This article was originally published in the Washington Business Journal and authored by the WBJ Special Project Editor, Emily Van Zandt.
The Peterson Cos., Peterson Family Foundation and Inova Health Foundation are recipients of the 2021 Citizenship Award, part of the Washington Business Journal’s annual Philanthropy Awards program.
When legendary Greater Washington developer Milt Peterson, founder of the Peterson Cos., passed away in May at age 85, he wasn’t remembered only for his transformational real estate deals.
Though the years — as a company founder and as a family patriarch through the Peterson Family Foundation — he had a hand in investing more than $100 million to support charities, education and health in the region.
“It really starts with Inova,” says Lauren Peterson, daughter of Milt and head of the Peterson Family Foundation, of the beginning of the family’s focused charitable giving.
When Milt’s wife, Carolyn Peterson, was diagnosed with cancer in the late ‘80s, she began serving on the board of Inova’s Life With Cancer initiative after her recovery. From there, the relationship snowballed.
“From early on, my dad ended up being a sounding board for Inova as they were building the Fairfax campus,” Lauren says. “Part of his philanthropy philosophy was that you need to help institutions that help a region grow. You need an outstanding health system.”
So the Petersons found a way to help support that health system. Over a three-decade relationship, they’ve provided millions in funding to Inova, including a total of $18 million through an annual Lobster Extravaganza fundraiser for the Life With Cancer program that was held right on the lawn of Milt and Carolyn’s home.
“My dad loved doing it every year,” Lauren says. “He’d terrorize everyone for months getting the job done. I’d have to be there on the day of the event, and he’d be out there telling the trucks what to do.”
In 2014, the family gave a multimillion-dollar gift that would help enable the purchase of the Exxon Mobil campus that would eventually be home to the Inova Schar Cancer Institute. In 2018 and 2019, the family’s funding helped establish the Inova Loudoun Peterson Breast Center and expand the Life with Cancer program at Inova Loudoun’s campus. And just this year, the Peterson family gave another $1 million to the program, which offers education and support to those diagnosed with cancer.
Over the years, family members have served on various Inova boards and co-chaired fundraisers. It’s an effort the family plans to continue well into the future as part of Milt’s legacy.
“What dad started and instilled in us was that we need to be in the community doing as much as we can,” Lauren says.
About the partnership: Milt and Carolyn Peterson, along with their family foundation and Peterson Cos., have supported Inova Health Foundation since the late 1980s. Their charitable work has included the establishment of the Inova Loudoun Peterson Breast Center, Peterson Chair of Breast Cancer Research and the expansion of Life With Cancer at the Inova Loudoun Hospital campus. This year, the Petersons donated an additional $1 million toward Life With Cancer’s work.
