Designing and Building a Lab – A Blueprint for Success

Ingrid Schunder, MBA, CEBT, began a career in ocular transplantation in 1999 at the Lone Star Lions Eye Bank in Austin, Texas.  During her 13 years there, she performed all aspects of eye banking in her role as Technical Director. Ingrid accepted a position with North Carolina Eye Bank in 2013 as the Supervisor of Recovery Services. In 2016, she earned her MBA in leadership and was promoted to the Vice President of Donor Logistics after the acquisition of ocular recovery services in South Carolina.  Ingrid was responsible for the day-to-day logistical operations of the donor recovery process, hospital development, Medical Examiner and Coroner relationships in North and South Carolina. In 2020, Ingrid led the project for the acquisition of the Lone Star Eye Bank, now Miracles In Sight, Lone Star Division. In June of 2022, Ingrid was promoted to President & CEO of Miracles In Sight. 

Ingrid is an active member in the Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA) and serves as chair of the Technician Education Committee, EBAA Medical Advisory Board and Certification Board.

Ingrid served in the United States Army, HHC, 2AD as the Commanding General’s Attendant. Prior to her career in eye banking, she taught high school Spanish and English.

Joshua Griffin, CEBT, is the Director of Operations for theEast Tennessee Lions Eye Bank. With over 18 years of experience in eye banking,Josh has worked in various roles including Recovery Technician, LabCoordinator, Lab Technician, Technical Director and his current position asDirector of Operations. Josh earned an associate’s degree in Microbiology. 

Nicholas Hicks, CEBT, is the Director of Tissue Processing at Eversight. He has been with Eversight for over 12 years, 10 of which have been focused on processing tissue. Nicholas currently serves on the EBAA Technician Education Committee.

Shannon Schweitzer, MBA, CEBT, is the Executive Director of Lions Eye Bank of West Central Ohio.  Shannon has over 20 years of eye banking experience and her roots are in technical operations.  Shannon became Speaker of the House in 2022 and was relected in 2024, and she enjoys serving on the EBAA Board and being involved in strategic planning that helps the association strengthen the future of the profession and its members.

As Vice President of Operations, Mike is responsible for developing long-term strategies, creating lean and efficient operational processes, improving customer relationships and monitoring the successes of each operational department.

Mike started his career in the organ, tissue and eye donation industry more than 20 years ago as a recovery technician, where his skills and attention to detail helped him routinely win the coveted Technician of the Month award. His calm demeanor, excellent interpersonal skills and industry knowledge make him an outstanding and successful leader. He later moved to Carolina Donor Services as Tissue Recovery Manager where he led the department to win the Golden Quill and Golden Scalpel Awards for minimal errors in both documentation and surgical technique. Mike came to Miracles In Sight in 2006, where he quickly was able to use his skills to forge many process and procedural improvements and lead the company to become one of the top eye banks in the world. Mike is an advocate for donation. He is active on multiple EBAA committees, leads technician education trainings, and lectures on eye banking domestically and abroad.

After graduating high school, Mike enlisted in the US Army as a laboratory technician and worked towards completing a diploma in surgical technology. He received his Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration from Mt. Olive College and his Master of Business Administration from Winston-Salem State University.