Tell us a little bit about yourself and your past history?
I am a father of five wonderful children, who I can only hope to make proud. I am an attorney (don’t hold that against me, please) and have a Master’s in Public Administration, which is a degree designed to assist in running governments and non-profit organizations.

I have worked the past fifteen years for ABO & NCLE because of what Spectacle and Contact Lens Opticians have meant to one of my children, and the rest of my family. When I realized how critical Opticians were to my son’s vision care and treatment, and the need for someone to step up and educate the general public, other medical professionals, and the Legislatures as to the importance of this profession, I walked away from my law practice in order to put my passion for this profession into a spearheaded effort to promote and protect the entire Optician profession!

You have been unanimously chosen by a search committee to fulfill the CEO position of the new organization United Opticians Association. Can you tell us why you believe you are the right person for the job?
I am very humbled and honored to have been selected for this critical role. I believe in the Opticianry profession because I have witnessed, first-hand, how vital proper Optician care is to the vision care needs of patients. Without my son’s Optician, I know that my son would be blind today. It is because of that passion that I have dedicated myself to this profession, and to the need to tirelessly work for this dedicated group of professionals!

I intend to work with legislatures, industry leaders, educators, and this entire profession to ensure the best possible future for Opticians, as well as for the patients that they serve.

Merging organizations, the Opticians Association of America and National Federation of Opticianry Schools is a huge and important undertaking. Can you highlight what are the first steps in this process?
Sure. The first step is to unite these passionate, well-intentioned groups together in order to bring the entire profession of Spectacle and Contact Lens Opticians together to better represent and protect this critical profession. We are working with industry partners, educators, state societies, and membership to build a truly representative organization for all Opticians!

Some opticians are well acquainted with the OAA or NFOS or ABO/NCLE, and some are not. Can you tell us how merging these organizations helps to create a stronger profession?
By bringing together all of the different “alphabet soup” organizations, we are better able to spearhead representation, and protection of the Opticianry profession. ABO & NCLE, as a competency testing and continuing education organization, is not truly able to engage in meaningful governmental relations or industry partnerships because it has no true “membership.” OAA has an incredible group of passionate members, and NFOS provides incredible formal educational opportunities. By bringing together the funding from ABO & NCLE, along with OAA’s passion and membership and NFOS’s formal educators, UOA is able to unite the best of each organization, focus efforts, and provide one United group protecting all Spectacle and Contact Lens Opticians.

Lastly, what kind of benefit can the average optician expect to see from the new organization United Opticians Association?
This newly-developed organization will be capable of protecting the entire Opticianry profession, educating the general public, and effectively engaging in governmental relations on both a local and national front. By consolidating the efforts of each diverse organization, we will be able to move quicker, become proactive rather than reactive, and move this profession forward as a recognized critical component of the field of medical vision care.