Woman in Action: Barbara Papitto is invested in reducing barriers for people of color

“My mother, the saint.”

These are the first words out of Barbara Papitto’s mouth when asked about her childhood. Barbara, one of five siblings, grew up in the Wanskuck section of Providence. Her parents worked in the mills, and later in factories, earning minimum wage. Even on the tightest of budgets, Barbara’s mother would always set aside money for the Catholic Church and United Way.

“We might not have meat one day because she gave to the United Way,” remembered Barbara. But, it went beyond donating money. Flora Dandeneau was always extending a hand to those in need.

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“After cooking for seven in my family, my mother would have a meal at someone’s home if they were ill,” said Barbara. “Whatever she could do to help people, she would. She was selfless.”

From a young age, Flora’s example — reinforced by the family’s strong Catholic faith — was deeply ingrained in Barbara, who said, “I grew up knowing that you have to help people.”

That conviction has been Barbara’s North Star, guiding her through decades of volunteerism and philanthropy. And, it’s culminated in her biggest endeavor yet: the creation of the Papitto Opportunity Connection, a private foundation focused exclusively on Rhode Island’s communities of color. Barbara has committed a minimum of $150 million to the new foundation.

“I feel that people of color have been in the background and they don’t have the opportunities that even middle-income people have in this state,” Barbara said. “I feel that my money can go much further and I can be more transformative by just focusing totally on people of color.”

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$50 million in multi-year grants pledged so far

Since its inception in December 2020, the Providence-based Papitto Opportunity Connection has pledged $50 million in multi-year grants (with $9 million already handed out) to roughly 50 local organizations. The grants range in size from $10 million dollars over four years to Lifespan Health Systems to hire, train and promote 1,000 people of color, to smaller grants that have an enormous impact on existing programs.

In August 2021, the foundation donated $370,000 to the Mount Hope Community Center in Providence. The center provides everything from food distribution to free tax preparation and an array of social services to more than 1,700 families a year. Managing the increasing needs of their clients during the pandemic was a struggle for the center, given its shoestring budget of $170,000 a year. The Papitto gift was an absolute lifeline, according to the center.

“When someone’s willing to give at the capacity the Papitto Opportunity Connection is giving, it makes my eyes moisten,” said the center’s executive director, Helen Baskerville-Dukes. “It shows someone cares about the plight of our communities, and it’s not just talk. We’ve been talking about the problem for so long. But when you’re locked out of opportunities and funding and resources and networks, we’re forced to do a lot with so little. People can’t understand that.”

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For Barbara and her fellow trustees, attorney John Tarantino and accountant Ed Pieroni, it was imperative that the foundation’s advisory board be composed exclusively of people of color representing different communities and areas of expertise. Their aim is to be highly responsive to the specific needs of their grantees. Barbara makes it a point to visit as many organizations as possible.

“When she says she’s here to listen and here to help, she means that,” said Helen.

“What surprised me when we go out [on site visits] is how many people are actually doing this work with very little money,” Barbara said. “All they needed was support to be able to do more in the community. I have such an appreciation for all of our grantees, because they work so hard, tirelessly for their communities. I have the easy job, which is writing the check.”

Creating a talent pipeline through education and entrepreneurship

Barbara’s focus is on creating pathways to success by funding skills training, education and entrepreneurs. Building Futures, a pre-apprenticeship program, received a multi-year commitment from the foundation.

“They were completely open to listening to what we actually need as an organization and making an agreement around that,” said Andrew Cortés, founder and executive director of the nonprofit. “There are no airs with Barbara. She is hands-on. She cares about the results. She wants to see the tangible impacts of her investments. And she does.”

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While Building Futures is working to expand apprenticeship programs in a variety of key industries, such as health care, its core mission has been creating talent pipelines from disenfranchised communities into the highly competitive apprenticeship programs for unionized construction.

“It truly is a pathway to the middle class,” said Andrew, who himself rose from poverty to a successful career, thanks to a carpentry apprenticeship when he was a teenager.

Building Futures has helped 350 people from low-income neighborhoods (80% of whom are people of color) enter apprenticeship programs for unionized construction in the last several years. But, with the massive $1-trillion federal investment in infrastructure looming, Andrew was desperate to expand his organization's reach.

“We needed to be able to expand our programming but didn’t have the funding to do it,” said Andrew. “Without the investment from the Papitto Opportunity Connection, we would not be able to ramp up quickly enough to take advantage of the opportunities that are coming. It's been a huge, huge boon.”

Since receiving the grant, Andrew has been asked to join the foundation’s advisory board.

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“It’s a profound privilege and honor,” he said. Andrew has seen firsthand how the Papitto Opportunities Connection’s “catalytic investments make life-changing differences for organizations, their leadership and the people they serve.”

Making amends for husband's racial slur

Barbara had her own life-changing moment decades ago when she had a chance encounter at Capriccio restaurant with Ralph Papitto, a hugely successful entrepreneur who founded several companies, including Nortek, a manufacturer and seller of diversified home products.

Two days later, Ralph invited Barbara, who was working as an accountant at the time, back to Capriccio for lunch.

“We were there for three hours,” Barbara said with a smile. “Time flew by. And, because of my accounting background, I was interested in what he did. We had a lot in common business-wise. We had a wonderful, wonderful relationship for over 36 years.”

One troubling chapter came when Ralph, who was chairman of the board of trustees at Roger Williams University, uttered a racial slur during a board meeting. He was subsequently ousted from the board in 2007 (he had served as a trustee there for nearly four decades) and his name was removed from the university's law school.

“I lived with my husband for 36 years, and he did not display any racism at all with me,” Barbara said. “I was as shocked as anyone else. My husband made a big mistake. He apologized immediately, and I’m still apologizing for it.”

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To help make amends, the couple launched Read to Succeed, a literacy and college scholarship program targeting underserved students. Since 2007, Read to Succeed has awarded more than $2.2 million in scholarships to students in five Providence schools.

Barbara is upfront about that painful time. She even posted a candid conversation about it on her foundation’s website.

“I needed to let the Black community know that my husband was apologetic," she said. "It shouldn’t have been said.”

Ralph died in 2019 at the age of 92. Since then, Barbara has worn his cross around her neck, along with her own. She’s also committed to funding the Papitto Opportunity Connection well into the future so that Rhode Island’s communities of color know they have a partner for the long term.

“At day’s end, all of my money is going to be going to charity when I pass,” Barbara said. “My husband’s family has all been taken care of. All of this will go into charity. And I’m hoping it’s going to be more than $150 million.”

She also hopes to inspire others to follow her lead.

“The community in Rhode Island benefits from Barbara Papitto’s passion, commitment and philanthropy,” said Neil Steinberg, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation. “She’s also a role model, because she’s targeting and enhancing and lifting up communities of color. There’s not another focused fund like that. I think it shows what’s possible.”

— Patricia Andreu, a freelance journalist living in Providence, writes Women In Action, a periodic column. Reach her at WomenInActionRI@outlook.com and follow her on Twitter: @ri_women.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Barbara Papitto is invested in reducing barriers for people of color