Nonprofit Executive of the Year Finalist
Patti Gorsky
President and chief executive officer, Make-A-Wish Wisconsin
Patti Gorsky, president and chief executive officer of Make-A-Wish Wisconsin, has served as president since 1999.
When she started, the organization was granting 136 wishes a year in Wisconsin and had approximately seven full-time staff members.
Under Gorsky’s leadership, the organization has grown to become a Make-A-Wish “organization of excellence” at every level.
In 2017, the organization granted nearly 400 wishes and has grown to a staff of 23 at three Wisconsin locations, in Wauwatosa, Madison and Appleton.
The staff, in partnership with a volunteer board of directors and advisors, has helped keep administrative and fundraising costs low so more than 81 percent of all funds raised go toward wish granting.
More than 500 Wisconsin children annually are diagnosed with a medical condition that qualifies them for a wish.
Gorsky continues to work tirelessly to make sure each and every medically eligible child in the state has the opportunity to be granted his or her wish.
