The Foundation Announces New National Trustees

Columbia, MD - February 1, 2011 - The Foundation has named four new national trustees in recognition of their commitment to driving retinal research and strong support of FFB. The national trustees are Donna Burke Tehaan, Jody Kelly, Dr. Kamal Majeed, and Michelle Veloce. For years, these dedicated individuals and their families have been active volunteers and inspiring advocates for FFB’s work.

Since being introduced through the Foundation in 2007, Donna Burke Tehaan and Jody Kelly have co-chaired multiple successful events, raising over $700,000 for retinal research. Under their leadership, the Northern Virginia/DC Metro VisionWalk in 2008 raised $220,000, and the 2009 and 2010 Northern Virginia Dining in the Dark dinners collectively raised $500,000. The women also spearheaded the first-ever Montgomery County VisionWalk in 2010, exceeding the $65,000 goal. Affected with retinitis pigmentosa, Donna has been an FFB member since 1992 and serves as president of the Montgomery County Chapter. Jody is also a longtime member and affected with RP, along with her father and four of her siblings.

Active with the Foundation since 2006, Dr. Kamal Majeed served as a committee member for the 2010 Tampa Dining in the Dark, which raised more than $100,000, and this year is serving as event co-chair with the goal to raise $200,000. Additionally, Dr. Majeed and his daughter, Christina Majeed, have supported the Tampa VisionWalk for the past three years. He is president and CEO of NexTech Systems in Tampa, a company he founded in 1997 that develops fully integrated electronic medical records, medical practice management and marketing software for several medical specialties including ophthalmology. His late mother spent her last decade in life with the loss of her vision and his mother-in-law is now losing her vision to age-related macular degeneration.

Over the past two years, Michelle Veloce has captained “Team Veloce” and raised more than $250,000 for retinal research through the New York City VisionWalk. In 2010, she was the leading fundraiser and will co-chair the event in May. Active with the Foundation since 2005, Michelle is the Americas commercial manager within the Investment Banking division at Thomson Reuters.  Her husband, Steven Veloce, is affected with retinitis pigmentosa, a retinal disease that progressively robs vision.

The Foundation commends the national trustees for their ongoing support in propelling FFB toward preventions, treatments and cures for retinal degenerations.