Carol D. Larson is president and CEO of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Before moderating a discussion about whether poor children can still achieve the American dream, she talked Cyndi Lauper, what she loves about L.A., and indulging on travel in the Zócalo green room.
What would your theme song be?
“Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” For 10 years, I worked in civil commercial litigation in Los Angeles, and one of my first cases was up in Oakland, so I was living in a hotel for several months, working night and day on this case, and it was when Cyndi Lauper had just come out with the song. We would play it late at night and sing and dance to it while doing our work.
What’s your favorite thing about Los Angeles?
The diversity. I love all of the different neighborhoods. My daughter just started school at Occidental College and at admitted-students day, the president said, if there’s anything in the world you’re interested in or any problem you want to think about, you can be involved and do it here in L.A. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley and practiced law here, and that’s been my experience.
How do you decompress?
Long walks. I wish I lived near the ocean. When I lived here in L.A., I rented an apartment in Santa Monica, and I’d go out and sit out on the bluff and feel different after 10 minutes, just looking at the water.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
My dad was a Lutheran minister, so first I wanted to marry a Lutheran minister, then I wanted to be a Lutheran minister, then I wanted to be a U.S. senator. By high school, I cared a lot about children’s issues. It wasn’t until I was in college that I decided to go to law school and get a law degree as background for that interest.
What do you eat for breakfast?
It’s a little boring. Either whole-grain toast with peanut butter or Yoplait yogurt with almonds and some sort of fruit.
What’s the best gift you’ve ever been given?
It’ll sound schmaltzy, but the biggest gifts have really been children, and all the little gifts they give you along the way. Not only am I interested in children’s issues from a public policy perspective, but I’ve always really liked them. To be a mom and have two daughters and raise them was a wonderful gift. And all those mugs and hand-printed plates and pictures they made me—they’re still the things I hold onto, to their embarrassment.
What teacher or professor changed your life, if any?
I was fortunate because I had a bunch of them, but there’s one law professor in particular—Michael Wald at Stanford. I met him in Sacramento, when I was an undergraduate and he was working to revise the child abuse and neglect laws in California. He really encouraged me to think about law school, and helped me decide where to apply and where to go. And when I decided to switch from practicing law, he put me in touch with the Packard Foundation. The amazing thing is it wasn’t just with me. He’s done that for scores of other students throughout his tenure.
Where would we find you at 10 a.m. on a typical Sunday morning?
Church. I have four brothers, and out of the five of us, I’m the only one who still goes to church. I’ve been going to the same church in Palo Alto for 20 years, and I still find it nourishing and a great place for intergenerational connection and thinking of what’s important in life and hopefully being of some service to others.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Probably travel. I remember someone telling me, when your kids are growing up, you should really take vacations and spend the money on travel when you can, so pretty much every summer we would go somewhere, usually internationally.
Who’s your favorite Beatle?
Paul, of course. He was the cutest.