AOA Board of Trustees elect four new members to AOAExcel® Board

(St. Louis, MO) The AOA Board of Trustees have unanimously elected four new members to the board of directors for AOAExcel^®, a company wholly owned by the American Optometric Association which specializes in providing benefits to AOA members in their professional and personal lives. Joining existing AOAExcel Chairman Sam Pierce, O.D., Jacquie Bowen, O.D. and Chris Wroten, O.D. to the AOAExcel Board are newly elected members Bibin Cherian, O.D., Steve Loomis, O.D., Gabby Marshall, O.D., and TeShawna Sutton, O.D.

Bibin Cherian, O.D. currently practices at BeSpoke Vision in Edmond, Oklahoma and is a 2020 graduate from Northeastern State University’s College of Optometry.  Cherian currently serves as an AOA volunteer identifying emerging trends in the optometric industry for the AOA’s New Technology Committee and is a Past President of the American Optometric Student Association.

A recognized leader in the optometric field, Steve Loomis, O.D., served as the 94th president of the American Optometric Association from 2015-2016. Dr. Loomis is a former recipient of the Optometrist of the Year and Distinguished Service Award from the Colorado Optometric Association.  Dr. Loomis recently retired as the founding partner of the Mountain Vista Eye Care and Dry Eye Center in Littleton, Colorado.

A past president of the Oregon Optometric Physician’s Association, Gabby Marshall, O.D., is the clinical director of Elemental Eyecare in Bend, Oregon.  Dr. Marshall is a past recipient of the AOA’s prestigious Advocate of the Year award and is the president-elect for the Great Western Council of Optometry.

TeShawna Sutton, O.D., is the immediate past president for the Kentucky Optometric Association (KOA) and has served on the KOA Board of Directors since 2016.  Sutton graduated with honors from the University of Alabama School of Optometry and currently owns the 20/20 Eyecare of London where she practices in London, Kentucky.

“It’s an honor that this diverse group of doctors of optometry are joining the AOAExcel Board of Directors,” said Dr. Pierce, chair of the board for AOAExcel.  “We will be heavily relying on their leadership, expertise, and passion to create a vision that allows AOAExcel to continue to grow, support the AOA and help ODs enhance their lives.”

“AOAExcel is a premier AOA member benefit, delivering content and resources doctors and staff need to support practices and their growth,” said AOA President James P. DeVleming, O.D.  “This is an exceptional team of leaders who will infuse innovative growth into the offering and drive AOAExcel to continue delivering the best-in-class solutions our current and future members need.”

AOAExcel ( aoa.org/AOAExcel) is a member-benefit of the American Optometric Association that helps doctors of optometry practice smarter and more efficiently in both their personal and professional lives with AOAExcel’s proven tools of success.  AOAExcel offers a myriad of products and services through their endorsed business partners which includes a career center job board exclusively for optometrists, malpractice & other business insurance, a credit card for business owners, vendor discounts, retirement planning, life/disability insurance, student loan refinancing, merchant processing and HIPAA compliance among others.