Board of Directors

Patty is the Executive Director of the HypoPARAthyroidism Association, where she brings a powerful combination of professional leadership experience and personal passion for patient advocacy. A post-surgical hypoPARA patient since 2015, Patty understands firsthand the challenges of living with a rare disease. Her commitment to helping others navigate those challenges led her to volunteer with the Association, later joining the Board and serving as Chairman beginning in 2022. In February 2024, she stepped into the Executive Director role with a mission to strategically grow the Association, reach more patients and clinicians, and amplify the voice of the hypoPARA community.

Before dedicating herself to nonprofit leadership, Patty spent over 30 years in senior roles within the beauty industry, overseeing operations for up to 400 hair salon locations. She was a key member of Ratner Companies' senior field leadership team, recognized for delivering top-line results, launching new markets, and leading high-performing regional teams. Patty developed and implemented training programs, led initiatives to boost sales and profitability, and facilitated leadership onboarding programs that supported company growth and culture.

Known for her people-first leadership and relentless dedication to excellence, Patty has a passion for empowering others—whether in the boardroom or through patient support and education.

Outside of her professional life, Patty is a licensed real estate agent, wife to Bill for over 40 years, proud mom to Billy (36), and became a first-time grandmother in March 2023. She loves spending time with family and friends, traveling, and enjoying Broadway shows.

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Michele joined the board of directors in 2020, becoming treasurer in 2021, Vice Chair in 2022 and in February of 2024 transitioned to Associate Director. As Vice Chair she began the development of our advocacy arm of the association and wants to continue to grow this to help the entire community. She has taken an advocacy Masterclass and attended a webinar hosted by the FDA to help learn more about the drug development process. She has also worked with our medical board of advisors to develop pamphlets about hypoPARAthyroidism. One of her goals is to help disseminate these pamphlets to as many endocrinologists as possible to help them better understand our disease.

In 2023 she began the process for the association to host an EL-PFDD (Externally Led- Patient Focused Drug Development) meeting with the FDA.  On March 5^th, 2024 that meeting took place making great strides in the drug development space for the future of the hypoPARA community.

In 2024 Michele continued her advocacy efforts by beginning advocating on capitol hill, attending a hearing in the house of reps. for healthcare reform and joining boards of other advocacy groups such as the public policy council for the Texas Pharmacy association, the patient senate of Patient's Rising, and the patient public policy congress & patient access congress of the Everylife Foundation. In 2025 she became an ambassador for the Chronic Disease Coalition and is continuing her work with public policy issues and testifying at DUR meetings.

In her personal life Michele has been married for 29 years and has 2 daughters. She left her position as a Sterile Compounding Technician to focus on her hypoPARA work in 2024. She was diagnosed with hypoPARA in 1994 after thyroid cancer surgery.

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Bob Sanders currently serves as president of the HypoPARAthyroidism Association. He joined the board in 2018 after his daughter Josalynn experienced a severe calcium crash that landed her in the hospital for three days. He was also the last member of his family to be diagnosed with genetic TBX1 HypoPARAthyroidism when he was 19. As a patient, caregiver, and advocate he believes in improving the lives of all who are afflicted by HypoPARA. 

Bob has been working in the oil fields of North Dakota for the past 13 years for SLB. He took first overall in his technical school and received an Excellence in Leadership Award. He now works as Technical Account Lead in the production chemistry field.  He stays involved with the local community by serving as President of the Williston Band Boosters. He enjoys cooking, fishing, listening to music, and spending time with friends and family.

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CONTACT KATIE