Two Star LightHouse Employees Honored in Washington D.C. 

Last month, a team of LightHouse staff members ventured across the country to attend the National Industries for the Blind’s annual Expo and Public Policy Forum. There we showcased our LightHouse Eco (LHE) cleaning products, our contributions to the BVI community, and honored two of our LightHouse team members and Employee of the Year nominees, Jennifer Holloway and Corvin Bazgan.

Meet Jenn, Peter J. Salmon Employee of the Year Nominee! 

Every year, National Industries for the Blind honors blind and visually impaired employees from NIB associated nonprofit agencies. Nominees for the Peter J. Salmon Award are people who are currently employed in a direct labor manufacturing or service operation. They are evaluated for the award based on job performance and positive activities in both the workplace and in their communities. This year, LightHouse was proud to nominate Jenn Holoway.

Born with a condition called aphonia, Jenn’s eyes never fully developed, which resulted in total blindness. As the only blind child growing up in a small town in Kentucky, unfortunately the public school was not equipped to adequately meet Jenn’s educational needs. Her parents then made the difficult but necessary decision to send Jenn to the Kentucky School for the Blind. Because the school is located over two hours from her family’s farm, Jenn was a residential student, living on campus from Sunday to Friday, at the age of 5 years old.

“I was so scared of it at first, you know, being so little and away from my parents. I would cry a lot and didn’t want to use my cane. I would hide behind print books and magazines and would pretend I could read them, even though I couldn’t see the print,” Jenn remembers. “But my parents wanted more for me, and they didn’t know how to teach me these things—like Braille, O&M, etc. But one thing I always admired about my parents is how they always treated me like a ‘normal’ person. If I said I couldn’t do something because I couldn’t see, my dad would always say, ‘Well, you got ears, right? You got hands and feet? You can walk? So, you’re gonna help me,’ and he would always encourage me and tell me that I was sharp as a tack.”

By the time Jenn reached high school, she was splitting her days between the Kentucky School for the Blind and a nearby public high school, allowing Jenn to act as a role model for other visually impaired students, as well as set a positive example to her sighted peers of what BVI students are capable of achieving both academically and socially.

After graduation, Jenn attended Hazard Community College in Hazard, Kentucky. However, she quickly realized there was no job market for a visually impaired person in small-town Kentucky, so she bravely made the move across the country and away from family and friends to California where she continued her education at the College of Alameda.

“In 2014 I graduated College of Alameda and later took an employment readiness course at Lions Center for the Blind in Oakland,” says Jenn. “I was hired at Lions and was working as a Braille Project Coordinator, transcribing Braille menus and doing things like that until they closed in 2016. I remember seeing a job posting at LightHouse for a sales associate with Adaptations, so I applied. And even though I didn’t get it at that time, I always had my sights on that job. But then I saw a job posting for LightHouse Eco, then called LightHouse Industries. I applied and got it.”

Jenn worked her way up from a part-time position in the tissue department with LightHouse Eco, to working on the cleaning product line as an essential worker during the COVID-19 pandemic, to eventually re-realizing her ambition to work in the Adaptations store. For years Jenn had a vision of what the store could look like, how it could operate, and how she could play a pivotal part in making a difference in the BVI community through shared experiences, personal expertise, and invaluable customer service.

Today, Jenn works as a Production and Retail Associate and is an integral part of Adaptation’s web sales and customer service, having completed a certification course on customer service through NSITE. In her nearly 9 years with LightHouse, Jenn has grown immensely, wearing many hats and working within many departments, as she continues to flourish within the agency.

“I have a saying that has been my motto for so long— if you can dream it, you can achieve it, and if you can believe it, you can receive it. And that’s just how I’ve always felt,” Jenn reflects.

Meet Corvin, Milton J. Samuelson Career Achievement Award Nominee! 

Presented annually at the National Industries for the Blind Expo, the Samuelson Award recognizes a blind or visually impaired individual who demonstrates career advancement at an NIB associated nonprofit agency or in the private sector. Corvin Bazgan’s growth within and contributions to LightHouse made him an undoubtable nominee for this award.

Corvin was born in Romania to a family of software engineers. After experiencing some hearing loss and night blindness at a young age, Corvin, an active child, learned quickly to adapt. At 9-years-old, Corvin and his family moved to the United States. Here, Corvin was given hearing aids to help with the hearing loss, but it wasn’t until he was 18-years-old that Corvin was diagnosed with Usher’s Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder characterized by combined hearing loss and progressive vision loss from retinitis pigmentosa.

After his diagnosis, Corvin’s visual impairment was still mostly limited to night blindness and was able to navigate without a cane or mobility aid, even obtaining a Driver’s License, restricting himself to only driving in daylight. He attended University of Nevada, Reno where he met his wife. After graduation, the two eventually made their way to the San Francisco Bay Area, settling in San Carlos and following in his parents’ footsteps, began working in software and technology. In addition to throwing himself into work, in 2005 Corvin also began to prioritize his physical health and exercise and began competing in triathlons.

“A big milestone for me came in 2007,” says Corvin. “Things had really built up at that point. I had neck and back pain from the stress of trying to navigate in public. I remember, I was on a business trip, standing in a busy cafeteria with my tray in my hand. I was frozen. I was afraid to move and bump into someone or have someone bump into me. That’s when I decided I was going to get a cane and get O&M training.”

Corvin returned home to San Carlos and enrolled in orientation and mobility training through the Vista Center for the Blind. “It really alleviated a lot of my stress,” Corvin explains. “It actually even solved a lot of my neck and back pain.” Shortly after receiving blindness training with Vista Center, Corvin returned to his active lifestyle, learning how to run and do other physical activities with a guide.

In his professional life, after 14 years at a company called Realization Technologies, Corvin lent his expertise in technology and accessibility to a handful of different companies over the next several years, finally landing an opportunity with LightHouse.

“Initially, I signed up to do some user testing and research with AUX [LightHouse’s Accessible User Experience department]. I liked how this allowed people in the BVI community to be exposed to workforce development through testing, research, and studies. Then, in April 2024, I was looking for work and saw a posting from LightHouse looking for an AUX Specialist.”

Since joining LightHouse’s AUX team two years ago, Corvin has taken on many impactful projects, including providing medical documents in accessible digital and audio format to MediCal and MediCare recipients who are blind or visually impaired. When asked about his Samuelson Award nomination, Corvin said:

“It’s an honor. I’m really happy that leadership recognizes my contributions here at the LightHouse. I really enjoy what I’m doing, and you know, when you enjoy what you’re doing, you’re doing a good job.”

Please join us in congratulating Jenn Holloway and Corvin Bazgan!