her efforts on community volunteering, primarily helping children. In 2000, she established The Carol A. Peterson Foundation to serve as the vehicle for her philanthropic giving.

Deeply committed to giving back to the community, she serves as vice chair of the Bradley Hospital Foundation board of trustees and chair of its governance committee, having previously served on the Bradley Hospital board of trustees. In addition to her commitment to Bradley, Peterson is past president of the board of directors of the Providence Children’s Museum, past board member of The San Miguel School, and was a member of both the Providence College President’s Council and United Way of Rhode Island’s community advisory board. In 2016, she pledged a $1 million gift to Bradley Hospital to support the renovation and expansion of the main entrance of the hospital’s main building, and the creation of new spaces for academic and staff training, as well as art therapy. Her commitment is the single largest gift to Bradley Hospital since George and Helen Bradley provided for its founding through their estates, allowing it to open 85 years ago.

PBN: You were recently presented with Bradley Hospital’s first-ever “Humanitarian of the Year” award. How did you become involved with the hospital and why?
PETERSON:
My involvement with Bradley Hospital stems from a friend who worked there and encouraged me to visit because they felt I’d be interested in how the hospital fits with my philanthropic focus on children and education. This was back in 2003. It immediately struck me how well they address the mental and behavioral needs of children. But, even beyond that, their staff is so caring and compassionate that it was palpable among everyone I met. From that point, I was hooked and I’ve been involved ever since.

PBN: This past year, you pledged $1 million to support renovations to Bradley’s main entrance – the largest gift in the hospital’s history since it was founded through the estates of George and Helen Bradley – what attracted you to respond to this project with such generosity?
PETERSON:
We have this spectacular hospital in the back of the building, but the front of the house is 3 decades old compared to the state-of-the-art renovations done to the hospital in recent years. I wanted to support this project to, in essence, put on a new front door because it’s the first impression people have of Bradley when they walk in. First impressions are very important and this is an opportunity to make the place even better than it was before. It’s important to make children and families as comfortable as possible while they are there. I can’t tell you how many parents have said to me that they can’t imagine the number of hours they’ve spent in the lobby while their child is being treated.

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PBN: In addition to your support of Bradley’s programs and the hospital’s needs as a whole, you are also a significant supporter of its research efforts, particularly the Pediatric Mood, Imaging and NeuroDevelopment program that studies the most severe psychiatric disorders affecting children, such as bipolar disorder, autism and anxiety. Why do you feel it’s so important to invest in research, as well as current care?
PETERSON:
I see the impact of the hospital’s day-to-day work, yet there’s this other side to what they do that’s maybe not as outwardly exciting to some people, and that’s research. Over the years, I’ve been introduced to doctors doing research and it just blew my mind from a standpoint of what they’re addressing – how they want to find a cure or a better way to treat these behavioral and emotional issues versus simply administering medications. An example of this is the PediMIND program, where Dr. Daniel Dickstein is looking to identify what triggers different responses in the brain of a child with certain conditions with an eye toward finding out if there’s a way to “retrain the brain.” I’m so impressed with what Bradley’s doing that I want to help today while also leaving a mark on the future.

PBN: Along with Bradley Hospital, you are heavily involved with a number of community organizations. How would you describe your focus on the causes you support?
PETERSON:
After leaving the corporate world and immersing myself in nonprofit work, I wanted my focus to be on the needs of children. My first venture into this was funding TalkWorks, an anti-bullying program that works with schools. I’ve also done a lot with the Diocese of Providence and the President’s Council at Providence College, which led to an introduction to San Miguel School. I sponsor the education of three boys there and it’s been wonderful to watch them develop into bright young men. Right now, at San Miguel, I’m helping to renovate their kitchen so it can be used for cooking and nutrition education. I’ve realized that I could donate all the money in the world to help educate children, but if they’re hungry, they’re not going to learn. That, in turn, led me to increase my support of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. The United Way is my first love though – I’ve spent many, many years with them. Tony Maione has done a marvelous job changing the United Way concept to make the biggest impact on the community. Any time there’s a natural disaster or emergency, United Way and 2-1-1 are there to help. I’m a big supporter of their after-school and summer learning programs for children.

PBN: What are your thoughts on the future of philanthropy in our state? Do you feel Rhode Islanders have a responsibility to give back to help advance the common good?
PETERSON:
You often hear that Rhode Islanders are not generous or that organizations are turning to the same people for money. Well, I don’t really agree with that. I serve on a lot of development committees and see lots of lists of donors – there aren’t too many repeats. Different people support different organizations. If the mission resonates with someone – or if they’re directly involved – they’ll be givers. People may not be six- or seven-figure donors, but they are givers nonetheless; a lot of little gifts add up to a lot of money. Look at what Meeting Street does during their telethon, and Hasbro Children’s Hospital receives from the radiothon. These are major fundraising efforts, and it comes mostly from people in our communities.

I also wouldn’t say people look upon giving as a responsibility. You want to do something that makes you feel good, that touches you. People will be philanthropic if they believe in something, and I think that’s particularly true in Rhode Island.

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