Florida Lions Eye Bank changed its name to Beauty of Sight on September 1, 2023

Board of Directors

President: Geoffrey Wade, PID

Vice President: Eduardo Del Riego

Treasurer: Juan Tejera, PCC

Secretary: Stacey Jones, PID

Director: Dr.Norma Callahan, PDG

Director: Bruno Barreiro

Director: Elizabeth Dawson

Director: Larry Schiff

Director: Jorge Reynardus, Esq

Director: Marta Ramirez

Immediate Past President: Kenneth Engstrom, PDG

President: Geoffrey Wade, PID

Geoffrey Wade is an Independent Financial Advisor who has been in the Financial Services industry for over forty years. His career started in Banking, and then, in 1986, he moved to Paine Webber as an Investment Advisor. He also worked for Morgan Stanley. In 2005, he decided to become Independent and has been affiliated with American Portfolios for the last 16 years.

Geoffrey has been a member of the Port St Lucie West Lions Club since it chartered in 1995. During his time as a Lion, he has not only served as club President but also as District Governor and Council Chair. In 2018, he was elected an International Director, and he served on the Board of Lions Clubs International until 2021. During his term on the Board, he served on the Finance Committee and its Chairman for the last two years of his term.

Geoffrey has also served as President of the Florida Lions Foundation for the Blind and is a Past President of the Florida Lions Eye Bank. He is also a member of the Finance Committee for both entities.

Vice President: Eduardo Del Riego

Eduardo Del Riego began his career in the freight industry. In 1999, after a successful series of creating and managing freight companies, including building a U.S. logistics company with over $100 million in revenue, Eduardo transitioned into software by founding Athena Information Systems.

After it was sold, he then headed Active Freight as President, growing the company seven-fold before joining PayCargo as President and CEO.

 

Treasurer: Juan J.Tejera, C.P.A., C.V.A.

In 53 years of practice as a Certified Public Accountant, Juan has accumulated extensive experience in accounting and auditing, tax compliance and consulting, strategic business planning, system development and implementation, business valuations, litigation support, and administration.

During this period, Juan served clients, nationally and internationally, in a variety of industries, with a significant concentration in the following: Hospitality and Tourism, Health Care, Manufacturing, Printing, Real Estate Development, and Construction, Common Interest Realty Associations (Condominiums), Wholesale and Retail businesses, and Shipping.

Juan obtained his accounting degree from the University of South Florida (located in Tampa, Florida), in 1968, and became Certified by the State of Florida Board of Accountancy in 1971, and a Certified Valuation analyst by the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts in 1996.

His professional experience started with the firm of Coopers and Lybrand from 1968 through 1971. At the next firm, Laventhol, and Horwath, Juan became an Audit Partner in 1982.

Juan joined the Lions Club in 1974 and has remained engaged performing in administrative and executive positions since. Juan is very active in his church, where he often participates in various ministries. He continues to volunteer in community activities, including Miami-Dade County Boards.

Director: Larry Schiff

Larry Schiff has an accomplished career as a CPA for prestigious firms in South Florida and beyond. He has also successfully managed CPA teams for for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Larry has been a Lion since 2003, when Larry first became a member of the NMB/Aventura Lions Club, later becoming the treasurer and president.

During his presidency, the club took a small “Back to School Shopping Spree” idea and expanded it to South Florida. As a result, I was blessed with a great club with outstanding members who carried the idea to areas beyond my imagination. He also served as treasurer and president for the Florida Lions Eye Bank. During his tenure as president of District 35-N, the Beauty of Sight Foundation was created, later becoming its first president.

Today, Larry continues to manage clients for BDO, the sixth-largest CPA firm in the world. Larry is an avid golfer and die-hard Buffalo Bills fan. He has two children, Hallie, a graphic designer, Jordan, and an audio engineer living in Manhattan. He now lives in Charlotte, NC, with his wife, Jill.

Director: Jay Reynardus

Attorney, author, and public speaker Jorge Reynardus is Deputy General Counsel and Data Privacy Officer of Amadeus North America. He built and manages a world-class international, multi-lingual team of legal professionals, paraprofessionals, and non-lawyers in a multi-disciplinary oversight and legal support unit with commercial and non-commercial responsibilities encompassing all the Americas for Amadeus IT Group. Key competencies include data privacy, security, corporate compliance, policy development, management litigation, and commercial negotiations. Previously, Jorge was a Senior Associate at Holland & Knight LLP for ten years, representing large multinational clients in commercial litigation and product liability/wrongful death claims.

Upon receiving an Honorable Discharge from the US Army, Jorge enrolled in Florida International University, where he received a BA in History, MA in International Studies, and an MA in American History. In 1998, he received his Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania and was a Louis L Redding Fellow, served on the Ethics Committee, and was founder and senior editor of the Journal of Constitutional Law. Jorge served on the Miami Dade Affirmative Action Advisory Board in Miami and chaired the Miami Dade Independent Review Panel for several terms. He volunteered for Opening Doors, a Holocaust Remembrance Project, and Lawyers for Children America. Presently, he is a Church Elder and the Teaching Leader of Bible Study Fellowship. In 2018, Jorge joined the Beauty of Sight Foundation Board.

Director: Elizabeth Dawson

Elizabeth Dawson, a resident of Coral Springs, Florida, for 48 years, hails from a background of volunteerism. Her favorite quote is, “You’ve got to be your brother’s keeper and help them!”

Forty-five (45) years ago, Elizabeth was a Lioness before a Lion rising to become FLEB’s first female President in 1987-88. Recently, she served as the Senior Community Relations Counsel for Broward Health. In 2018, the Area on Aging Agency of Broward County recognized Elizabeth’s service by nominating her to Broward County’s Senior Hall of Fame, where she was subsequently elected and is now a member.

In the early 1980s, Elizabeth chaired a committee advocating for Organ Donor Recognition, encouraging hospitals to adopt a recognition system for organ donors. She’s a past recipient of the National President Award from Lion International, the prestigious Melvin Jones Award for outstanding volunteer service, and the Ross Carr Award from the Florida Lions Eye Bank. Currently, Elizabeth is Chair of the BOSF Research Committee and, before that, the Research Committee for the Florida Lions Eye Bank.

Elizabeth married Robert Dawson 54 years ago. Robert, a US Army veteran, shares her passion for community betterment. They met in 1965 in Westfield, New Jersey, where both worked during the day and attended night school at Newark College. Previously, she attended Syracuse University. In her early years, Elizabeth was employed as a manager of an insurance agency, held a New Jersey insurance license, and worked for several private accountants.

Management

Executive Director: Elizabeth Fout, MHSA

Elizabeth Fout has served the Beauty of Sight since 1998 when she joined as a recovery technician. In 2005, Fout Buras assumed the role of Executive Director and successfully led Beauty of Sight through regulatory changes, technological advances, financial restructuring, and unprecedented growth. Fout Buras holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in Hospital Services Administration from Florida International University.

In addition to her role as Executive Director of the eye bank, Elizabeth has been awarded the management of the day-to-day planning and operations for the Beauty of Sight Foundation as the division's Executive Director.

Marketing: Andre V Doren

Andre Doren provides the entrepreneurial marketing and branding expertise that has made him successful at developing and growing marketing architectures and brands for domestic and multinational organizations.

Andre successfully created, launched, and managed marketing architectures for nonprofit and profit brands in senior marketing executive roles, working broad domestic and global markets for companies like United Colors of Benetton, NationsHealth, and international pharmaceutical companies Bioseutica and K.D. Pharma. He created and managed the NationsHealth & Cigna Medicare Part D national launch, the second-largest social program in the U.S.

In 1992, he founded the Americas communication division based in Miami, Florida, for United Colors of Benetton, where he spent 13 years working in the U.S. and Latin America, developing and managing Benetton's marketing communications. He successfully created and managed partnerships between Benetton and other multinationals (Unilever) and governments (Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru, and others, including all of Central America and the Caribbean), global organizations such as the U.N., Organization of Americas States (O.E.A.), UNICEF, S.O.S. Racism and local institutions (CONASIDA, UNAIDS) to support the development and execution of social, cultural, and educational marketing and branding campaigns.

Andre managed account and creative teams for agencies such as Young Rubicam, J.W.T. (Hispania), and Grey earlier in his career. He is a lifetime member of the Direct Marketing Association (ECHO Judge Awards) and the National Society of Hispanic M.B.A's. He holds a B.A. from New York University and received his M.B.A. from NOVA Southeastern University's Huizenga Business School. Today, Andre generates organizational growth by successfully managing the marketing and branding of organizations, products, and services across all business disciplines.

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