Latest News Prevent Blindness Appoints New Treasurer and Secretary, Adds to National Board By Staff Monday, December 8, 2014 12:21 AM CHICAGO— Prevent Blindness announced that Kevin Bakewell, senior vice president and chief public affairs officer of AAA - The Auto Club Group, has been appointed as the Prevent Blindness board of directors’ Chief Volunteer Officer (CVO) association chair. Current National board members Mary Blankenship Pointer, senior vice president and corporate relationship manager of Republic Bank and Trust, will serve as the organization’s new treasurer while Torrey DeKeyser, executive director of the EyeSight Foundation of Alabama, will serve as the new secretary. (L to R) Kevin Bakewell, Mary Blankenship Pointer and Torrey DeKeyser. At AAA, Bakewell oversees all public, government and community relations for The Auto Club Group’s service area which includes 11 states and two U.S. territories. He is also chairman of the Auto Club Group Traffic Safety Foundation, Inc. as well as the board chair of Prevent Blindness Florida. As CVO association chair at Prevent Blindness, Bakewell will help facilitate and foster effective communication between the national organization and its affiliates as well as represent affiliates at the national board level. As trreasurer, Blankenship Pointer will oversee the financial management of Prevent Blindness. She has served on the Prevent Blindness board since 2011. Blankenship Pointer has more than 30 years of experience working in the banking and finance industry. In addition, she has served on the board of Prevent Blindness Oklahoma, including serving two terms as board chair. DeKeyser, who has served on the Prevent Blindness board since 2013, will take over responsibilities of secretary. DeKeyser joined the EyeSight Foundation of Alabama in 1999, following a 20-year career in university advancement and administration within the University of Alabama system. She recently teamed with Prevent Blindness on the current CDC-funded glaucoma education project with the University of Alabama at Birmingham.