Meticulous, collaborative, and caring are the three adjectives that define Patrice Fisher.

Before relocating from Cincinnati and choosing the Villages in 2016, Patrice and Ken visited coastal cities in Florida, did the resident “lifestyle” tour and rented a home for a short period to make sure The Villages was really as great as it seemed before buying their “dream home”. It did not “hurt” that they found the residents so friendly and that they “found” people of color who engaged with each other! This meticulous/collaborative aspect of Patrice’s “ethos” can be traced to Patrice’s experience as a chemical engineer working for one of the preeminent marketers in the country “Procter and Gamble” (P&G).

Patrice has a son in Cincinnati and a daughter living in Cleveland, between them they have seven grandchildren with one on the way.

P&G, her employer for 31 years, groomed Patrice’s problem solving and leadership skills and instilled within her the power of team collaboration to achieve goals. The first eight years, she immersed herself in her work and built a reputation as a strong technical expert.  As a black woman, it wasn’t easy since her credibility was challenged every time she changed jobs or supervisors, but through seeking mentors, consulting with experts, and developing strong coping skills, she succeeded.  After 8 years in R&D, Patrice’s need to make an impact on people led her to transition to Human Resources where she worked on several “game changing” initiatives that helped develop employees in one of the few companies that hires and promotes primarily from within.  Two of her first HR projects were to lead a program retaining and developing women of color within its management levels and to roll out formal career planning across the company.  This aspect of Patrice’s career channeled her problem solving and collaborative skills to help others solve their own problems.  She is also a Certified Executive Coach and led the Executive Coaching Training Program for HR leaders; led HR for HR where she established the HR professional career track from hiring degreed professionals to helping develop the global HR training and development programs; helped automate Executive Compensation and managed Executive Assignment Planning which included helping identify one of P&G’s CEOs.

Within TAAC, Patrice has put those skills to use on TAAC’s Board as Assistant Secretary, on the planning team of four successful Friendship Golf Tournament Scholarship fundraisers for TAAC/Gents including Co-Chairing last year’s tournament, and on the scholarship committee where she supported Leesburg and Lake Weir.   Patrice is looking forward to continuing putting their newly installed pool “to work” with their grandchildren! She enjoys reading, bike riding, Community-based Bible Study and, with Ken, will continue to travel the world.

Patrice practices and believes that “Charity Begins at Home!” Moving to The Villages has been a life-changing experience for Patrice and Ken as they have built a strong network of friends, created new experiences for their family, renewed focus on taking care of themselves physically and spiritually, and built new connections for helping others in our community.