At the 2025 The Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA) Annual Meeting, two Eye-Bank Directors were recognized for their achievements within the profession.
Former Eye-Bank Communications Director Noël Mick Moschetta, who recently retired from the organization after 34-years of service, received the Leonard Heise Award, the highest non-medical distinction presented each year to a member of the eye banking community in recognition of their outstanding devotion to the EBAA’s development and for exemplifying the precepts of Leonard Heise, a major contributor to the fight against blindness and one of the EBAA’s founders.
“Noël has dedicated herself to the restoration of sight,” said EBAA President & CEO, Kevin Corcoran. “Her dozen years on the EBAA Board of Directors, including her time as Chair during the COVID-19 pandemic, and service on EBAA committees and organizations throughout the transplant community, are just a small part of her greater service to eye banking, corneal transplantation, and the transformation of lives through eye donation.”
And current Eye-Bank Communications Director Maria Chelko, who joined the organization in 2017, received the Communication Optics Award, which recognizes an individual or team from an EBAA-member eye bank who shows mastery of storytelling and creativity to advance EBAA’s mission to restore sight worldwide and demonstrates ongoing dedication to and excellence in spreading awareness and highlighting the gift of sight and its impacts.
“Maria has brought passion and creativity to educating the people of New York and across the country about corneal transplantation and the importance of registering as an eye, organ, and tissue donor,” said Mr. Corcoran. “As Vice Chair of EBAA’s Donor Partner and Community Relations committee and in her service to other national organizations for donation, she plays a vital role in spreading the word abut the gift of sight and increasing the number of donor registrants in the U.S.”
Both awards were presented on Friday, June 27, at the EBAA Awards Luncheon held at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort in San Diego, California. Congratulations, Noël and Maria!