Expert Bio
Patricia Wilson is a visionary chief executive, keynote speaker, board member, and social impact evangelist with over two decades of experience driving meaningful change across the nonprofit, media, and public sectors. A passionate advocate for social responsibility, Patricia built her career around integrity, financial acumen, and the power of community engagement, earning worldwide recognition for her transformative leadership. She is best known for her pivotal role as a main character in the Warner Bros./New Line Cinema documentary Batkid Begins, released in theaters nationwide in 2015, and for her widely celebrated TEDxTalk in which she is affectionately dubbed the "BIC." As former CEO of Make-A-Wish, one of the largest chapters in the country, Patricia led the organization's strategic direction and established a permanently restricted endowment to ensure long-term sustainability, helping to cement Make-A-Wish as one of the most recognized and respected nonprofit brands in the world. Prior to her tenure at Make-A-Wish, she held senior leadership roles at acclaimed PBS/NPR stations WHRO and KQED, the fifth largest public broadcaster in the nation, and served as executive director of a science and wildlife environmental museum. Today, Patricia is a sought-after keynote speaker and consultant to startups, offering expertise in marketing, branding, web architecture, social media strategy, community engagement, publicity, and philanthropy planning. She currently serves on the boards of Illuminate (Bay Lights) and Friends of the Urban Forest. Patricia's extraordinary life and work have inspired an upcoming feature film starring and produced by Oscar-winner Julia Roberts, developed under the Red Om Films banner through New Line Cinema (Warner Bros.).
