Longtime administrator for the Chicago area’s NorthShore University HealthSystem, has joined the Mind-Eye Institute as its president, effective August 5th , 2019.

Abebe is not new to health practice administration. She has nearly 30 years of experience in nursing and hospital administration. Beginning in 2010, she served as director of perioperative services at Skokie Hospital, which is part of the NorthShore health system and located in Skokie, Illinois.

Among Abebe’s achievements in the directorship role have been the planning and organization of both a surgical pavilion and an orthopaedic and spine-focused hospital at the Skokie Hospital campus, building of strong physician partnerships, establishment of an orthopaedic trauma program, participation in product-value-analysis teams, management of hospital accreditation visits from the Joint Commission and development of a highly competent, specialized surgical team.

She also has worked as a clinical nurse manager, case manager and urology team leader at Glenbrook Hospital, another facility in the NorthShore University HealthSystem.

Adam Zelinsky is taking the Mind-Eye Institute digital.  That is why he was originally hired as the office’s project manager.

“I am helping Mind-Eye transition from physical to digital documents and files and modernizing processes to create more efficiencies between departments,” Adam says.  “These responsibilities are particularly important because our aim as an Institute is to expand substantially within the next couple of years.”

On the surface, this is seemingly quite a task, especially for a 2020 University of Delaware business graduate, who is holding his first full-time position after college.  But Adam is far from ordinary.  In fact, while at the university, studying in the entrepreneurship program and serving at the same time as an entrepreneurship ambassador, he began work, with several other students, on developing a start-up company.

And the company was gaining traction until it hit a wall – the COVID-19 viral pandemic.

“Our intent was to map large corporate, school and institutional buildings and create internal blueprints and floor plans that would allow occupants and first-responders to safely navigate them in times of emergencies,” Adam says.  “In fact, our business plan for the start-up won several new-venture competitions.  We developed a marketing program, with national branding and messaging, and even mapped out the cancer research laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania.  We were in process of meeting with local, private school boards and building facilities managers when the pandemic hit.”

The pandemic put an immediate halt to the group’s efforts.

“Our efforts required the ability to access buildings in order to map them, but COVID-19 kept many of these buildings closed.  We were forced to abandon our plans,” Adam says.

But closed doors opened new opportunities for Adam, who says he is excited about working to move an internationally recognized program like Mind-Eye to the next level of operations.

When not digitizing and modernizing, Adam enjoys watching and attending sporting events, kayaking, hiking, camping, and just “hanging out” with his family's new puppy.

Maria Palmerin is Mind-Eye’s Clinical Coordinator. Before becoming clinical coordinator Maria was an optometric technician who enjoyed working with children. Not a surprising finding, considering Maria managed free eye examinations in as many as 200 schools annually – preschool to high school — prior to joining the Mind-Eye Institute in July 2019.

“I started as an optometric technician for the company that provided the school examinations and then was promoted to field manager, working with about 40 different optometrists, each with his or her own style and method,” says Maria, who earned certification in California as a medical assistant.

Coming to Illinois from the West Coast – “I am still not used to the winters here,” Maria began work as a medical assistant for a pediatric urologist in Des Plaines in 2013 before moving on to the optometry field – and schools. But her work has not simply been confined to kids. She also formerly managed free eye examinations for residents of nursing homes.

At Mind-Eye, Maria is responsible for organizing and overseeing daily activities. Along with supervising and coordinating staff. She also manages patient flow; she makes sure the clinic runs smoothly and patients get seen on time. 

When Maria is not working at the Mind-Eye Institute, you can often find her watching a baseball game. “Go L.A. Dodgers!”

Mely Peña calls the Mind-Eye Institute “a magical place,” primarily because of the positive changes that occur in patients’ lives when prescribed therapeutic “brain” glasses.

“I have never before been employed in a place where you can actually see major things happen in the lives of patients. That’s why I don’t want to stop working [for the Institute]. I love the patients who come here,” says Mely, who holds the title of Mind-Eye patient advocate.

A certified licensed practical nurse (LPN) who formerly cared for disabled and elderly patients at Chicago area nursing facilities and a teller for four years at Ban Industrial in Chicago, Mely joined the Mind-Eye Institute in 2016, initially serving as a front-desk receptionist for patients and visitors. Today, as a patient advocate, Mely is responsible for responding to patient queries, doing patient phone follow-ups, verifying appointments, processing payments and ensuring patients have the answers and information they need.

She attended Wilbur Wright College in Chicago before enrolling in St. Augustine College where she earned her LPN certification.

When not enjoying family time and caring for her daughter, Sophia, Mely does “a little shopping” as a stress-reliever in her spare moments.

A visual therapist at the Mind-Eye Institute since December 2019, she tells how she went into visual therapy practice “because I wanted to benefit people and, at the same time, work in a new and interesting field.” She especially enjoys going one-on-one with patients, “helping them meet the care goals that the doctors here have given them and that they have set for themselves.”

Not a surprising admission for a professional who has spent time as an intern working in a refugee settlement in Milwaukee, Wis., and served for nine months as a consultant on a research team for the Chicago-based Mom Project before joining the Mind-Eye Institute.

In her current role, she designs activities – both exercises and games – to help patients meet prescribed goals.

“What we are doing at Mind-Eye is not just eye care; it’s about maximizing patients’ brain potential,” says Nicole, who follows up with each of her patients during their return visit to monitor progress. “Are they seeing changes being made in their daily lives?” she asks.

A Carol Stream, Ill. resident, Nicole graduated from Marquette University in 2019, earning a bachelor’s degree in political science and psychology. During her free time, she enjoys reading.

Annalise Kucan has worked as a mechanic, enjoys classic cars, created oil paintings for exhibit, and draws portraitures on consignment. It is this unusual right-brain/left-brain combination that has made Annalise bien adapte´ – most suitable – for her multiple roles of visual rehabilitation specialist and patient advocate.

Actually, Annalise first joined Mind-Eye as an optometry technician. Technicians require both a detailed, technical mind and the sense of an artist in making precise observations when evaluating patients – talents that Annalise has. Technicians must not only mark testing results but carefully note patients’ attention, awareness, eye movements, posture, and mannerisms during testing; assess their emotions and fatigue or stress levels; even describe how the patients process and visualize information, particularly in the form of drawings as part of the assessment.

Her expertise as a technician prompted Mind-Eye’s selection of her as a vision rehabilitation specialist, who meets with patients in-person and virtually to encourage their use of exercises that can build the skills they are lacking, such as the use of both central and peripheral eyesight in tandem. Exercises can help patients with focal management, including the convergence and divergency of eyes; depth perception; posture; and balance.

Her work also involves some patient advocacy, spending time on the phone to check-in with patients and advise them on use of skill-developing games.

“I had never been in the optometry field before coming to Mind-Eye, but I applied for a position there because of the organization’s work with patients who have suffered brain injuries or struggle with learning disorders. I wanted to be part of this process of getting patients on a journey to health, and I am most grateful that the Mind-Eye team was willing to train me for my new roles.”
When it comes simply to “helping other people,” however, Annalise needs no additional training.
For example, despite her busy schedule, she continues painting portraits upon request. “Oftentimes, the portraits are of someone who has passed. The paintings help grieving families heal,” she says. Also, in her previous roles — teacher in a Montessori School and maintenance mechanic for the Skokie (Illinois) Park District – she has always found “something of value for other people. Seeing positive changes in people’s lives is special to me.”

When not assisting patients at Mind-Eye, an organization that she says cultivates a team environment – “everybody helping everybody,” Annalise can be found tinkering with car engines, gardening, and watching sports. She recently sold a 1961 Chevy Impala that she had kept in good running order and is now on the search for a 1949 or 1950 Mercury.

But when asked what she enjoys most, it is neither cars nor gardens. It is “spending time with my very large – and very close – family.”

For Fred Fequiere, accepting a position as lab assistant at the Mind-Eye Institute proved an easy decision – “I worked in optics in the past” — and made even easier by what he terms a “welcoming” Mind-Eye team.

“I had never experienced such a friendly staff in any of my previous companies. They have been very patient with me during my learning and training process at Mind-Eye,” says Fred, who just joined the Institute in September 2021.

Fred had worked in an optics laboratory for about eight years, grinding and surfacing lenses and assembling them into frames, until his Buffalo Grove, Illinois firm was sold in 2021 to two competing companies, and his place of employment closed its doors.

“I wanted to remain in an optical role and learned about the Mind-Eye Institute from [job-searching on] the Internet. I was especially interested because Mind-Eye seemed a completely different type of [health care] organization – very much focused on optometry as it impacts the brain,” Fred says.

In his current Mind-Eye position, Fred’s overall responsibility is to make sure patients’ therapeutic eyeglasses are ordered, prepared, and verified precisely as prescribed. “I sit down with each patient, helping in the selection of frame styles; ensure the order goes out in timely fashion; and verify that the eyeglasses are exactly as ordered before they are given to the patient,” Fred states. 

If needed, Fred also places filters – according to the prescribed location and density — on the patient’s eyeglass lenses.

Quite a different role from the one Fred thought he was going to assume after graduating from Lincoln Technical Institute where he earned an associate degree as an electronic service technician. “In fact, my first job was that of a machine operator, placing parts on circuit boards. I did that for about three years before I took a position in the optics laboratory in Buffalo Grove in 2013,” Fred recalls.

Of course, Fred is not only about work and career. “I live near Lake Michigan in the Rogers Park area of Chicago and that gives me plenty opportunity to swim and get in some beach time,” he says. He also enjoys riding sports bikes, spending time at Chicago’s Field Museum where he is a member, and attending local stand-up comedy programs.

But what Fred most likes doing in his spare time is “barbequing with family and friends. I especially appreciate watching someone who is good at barbequing. I am hoping to pick up the skill as a hobby.”

Fred adds, “I strive to be sensational in everything I do,” including service to patients.

For Helen Arena, accepting a position as optician at the Mind-Eye Institute was an easy choice. Not only had she been working in the optical field for more than 40 years, but the Mind-Eye Institute “incredibly intrigued me.”

“I pulled up the Mind-Eye website after seeing its advertisement and learned more about an organization that is helping people in their recovery from traumatic brain injuries, concussions and learning disorders,” Helen recalls. “I was literally driven to become part of that team – even more so after spending two-and-a-half hours shadowing Mind-Eye founder and research director Deborah Zelinsky OD. I said to myself, ‘Wow! This is fabulous.’”

In her optician role, Helen assists patients by helping them in selecting appropriate eyeglass frames, ensuring their therapeutic brain glasses are expeditiously ordered and received in strict conformance with their individualized prescriptions, and positioning the correct filters on eyeglass lenses when filters are considered necessary.

She is uniquely suited to her optician responsibilities because of her years of work in boutique retail for smaller optometry practices in Chicago and suburbs. “I would be one-to-one with patients, helping them select the right eyeglasses that oftentimes cost $1,000, $2,000, or more,” Helen says. “Basically, I provided a concierge service and, in doing so, developed strong, interpersonal relationships with patients. I knew what each of my patients liked – and needed.

“I also have been in the optical field long enough to see how eyeglass frame styles and lenses have changed,” Helen says. “For example, during the past 10 years, lenses have been manufactured with increased coatings.”

Of course, Helen is not all about work She enjoys special times with her daughter and other members of her family; vacation days at the ocean front, particularly on St. George Island off Florida’s panhandle; peaceful strolls through the Chicago Botanical Garden; amateur photography; movies; and a good novel – “especially when I can read it underneath an umbrella on the beach.”