Prevent Blindness Georgia, the state affiliate of Prevent Blindness, is pleased to welcome Dave Paule and Tim Dunn to its Board of Directors. Both are passionately committed to the mission of Prevent Blindness, having previously served the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation.
“We’re excited that Tim Dunn and Dave Paule have elected to join our board,” said Dave Smith, Board Chairman. “We’ve had opportunities to work with them in the past on projects such as Georgia Vision 2020 and Children’s Vision Georgia, two statewide coalitions. They both have shown themselves to be smart, creative and innovative leaders.”
“Being involved in bringing healthcare to Georgia’s underserved communities has been the most fulfilling thing I have done in my career,” said Paule, who stepped down earlier this summer as Executive Director and CEO of the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation. “The staff and board of PBGA have always impressed me, and occasionally intimidated me. I’m excited to continue my involvement with them as a board member.” During Paule’s tenure with the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation, he increased revenue 50% in 18 months and assisted the organization in launching new programs and services. His expertise in management, strategy, marketing, operations, and revenue growth stem not only from serving some of the state’s leading non-profit organizations such as the Atlanta Opera, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and GreenLaw, but also from his two decades of leadership at Delta where he worked with cargo marketing and inflight retail operations. In addition, Paule serves as an Adjunct Professor of Managerial Services with the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State.
Tim Dunn of Dunn Laboratories in Roswell, Georgia is a chemical engineer who is a registered professional engineer in some 30 states, with his primary focus on performing forensic investigations of fires and explosions. Dunn has served four terms as the President of the Roswell Lions Club, where he is currently the First Vice President and Secretary; he served previously on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation. “The mission of Prevent Blindness Georgia speaks to me on a personal level,” said Dunn. “No one should be denied access to vision healthcare, especially not Georgia’s youngest patients.”
“These are exciting times for Prevent Blindness Georgia,” said Jill Shapiro Thornton, the organization’s President and CEO. “As we chart a course for a stronger future, great people keep turning up to volunteer to help us. We have a strong, dedicated, and visionary board of directors. I think Tim and Dave are going to fit in with them well.”
Prevent Blindness Georgia’s mission is to prevent blindness and preserve sight for all Georgians. The organization pursues this mission through an array of vision services designed to provide a continuum of care for children and economically challenged adults. In 2019, the organization vision screened 38,387 young children—nearly half of all Georgia’s preschoolers—in 686 Head Start Programs, Kindergartens, elementary schools, and daycare centers. In addition, the agency provided free eye exams to more than 4,032 adults, helping to identify vision-stealing conditions like glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and macular degeneration.
The annual, estimated cost for Georgia of blindness is $1.14 billion. Despite the fact that the World Health Organization estimates that 75% of the world’s blindness is preventable, between now and 2050, blindness in the U.S. is expected to double without intervention because of the aging of the population and the near epidemic rates of diabetes.