When Vickie Patterson started working with the ratings and consumer data company AC Nielsen in her early 20s, she quickly discovered that it wasn’t the right pathway for her.
“I was watching Coca‑Cola paying $10 million to get information on Pepsi’s 12‑ounce plastic bottle versus their can, and how much sales it was, and I’m like, ‘You know, all that money could be used for something else,’” says Patterson, who went back to school to study administration with a nonprofit emphasis.
Patterson’s new career pathway took her to United Way, where she accepted a role as a planning and fund distribution associate, later serving as director of community impact. When Patterson’s son was born, she worked as a consultant until he went to kindergarten, then returned to nonprofits as development director for American Foundation of Counseling Services, now Foundations Health & Wholeness.
Patterson came to the Bay Area Workforce Development Board in 2015 as its work experience coordinator, later serving as program operations manager and moving into the executive director role in 2023.
Patterson says a focus on advocacy comes naturally to her — quite possibly infused in her DNA. Her mother’s family traced its heritage back to Puritan immigrant William Kelsey, who emigrated from England to Massachusetts Bay Colony as an indentured servant in the 1600s, becoming one of the founders of Hartford, Connecticut. Kelsey had left his home because of a split in the church, where Kelsey advocated for allowing everyone, not just landowners, to vote, Patterson says.
“It was not an easy journey,” Patterson says. “To do that, you had to have strong conviction in what you felt was right. So I feel like maybe I get my strong sense of social justice and advocacy from my very first ancestor in America.”
Nominator and colleague Sarah Klapper says Patterson “has consistently advanced missions, built strong partnerships, and inspired others to reach their fullest potential” during her 25 years of nonprofit leadership experience.
“Part of Vicki’s leadership is her gift for bringing the right people together. She convenes employers, educators, community partners and policymakers to sit at the same table, have real conversations and share ideas that lead to lasting solutions,” Klapper said.
Patterson’s experiences working with nonprofits have shown her the importance of strong partnerships. “The reciprocal nature is what’s so valuable,” Patterson says. That’s especially true in a time when money is tight and organizations are competing for funding, she adds. “It can hamper what gets done, but not if you have a really good partner, because they include you.”
Patterson’s current focus at BAWDB includes working on ways to engage high school students who aren’t going to college. “You can say, ‘Oh, go on to school,’ or ‘Oh, take this training class.’ They’re done with it … So how do we create something? We’re working with a couple partners having some initial conversations around what that looks like.”
She’s also concentrating on helping employers shift their hiring mindsets from occupational history to focusing instead on applicant skills. “It’s a huge shift. And so how do we do that? And how do we prepare the community to do that? So we have some things in the works, and we have a grant that we’re looking to train employers on skills‑based hiring practices.”
For women who are trying to find their own pathways, Patterson says just to take a first step: “You don’t have to have everything figured out … It will lead to the next step, and you learn something from everything you do.”
* Photograph by Shane Van Boxtel / Image Studios
