About Us

Board of Advisors

Carl R. Augusto, President and CEO, American Foundation for the Blind

President and CEO of AFB since May 1991, Carl R. Augusto is a preeminent leader in the field of blindness and visual impairment. During his tenure, he expanded AFB's scope to influence corporate America to make products and services accessible to blind and visually impaired people and has brought organizations, of and for the blind, together toward common objectives and greater collaboration. Augusto has served in a variety of professional and volunteer capacities since 1971, including rehabilitation counselor. From 1975 to 1985, Mr. Augusto held several staff and management positions with the National Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped in New York City, including associate executive director. From 1985 until his appointment as AFB's president & CEO, he served as executive director of the Cincinnati Association for the Blind, a multiservice private agency. His accomplishments included expanding service programs to encompass assistive technology training and early childhood intervention. Augusto is currently the President of the North American/Caribbean Region of the World Blind Union (WBU). He also serves on the board of the National Assembly of Health and Human Service Organizations, and is a former board member of the National Industries for the Blind, the Descriptive Video Service of WGBH in Boston, and Radio Reading Services of Greater Cincinnati, Inc. Augusto has published several articles within and outside of the blindness field. He has received numerous honors and awards, including the Associated Services for the Blind's prestigious Louis Braille Award. He holds an M.A. in Rehabilitation Counseling from New York University and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Connecticut.

Joseph Gazdalski, New Business Director and VP, The Glenmede Trust Company

Mr. Gazdalski is vice president and new business development manager in the Morristown, office of Glenmede. He is responsible for the development of new high net worth business in the northern NJ area and fostering and maintaining client relationships to enhance the Company's reputation as a specialized wealth advisory firm. In a career spanning over 30 years, Mr. Gazdalski has held various positions with several financial institutions and insurance companies, including head of marketing and business development for First Fidelity in NJ (now Wachovia). He held a similar position at Metlife Trust Company, a division of MetLife. At Chase Manhattan, he worked with high net worth individuals through the private banking division. Throughout his career, Mr. Gazdalski has focused on trust and investment services for high net worth individuals, foundations, and endowments. Mr. Gazdalski received a B.A. in business and economics from Upsala College. He is a graduate of the American Bankers National Trust School and has served as an instructor for several courses sponsored by the American Bankers Association. A resident of Boonton Township, NJ, Mr. Gazdalski has served on the Board of the Morristown Red Cross and the Allocations Committee of the Essex Chapter of the United Way. He currently serves on the development committee of the New Jersey Foundation for the Blind, and the PG Chambers School.

Marshall Klein, Retired Executive Director of the Lions Eye-Bank of New Jersey

Mr. Klein became the first Executive Director of the Lions Eye bank in 1970, which operated under the auspices of the Eye Institute, in the NJMS Department of Ophthalmology. Mr. Klein served as Administrator from 1972-2005. A Lions Past District Governor (1969-1970), Mr. Klein has held several posts within the New Jersey Lions, including Lions State Sight Chairman. He is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Bruce Van Buskirk

Bruce VanBuskirk has over twenty seven years of experience in the plastics industry, including a position at Honeywell international as a Senior Research Scientist. During the course of his career, he developed skills in project planning, process mapping, quality control, and change implementation. Some of his core strengths are teaching, training, and change implementation. He retired in 2001. Mr. Van Buskirk developed a visual impairment as an adult near the end of his work career and knows first-hand the issues associated with juggling maintaining his employment, dealing with severe vision loss and managing a personal life and home.

Dr. Marco Zarbin, Professor and Chair, Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, UMDNJ Medical School

Dr. Zarbin is Professor and Chair at the Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Science and Professor of Neurosciences at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School. He also is Chief, Department of Ophthalmology at University Hospital, Newark, NJ. He specializes in medical and surgical diseases of the retina, vitreous and macula, with research interests in retinal cell transplantation and growth factors. Dr. Zarbin is certified with the American Board of Ophthalmology. He received his MD and PhD from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, with residency and fellowships in Vitreoretinal surgery and Retinal Vascular Disease at The Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute, Johns Hopkins. He has received numerous awards including Department of Veterans Affairs Representative, National Advisory Eye Council, National Eye Institute-NIH , Member, Preferred Practice Pattern-Retina Panel, American Academy of Ophthalmology, Member, Neurological and Sensory Disorders Research Advisory Group (MRAG), Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration and Voted among “Best Doctors in New York Metropolitan Area”.