Big Brothers Name Pagnozzi a "Woman of the Year"

When Susan Pagnozzi, director for the Chamber of Commerce, found out she had been named one of three Women of the Year by Big Brothers of Rhode Island, she cried.

Not just because she was honored and humbled by the award.

“The organization is near and dear to my heart,” Pagnozzi, whose energy and intensity belies the fact the Greater Cranston Chamber of Commerce is a one-woman operation, said.

“My son has a Big Brother,” she said.

The organization has given her son someone to talk to. Someone who will step in and “do the right thing,” Pagnozzi said.

There are family members who could be male role models for her son, but they often don’t have the time. But his Big Brother is “a stranger, who has no blood relation, and is there for him whenever. You can’t get any better than that,” Pagnozzi said.

Her son’s relationship with his Big Brother has given him a sense of belonging, Pagnozzi said. Recently, her son was distraught over the fact that he had nobody to take him out to buy things like birthday gifts for her, like his friends do. He woke up at 3 a.m. in tears about the whole thing.

“His big brother called him that night and now they’re hanging out,” Pagnozzi said. “When a kid feels alone, this person steps in.”

Pagnozzi said she had no idea she had been nominated. She joins Majorie P. Cummings and Kathryn O’Hare, former West Warwick mayor and the first woman elected mayor in Rhode Island, in the second annual Women of the Year awards.

The three women will be honored at a dinner March 2 at the Providence Marriot. The keynote speaker will be the Associate Family Court Justice Laureen A. D’Ambra. Cocktails start at 6 p.m. and dinner is at 7 p.m. Tickets are $50 per person. For more information, check our or call 401-432-9955.