From the earliest days of women’s competitive surfing to her current roles as advocate, professor, and cultural steward, Patti Paniccia’s life has been defined by raising awareness of gender inequities, breaking barriers, and elevating and empowering women.
Raised in Waialua, Hawai‘i, Patti discovered the ocean at a young age. By her early twenties, she had become one of the top female surfers in the world at a time when opportunities for women were very limited. There were no wetsuits designed for women, barely a sponsorship deal to be had, and undisguised chauvinism from the male surf establishment. Patti’s passion and fortitude broke down those barriers and opened the door for all women who followed.
Patti helped to form the Hawai‘i Women’s Surfing Hui in 1974, to support the progression of female surfers. This led to her working with Fred Hemmings to incorporate women into the 1975 Smirnoff World Pro-Am Surfing Championships. By 1976, at only 23 years old, working alongside Randy Rarick she founded and ran the first Women’s Division of International Professional Surfing (IPS), the first pro circuit and ranking system for women’s surfing. She was one of just six women competing on the tour. She also helped launch the Haleiwa Menehune Surf Contest for young children in 1977.
In the late 1970s, Patti stopped competing professionally to attend Pepperdine Law School, where only 15% of her class were women. After law school, she transitioned into journalism, working as a tv reporter and anchor, before becoming a CNN correspondent. In 1988, she was nominated for an Emmy for her work as a reporter and producer on an investigative series on the failure of court systems to deal adequately with infant abuse. After experiencing workplace challenges as a new mother in the early 1990s, Patti stood up against corporate pregnancy discrimination, which helped lead to important protections for working mothers and an American cultural shift as pregnant journalists appeared in visible news media.
Alongside her journalistic pursuits, which also included articles in national periodicals, Patti has been teaching law classes at Pepperdine Law School since 1987. She is still a professor specializing in Employment Discrimination Law and First Amendment Law. She is a member of the bar in California and Hawaiʻi, and two-time recipient of Pepperdine Law School's David McKibbin Excellence in Teaching Award. She founded a Pepperdine Law Annual Scholarship for students parenting minor children and is the author of Work Smarts for Women: The Essential Sex Discrimination Survival Guide. She is a former hearing officer and current commissioner for the Los Angeles County Employee Relations Commission. She is also general counsel for the Radio Television News Association (RTNA) of Southern California.
Patti remains an avid surfer here in Hawai’i and California. She also continues to give back to her native sport by serving for the least nine years on the board of the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center (SHACC).
