About
Vista Center empowers individuals who are blind or visually impaired to embrace life to the fullest through evaluation, counseling, education, and training.
Our Story
Vista Center is the premier service provider for people who are blind or have low vision from ages 3 to 103, offering a complete range of rehabilitative services to residents of the Bay Area and beyond.
Palo Alto Society for the Blind opened in 1936 as a home open to anyone in Palo Alto living with blindness or visual impairment.
With a shift over the years from residential services to fostering independent living, the name changed to Peninsula Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in 1970, with a final name change in 2005 to Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
Since 2001, Vista has been the only provider of services in San Benito County, an area previously unserved. Doran Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Santa Cruz merged with Vista Center in 2007 and in 2018, Santa Clara Valley Blind Center (SCVBC) in San Jose joined the team.
Such growth has greatly increased our capacity to serve thousands of clients with a robust array of geographically centered services and classes, in complement to our existing itinerant services model.
IMPACT
Financial Strength
Decades of strong leadership, careful financial management and a commitment to a solid investment strategy has built a legacy of stability and efficiency.
Leadership Team
Vista staff members are key to mission delivery, bringing a wide array of
professional experience and a genuine desire to improve the lives of others.
Karae Lisle
Bethany Small
Marty Cunnie
Catalina Reynolds Cavallieri
Neeraj Gupta
Vinney Arora
Poonam Malik
Lisa Quan
Sophia Boylan
Steve Tomczyk
Marlu Treuhaft-Silva
Board of Directors
Vista board members contribute valuable expertise to fulfill our mission,
reaching into the many communities we serve, so that all voices are heard.
Meaux Costello
Joan Desmond
John Giddings
Susan Glass
John Glass
Katie Hogan
John Hufferd
Karae Lisle
Patrice Maginnis
Roberto Manduchi
Bill Miklos
Retired, Lockheed-Martin
Marquise Murphy
Nicole Paiement
Mike Plesha
Steven Sanislo
Bob Stewart
Ashley Tuan, Ph.D.
Advisory & Ad Hoc Committees
Community leaders and emeritus board members serve in many roles to advance the work of Vista Center, individually and on ad hoc committees coordinating events and special initiatives.
Interested in volunteering your expertise?
Help those with vision
loss lead better lives.
Join Vista Center’s dedicated team of volunteers and learn
how you can get involved with the community!