Rusty brings a talent for collaboration and a passion for increasing access to the highest-quality corneal tissue to his role as SightLife's Chief Marketing Officer.
He joined SightLife in 2009 with leadership credentials burnished from eight years as Vice President of the Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA). Rusty also doubled as Communications Director for that organization.
In his first two years at SightLife as California Regional Director, he led a team effort that more than doubled the number of corneas recovered at hospitals in that service area. He also initiated public awareness outreach that drew strong media coverage, including two front page stories about eye tissue donation in the San Francisco Chronicle and a feature story on the Bay Area's highest-rated evening news program.
Rusty was promoted to Chief Marketing Officer in January 2012 to help grow partnerships with surgeons and healthcare organizations domestically and in the developing world, where SightLife is a leading partner in efforts to build a network of modern eye banks.
Rusty's previous service to advance eye banking includes co-founding the Cornea Collaborative that increased the quality and quantity of corneas for transplant in the United States. He also served on the Board of Directors for Donate Life America and advised and worked in numerous campaigns to increase state donor registries. In recognition of these efforts, he was appointed to the faculty of the federal Health Services Resources Administration's (HRSA) Organ Donation and Transplantation Breakthrough Collaborative Faculty, and served on HRSA's Collaborative Leadership Coordinating Council.
Prior to his career in eye banking, Rusty was a special education teacher for over six years and a regional director for Teach for America in Louisiana. He also served as Communications Director for the American Association for Homecare in Washington, DC.
Rusty received his bachelors degree from State University of New York, Geneseo.