Joan Patterson

President of the Coalition of Refuge Friends and Advocates (CORFA)

Joan is the past Director of Grassroots Outreach at the National Wildlife Refuge Association. At the Refuge Association she was responsible for the daily interaction and communication with Refuge Friends including mobilizing Friends to support national wildlife refuges. Based on that experience she knows that within the Friends community there is an abundance of skills and experiences that Friends are willing to share. She has been to Capitol Hill to testify on behalf of the Friends community and the Refuge System. Since 1995, she has been active in Friends groups first with the Friends of the Tualatin River NWR in Oregon working to acquire the resources necessary to open the refuge to the public, then with the Friends of the Potomac River Refuges in Northern Virginia and the Friends of the Migratory Bird/Duck Stamp. Joan and her late husband Phil are the proud parents of two wonderful young women who as preschoolers helped to advocate for the Refuge System.