The Team
Kristie Colton
Board Member
Kristie Colton is a co-founder of this organization and a lifelong advocate for inclusion and connection. She’s been visually impaired since the age of nine due to a degenerative eye condition called Stargardt’s. Originally from Utah, she grew up running trails and snowboarding in the mountains, and she ran her first marathon at sixteen. Today, she continues to run and snowboard with the help of her close friend and guide, Jungyeon Park.
Kristie studied computer science at Harvard and works as a software engineer, and her passion for creating more accessible communities led her to co-found this organization. She believes that being a good ally to blind people doesn’t require special training—just curiosity, empathy, and the willingness to learn. Her approach is rooted in the idea that allyship starts with everyday relationships and shared experiences.
Through this work, Kristie hopes to give sighted people the tools and confidence to show up for the blind—not just as bystanders, but as thoughtful, supportive friends, coworkers, teammates, and guides.
Contact: kristie@vordeninitiative.org
Jungyeon Park
Board Member
Jungyeon co-founded The Vorden Initiative after becoming an ally to the blind community through her friendship with Kristie. Originally from Seoul, South Korea, she now lives in Berkeley, California.
She studied Biology and Computer Science at Harvard and is passionate about the questions that bridge human and machine intelligence. Professionally, Jungyeon works as a machine learning engineer at Google and conducts research in artificial vision at Stanford.
She first learned to guide while running and snowboarding with Kristie, and now regularly runs with blind and visually impaired athletes across the San Francisco Bay Area through Achilles International.
Contact: jungyeon@vordeninitiative.org
Anna Filochowska
Board Member
Anna is a management consultant specializing in the latest tech innovations. She earned her MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2024, where she worked on PocketDot, a startup revolutionizing Braille display technology. Interviewing over 100 members of the blind and visually impaired (BVI) community deepened her understanding of accessibility and allyship, ultimately leading her to join the Vorden Initiative, where she continues to deepen her passion for fostering meaningful allyship.
Anna’s journey began in Warsaw, Poland, where she started formal violin training at age six, and her early musical experiences included performing at the Center for the Blind in her country. She later studied at The Juilliard School in NY and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and performed internationally with world-renowned musicians and orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker.
Contact: anna@vordeninitiative.org
Chris Lucero
Chris Lucero was a vision rehabilitation instructor at the Hatlen Center for the Blind, where he worked with individuals with visual impairments to develop the skills necessary for independent living. He earned his degree in Communication Studies and is currently pursuing a credential to become a teacher for the visually impaired at San Francisco State University.
Chris was born sighted but lost his vision at the age of four due to head trauma sustained in a car accident. Born and raised in the Bay Area, he has long been involved in the blind community, participating in a variety of activities through different programs and organizations. Sports have always been a major passion for Chris—he wrestled and ran cross country throughout all four years of high school. Today, he continues to enjoy running with friends and participating in races. Through both his professional and personal experiences, Chris remains committed to advocating for the blind community and fostering allyship between sighted and blind individuals.
Contact: chris@vordeninitiative.org
Director of Community Engagement
Grace Eysenbach
Founding Member
Grace Eysenbach became involved with The Vorden Initiative through her friendship with Kristie Colton and Jungyeon Park, whose encouragement inspired her to pursue her own goals — most recently running the Boston Marathon with them in April 2025 and hiking Mount Kilimanjaro together in October 2025!
A Harvard graduate and electrical engineer in the Bay Area, Grace’s family has long been involved in supporting the visually impaired community — her grandfather was a board director for the Carroll Center for the Blind and the National Braille Press, and her aunt and uncle now serve as board members.
Passionate about challenging stereotypes of what an electrical engineer “looks like,” Grace extends that perspective to accessibility. She believes blindness doesn’t have to fit a single image — and that allyship is everyone’s responsibility. In her free time, Grace is an avid runner and ice hockey player who loves spending time with her friends.
Contact: grace@vordeninitiative.org