Vi Peterson

In an era when very few women held senior positions in mainstream banking, especially overseas, she says her role in the workplace wasn’t easy.

“Back then, I had to overcome inherent prejudices, biases and preconceptions about women in mainstream banking. It was about trying to prove that women can be just as good bankers as men. And I think I've done that.”

“Thankfully the industry has changed a lot since.”

Moving into foreign relations, Peterson used her business experience to become a trade diplomat.  In 1996, she was appointed Australian Senior Trade Commissioner to Vietnam.  Here, she met her husband Pete Peterson, the US Ambassador. Completing that posting, Peterson established her own consulting business in 2000. Leaving Vietnam, the couple formed a consulting firm in 2002, providing strategic advice to multinational corporations operating in Asia.

While working in Vietnam, Peterson and her husband became aware of the public health burden caused by accidental injuries.

In response, they launched the 'Safe Vietnam' campaign, a diplomatic initiative that successfully convinced the Vietnamese government to recognise injury prevention as a public health priority, ultimately resulting in the implementation of a mandatory motorcycle helmet law.

That experience, along with the realisation that child injury was a neglected public health issue in developing nations, inspired them to establish The Alliance for Safe Children (TASC) foundation in 2002, in the USA.

According to Peterson, TASC’s mission was to “serve as a global catalyst to address the cause of child injury and a focal point for advocacy and fund-raising”.

Working with UNICEF, WHO, the USA's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Royal Life Saving Society Australia, TASC turned its focus to the prevention of drowning, a leading cause of death worldwide, particularly for children aged 5–14 years.

TASC and its partners’ advocacy led to the United Nations adopting a 'Resolution on Global Drowning Prevention' in 2021, acknowledging the issue for the first time. WHO, UNICEF, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and other public health institutions are compelled to work towards raising awareness of drowning and driving action to prevent it.

Peterson’s approach to life and business continues to revolve around her commitment to the community.

“To me, everyone should engage in some form of philanthropic pursuit. It's good for the soul. Business comes from the head; philanthropy comes from the heart,” she says.

It's about giving something back, making a contribution, helping people without expecting anything in return.

Peterson believes people who want to create impact in their careers and lives should get out of their comfort zone and take advantage of every opportunity they come across.

Peterson served on boards in Australia and overseas. On the Council of Swinburne University of Technology for nearly eight years, she recently received the new title of Chancellor’s Fellow in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the university. She served on the IH Council from 2010 and as Chair from 2016 to 2020.

The Petersons' business consultancy and philanthropic pursuits continue. In recognition of their work on child injury prevention, Atlantic Philanthropies (a major donor to TASC and the University) made a grant of US$250,000 in 2020 in their honour, the Vi and Pete Peterson Scholarship Fund for IH students, which the couple has committed to continually top up.

Other awards were created by Peterson: a scholarship fund between Swinburne and the FPT University of Technology (its Vietnam partner), and a TASC award permitting two returning IH residents to spend 2–3 weeks doing volunteer work at the Mechai Pattana Bamboo School in Thailand.