Caroline Skuncik

2022 40 Under Forty Awards
Caroline Skuncik, 39
Executive director, I-195 Redevelopment District


How has COVID-19 changed your industry? The way people work has changed, so the demand for commercial office space has decreased. The demand for lab space has been incredibly strong in Greater Boston, in part because the work cannot be done remotely, and we are working hard to create lab space and build a life science cluster in Providence. There has also been increased interest in open space.

What is the best advice you have ever received? Don’t ask, don’t get!

Where do you see yourself in five years? Enjoying a vibrant, mixed-use innovation and design district resulting from the completed projects in our pipeline.

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What moment changed your life more than any other? Meeting my husband. He is an eighth-generation Rhode Islander who later convinced me to move to the state on a trial basis, which has now lasted eight years.

Fox or MSNBC? NPR.

What led you to pursuing a career in your current industry? I was working as an environmental policy consultant and felt removed from the impacts of my work. Real estate development is fundamentally connected to environmental sustainability and has a direct impact on people’s daily lives. I was drawn to the tangible nature of the field – projects take years to come together and then be constructed, but the feeling of experiencing the final product in person at the end is unmatched.