Alice Peterson
Alice Peterson is the Founder and former President of Syrus Global, a provider of risk management and business ethics solutions. Key among the Syrus services was the Listen Up™ hotline, ethics reporting and case management solution. Launched in 2002, Syrus was acquired in 2009 by SAI Global.
Ms. Peterson currently serves on the faculty of the Practising Law Institute (PLI) and the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), and consults, speaks and writes on topics of governance and ethical culture. She is also on the boards of directors of public, private, and not-for-profit organizations.
Ms. Peterson held executive positions at Sears, Kraft and PepsiCo prior to founding Syrus Global. At Sears, Roebuck and Co., she launched and ran Sears Online, where she grew e-commerce revenues from zero to $500 million between 1998 and 2000. This endeavor involved establishing new supply chain and logistics for online purchases, along with separate client care processes, which she planned and executed.
Joining Sears as the Corporate Director of Finance in 1989, Ms. Peterson was elevated to Vice President and Treasurer of Sears in 1993 (then a $50 billion conglomerate). She held leadership roles during the company’s transformation activities from 1992 through 1998, being the corporate team leader on the IPO and subsequent spin-off of Dean Witter Discover, and a key team member for the IPO and spin-off of Allstate.
Prior to joining Sears, Ms. Peterson was the Assistant Treasurer for corporate finance and treasury at Kraft (1988-1989). She was responsible for the defense plan which the company deployed when Philip Morris made its takeover offer in 1988. Prior to joining Kraft, she held strategy, corporate finance and treasury positions at PepsiCo’s headquarters in New York.
Ms. Peterson’s service on public company boards of directors has spanned two decades. She currently serves on the boards of Williams Partners and RIM Finance, the US subsidiary of Research in Motion Ltd. Prior board service includes Hanesbrands, Navistar Financial Corporation, 360 Communications, and Fleming Companies. She also currently serves on the board of trustees of the Institute for Business & Professional Ethics at DePaul University and the NACD-Chicago Chapter, and participates in a number of other civic and professional activities in her community. She has served on the board of trustees of the Ravinia Festival, home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, for many years.
Ms. Peterson holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Louisville.
