Patty Wipfler

Founder, Program Director, and Trainer

Patty Wipfler was born, raised and educated in California, graduating from Occidental College in 1968, and is the mother of two sons. The focus of her work since 1974 has been teaching basic listening, parenting, and leadership skills to parents. She directed The School, a non-profit parent co-operative preschool in Palo Alto, and later directed Neighborhood Infant Toddler Center for Palo Alto Community Child Care. She has led over 400 residential weekend workshops for families and for leaders of parents in the U.S. and in 23 countries.

In 1989, she founded the non-profit Parents Leadership Institute, which has evolved into Hand in Hand. As Director, she has written 14 booklets, produced videotapes and audiotapes, and has written over 60 articles for Hand in Hand on the principles and benefits of listening parent-to-parent and parent-to-child, and on leading Parent Resource Groups. To date, Hand in Hand has sold over 500,000 of these booklets in English, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese.

Patty Wipfler's articles have been published in Mothering Magazine, the Bulletin of Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families, Child Welfare News, and in many local newsletters for parents. She has been a keynote speaker at Association for the Education of Young Children conventions in Chicago and Philadelphia, and has done workshops and trainings throughout California, and in Oregon, New Mexico, Texas, and Massachusetts, as well as in Beijing, China.

Patty has two grown sons and lives in Palo Alto, California.