If you’ve met Carter Broocks, you remember it. Altruistic, gregarious, lover of all things green and friendly to all furry creatures, Carter has been a member of Centra’s Marketing & Communications Team since 2015. As a Marketing Business Partner, she collaborates with several service lines and departments to support their marketing needs and strategy as it relates to Centra’s external customers and community. Her work ranges from developing digital campaigns to honing key messages that highlight our community partners. In short, she says, “At the end of the day, the goal of my work is to support Centra, our Caregivers and our community.”
With a background in marketing focused on higher academics, Carter felt that the same purpose that she had found in the academic sphere of marketing was also present at Centra. She shared that the most impactful thing she’s learned in her eight years at Centra is the power of collective impact. Explaining that, “there is not one department or person who’s the answer to anything. We have to have each other’s back, build relationships and foster collaboration.” Carter believes that real impact on community needs comes from clinical and non-clinical teams working together and depending on each other.
One of her favorite memories from her time at Centra thus far was getting to watch open heart surgery as a part of her training when she was the marketing representative for the Centra Heart and Vascular Institute. Additionally, Carter said that the coolest part about working for Centra is, “the fact that we’re so purpose driven. It’s a shared feeling of purpose among everyone. We’re here for something greater than ourselves—uplifting and caring for our community well.”
When she’s not working on Centra marketing initiatives and strategies, Carter can be found participating in water aerobics classes, spending time with her friends or small group and serving as an Alumni Consultant for the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance’s Leadership Lynchburg Program. When asked one thing that she’d love to master, she answered, “understanding how to change interior light fixtures and just electrical work in general!” Additionally, she loves enjoying good weather on her front porch with a cup of cinnamon coffee in hand.
Carter explained that she feels that the most important thing that the world is missing right now is perspective. She shared, “we’re so interested in seeing things from our own personal viewpoints that we miss the opportunity to show compassion, respect and kindness to those around us. I think if we truly tried to understand things from someone else’s perspective those things would follow.”
One way that Carter has worked to expand her own perspective is through her work with the Interfaith Outreach Association that is based in Lynchburg. As a member of their board, Carter serves on committees where she is able to use her marketing and development background to support the association’s needs. She accepted the invitation to be a part of their board because of how the IOA works with individuals in the Lynchburg community to put them on a path to success while treating them with honor and dignity.
Carter also pointed out that the IOA is another example of collective impact because the association consists of multiple congregations and places of faith who have come together and who believe they can do more together than they can do alone. She feels that helping others benefits those giving and those receiving because you never know when being in need of assistance will be a part of your story too.