CVVICS is supported by an exemplary advisory board
Coachella Valley Visually Impaired Community Services is proud to have an advisory board whose members are not only prominent and successful within their professions, but also giving of their time and services to a number of worthy causes. They offer strategic advice as to the direction of our endeavor and provide helpful input when needed.
Dr. Keith Tokuhara, M.D. – Advisory Board Member
As a leading board-certified cataract surgeon and retina specialist, Dr. Keith G. Tokuhara is uniquely qualified to understand the challenges faced by the visually impaired community in the Coachella Valley. Dr. Tokuhara began his solo practice in Rancho Mirage in 2016 after providing quality ophthalmology care for 10 years at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, the second busiest trauma center in California. In 2019 Dr. Tokuhara was awarded Top Doctors by Palm Springs Life.
Dr. Norm Smith, DVM – Advisory Board Member
Dr. Smith has served as a Veterinarian in the Coachella Valley for 30 years. He started and built a successful animal and equine practice in 1990 in Yucca Valley that he owned for 27 years. He is now using his skills to help animals at the Village Park Animal Hospital in La Quinta. Dr. Smith is a licensed pilot and enjoys a variety of activities with his family and close friends. He has graciously agreed to be an advisor for CVVICS and will undoubtedly provide valuable input and help out in whatever way he can.
Judy A. May – Advisory Board Member
Judy A. May is the Executive Director of Desert Abilities Center, an organization dedicated to creating greater opportunities that maximizes the quality of life for people with disabilities by providing greater access to resources within the community that increase independence, promote mobility and improved health and support human rights through adaptive sports and recreational rehabilitation. Ms. May has served people with disabilities for 30 years, 24 of those years right here in the Coachella Valley.
David Yerks-Young Advisory Board Member
David Yerks-Young has served on several non-profit boards in the Coachella Valley area, which we serve, and is active in the visually impaired blind community.
David studied Business Administration and Marketing at Norwalk Community College in Norwalk, Connecticut, and has a vast background in business management as well has owned his own business for over 20 years. To find out more about David, visit his webpage blindeyeonthedesert. social
Currently, he serves as our Webmaster and Public Relations and is a Coach for SoCal Adaptive Sports.
Iris Smotrich - Advisory Board Member
Having been involved with over 50 charities in the past two decades in the Coachella Valley, former Rancho Mirage Mayor Iris Smotrich is acutely aware of both the challenges and opportunities presented to various valley communities. She has built a successful career in the real estate industry and has served the citizens of Rancho Mirage as both a city council member and two-time mayor. Along with lending her enthusiastic support to CVVICS, Iris sits on the board of Desert Arc, the Coachella Valley’s only organization that provides for the valley’s community of people with special needs. In addition, Iris serves as a board member for the Joslyn Center in Palm Desert, and has in the past worked tirelessly to help enrich the lives of many people throughout the valley.
Virginia D'Addorio - Advisory Board Member
Kimberly A. Snyder, LMFT - Advisory Board Member
Monica E. Amboss, Esq. - Advisory Board Member
Graciously accepting a role as an advisor to CVVICS, Monica brings a wealth of experience both as an attorney and as a real estate broker. With her own practice in Palm Desert, Monica specializes in estate planning, probate, elder abuse and the hospitality industry and its related commercial real estate, labor, corporate, entity formation, and land use issues. Monica has also been a member of the National Association of Realtors for over 30 years.