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VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired

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Bios of VISIONS Key Staff


Executive Director/CEO
Nancy D. Miller
(Licensed Masters Social Worker, LMSW) began working at VISIONS Vacation Camp for the Blind in 1971. She received a B.S. degree from Cornell University in 1973 and a M.S. in social work from Columbia University in 1975. She became VISIONS Executive Director in 1987. Ms. Miller currently serves as Secretary of the Brooklyn Downtown Lions Club. She is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, and a member of the National Association of Social Workers, and The Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired. She serves on the Executive Board of the Council of Senior Centers and Services, and the Editorial Board of the Journal of Gerontological Social Work. Ms. Miller also teaches in the Certificate program in Gerontology at the Hunter College Brookdale Center on Aging. She is Past-President and co-founder of the Disabilities Network of New York City. She is President of the New York Visions Rehabilitation Association, a coalition of New York State vision rehabilitation, consumer and professional organizations. Ms. Miller has received numerous awards in gerontology, vision rehabilitation and community service.

Controller
Natalia S. Young
has 22 years of experience in finance and accounting management, human resources and payroll management, administration and facility management. Ms. Young received a Bachelor of Business Administration in International Finance with a minor in Spanish and a Master of Public Administration specializing in fiscal policy and budgeting. Her skill areas include utilizing numerous computer software packages, taxation reporting, budgets, audits, and training. Ms. Young is an active member of the Lions Clubs, Institute of Management Accountants, serves on the American Diabetes Association Project Team and is on the Board of Directors of several professional organizations.

Deputy Controller
Carlos Cabrera
holds a Bachelor of Arts Special Studies in Accounting. He has been employed in accounting and finance related positions of increasing responsibility for 25 years. His responsibilities include corporate budget administration, purchasing, accounts payable, audit preparation, payroll preparation, liaison for government contracts, corporate bank reconciliations and facility management.

Director of Rehabilitation and Community Outreach
Diane S. Weiss
Certified Rehabilitation Therapist (CVRT), is an adjunct professor in the Rehabilitation Teaching Masters degree program at Hunter College. She is a published author of articles and papers on aging and vision loss. Ms. Weiss received a Masters degree in Blind Rehabilitation/ Rehabilitation Teaching from Northern Illinois University and a Bachelors degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton. Ms. Weiss worked on the revision of the CIL Rehabilitation Teaching book. In 1999, Ms. Weiss received the prestigious Rehabilitation Teacher of the Year award from the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Director of Recreation and Residential Programs
Ms. Betsy J. Fabricant
(MFA) has been an administrator in the field of camping and with people with physical disabilities for over twenty five years. She began working with people who are blind in 1982 when she joined the seasonal staff of VISIONS Vacation Camp for the Blind (VCB) and continued to work as Assistant Camp Director for the next five summers. Betsy joined VISIONS year round staff in 1991 as the Camp Director and directed VCB for 10 years through the summer of 2000. Since 2001, as the Director of Recreation and Residential Services, Ms. Fabricant has supervised both VISIONS Camp Director, as well as the Director of Social Services for Visions at Selis Manor and VISIONS Intergenerational Volunteer Coordinator. Ms. Fabricant is a member of the Chinatown Lions Club and for over twenty five years has served as a Board Member of The Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless, a multi-service center for homeless and near homeless people of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Ms. Fabricant was awarded the Bachelor of Science in Education by the University of Pittsburgh and received her Masters of Fine Arts in Filmmaking from New York University.

Director of Selis Manor
Amanda Slattery
received a B.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling & Human Services from Boston University. She is an active member of various aging and disability coalitions throughout New York City, and is also on the Board of Directors for the Long Island Toy Lending Center for Children with Disabilities in Point Lookout, NY. She has recently been accepted into the Aging and Health Grant Program at Hunter College School of Social Work where she will receive her Masters in Social Work. Ms. Slattery will continue working for VISIONS while taking evening classes.

Assistant Director of Rehabilitation
Annie Presley
Certified Vision Rehabilitation Therapist and Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (CVRT, COMS). She received a Masters Degree in RT and O&M from Hunter College. Ms. Presley has been working in the field of blindness since 1987. She specializes in work with blind, deaf/blind, and developmentally disabled youth and adults. Ms. Presley supervises the instructors in the rehabilitation department. She also supervises VRT and O&M interns from Hunter College. Ms. Presley joined VISIONS as a consultant in 1998 and became full time staff in 2000.

Assistant Director of Camp Operations
Carmen Thorne
has a background in Administrative Assistance/Office Management. She is certified in N.A., A.E.D, and C.P.R. She started at VCB in 1984 as a counselor and has continued to grow with the agency to the present. Carmen also teaches bowling to the blind and visually impaired, helping each individual to compete on a National level every year.

Director of Information Services & Technology Training
Dawn Suvino
oversees the Blindline® project, the Computer Center at Selis Manor, as well as other technology-related programs and services at VISIONS. Ms. Suvino has had over 20 years experience designing program curricula, teaching computer applications, writing user documentation, and conducting academic research. A recognized expert in her field, Ms. Suvino serves as a peer reviewer for the National Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research’s Small Business Innovation Research grant competition. She holds both a Bachelors and Masters Degree from New York University, and is a 4-time graduate of the Seeing-Eye Inc., in Morristown, NJ.

 

 
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