Ms. Pearson has served as a director on many national nonprofit boards of directors, including:
- Imagine Canada
- The Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada
- CARE Canada
- Indspire
She chairs the Advisory Body of the Coady Institute at St Francis Xavier University and serves on the Advisory Committee to the Masters in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership program at Carleton University.
She has a BA and MA in Political Economy from the University of Toronto, and honourary doctorates from Carleton University and the University of New Brunswick.