Agency Board Elects a New Secretary and Two Members

Kate Raymond has been elected Secretary of the Center for Vision Loss Board of Directors, DaWayne Cleckley has been elected to the board, and Erin Pietrulewicz has been elected to a second board term.

Raymond has been a Director of Marketing and Public Relations for St. Luke’s University Health Network since 2011 and was a Coordinator of Marketing Outreach Services for the health care system from 2005-2011. She has been on the Center for Vision Loss board since May 2019 and a member of the board’s Executive Committee since July. She will complete the term of former Board Secretary Jerry Messina, who stepped down in August.

Cleckley is the President and Principal of Strategic Arc Limited in Bethlehem, PA, a consultancy that specializes in organizational planning and marketing. He also is the creator and star of CrunchTime With D, a multimedia series of restaurant reviews. Cleckley has worked in senior leadership and management positions with what is now Lehigh Valley Public Media in Bethlehem, PA, and WQLN Public Media in Erie, PA. Cleckley also has served as a Sergeant in the United States Army.

Pietrulewicz is the Allentown Branch Manager for ESSA Bank & Trust and has more than 15 years of experience with the company. She has been a member of the agency’s Advancement Committee since it was reactivated in 2018 and has been instrumental in securing ESSA sponsorships for several of its events. Pietrulewicz also is a board member for the Boys & Girls Club of Allentown and a member of the Allentown Center City Centennial Lions Club.

All three elections took place during the board’s September meeting.

The Center for Vision Loss Board of Directors oversees the organization’s activities, holds fiduciary responsibility, and provides strategic direction to ensure that it can fulfill its mission.

The Center for Vision Loss empowers people with visual impairments to seize their independence and opportunity and champions healthy eyesight throughout its communities. With operations in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley and Monroe County, it combines a service tradition motivated by Helen Keller in 1928 with contemporary practices and advanced technologies. The organization’s services for people with visual impairments promote the accomplishment of daily tasks, increased access to medical services and food supplies, enhanced personal wellness, and extended self-sufficiency. Its free screenings for children stimulate success in school and its community education programs advocate for eye health and safety. All agency services are provided at little or no cost, and 85% of its clients and patients with visual impairments are from low-income households.

The Center for Vision Loss is an independent member of the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind (PAB) that is accredited nationally by the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) and affiliated with the VisionServe Alliance, a network of North American agencies that serve people with visual impairments.