March 2023 Featured Interview
Harnessing Independence:
Meet the Woman Who Founded and The Woman Who Now Guides
The Seeing Eye
CEO Margaret "Peggi" Howard & Founder Dorothy Harrison Eustis
Current President & CEO of The Seeing Eye, Margaret Howard, with Seeing Eye® Dog
Photo Courtesy: The Seeing Eye
Photo Courtesy: The Seeing Eye
About Margaret ("Peggi"):
Margaret "Peggi" Howard was named president & CEO of The Seeing Eye on September 15, 2022 after having served on the Board of Trustees since 2009.
She holds a B.A. from Kenyon College, an M.S.W. from Rutgers University, and a D.Lit. from Drew University. Peggi was the Vice President of Administration and University Relations at Drew University. She also served as New Jersey Governor Thomas H. Kean’s Deputy Chief of Staff and Cabinet Secretary from 1984 to 1990.
She lives in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey with her husband. They have three adult children and three grandchildren.
Margaret "Peggi" Howard was named president & CEO of The Seeing Eye on September 15, 2022 after having served on the Board of Trustees since 2009.
She holds a B.A. from Kenyon College, an M.S.W. from Rutgers University, and a D.Lit. from Drew University. Peggi was the Vice President of Administration and University Relations at Drew University. She also served as New Jersey Governor Thomas H. Kean’s Deputy Chief of Staff and Cabinet Secretary from 1984 to 1990.
She lives in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey with her husband. They have three adult children and three grandchildren.
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About The Seeing Eye:
Founded in 1929 by Dorothy Harrison Eustis* and Morris Frank, The Seeing Eye is a 501(c)3 philanthropic organization whose mission is to enhance the independence, dignity and self-confidence of blind people through the use of Seeing Eye® dogs. The organization provides the best dog guides possible by ensuring they are well bred and cared for, appropriately socialized, and expertly trained. Its mission also includes educating the public about the use of dog guides and the capabilities of people who are blind as well as providing recommendations regarding public policy issues. An important part of its services is to provide ongoing assistance to graduates and their dogs in order to extend the life of each partnership. *See sidebar titled "Dorothy's Legacy" about this incredible trailblazer at the end of this interview. |
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Margaret “Peggi” Howard is the first woman to helm The Seeing Eye since its founder, Dorothy Harrison Eustis, stepped down in 1940. She was named president and CEO in September 2022. With experience in politics, government, and university administration, she’s perfectly suited to steer the first dog guide school in the nation.
Carol Lippert Gray, co-associate editor, recently spoke with Margaret about her background, new role, and vision for the organization’s future.
What was your introduction to The Seeing Eye?
I’ve known about The Seeing Eye probably since the 1970s. I know people who volunteered and was most impressed when I came with [former New Jersey Governor Tom] Kean in the 1980s. It’s a unique and special place. You see the work and mission right before you. You see the [dog] breeding station, the trainers, and the students with their dogs. You can’t help but be completely drawn in.
Carol Lippert Gray, co-associate editor, recently spoke with Margaret about her background, new role, and vision for the organization’s future.
What was your introduction to The Seeing Eye?
I’ve known about The Seeing Eye probably since the 1970s. I know people who volunteered and was most impressed when I came with [former New Jersey Governor Tom] Kean in the 1980s. It’s a unique and special place. You see the work and mission right before you. You see the [dog] breeding station, the trainers, and the students with their dogs. You can’t help but be completely drawn in.
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What had you done before?
I spent 25 years at Drew University, which is right down the road from The Seeing Eye. On campus, we always had an employee who was raising a Seeing Eye puppy. The puppy became a mascot for the university. I was asked to be on [The Seeing Eye] board. I was on the board for about 15 years and transitioned to this position. It’s always been in my life. As the first woman president and CEO, do you see yourself as a trailblazer? I was chosen to help lead this wonderful organization founded by a great leader. Dorothy was a businesswoman, an entrepreneur, and someone with a great love for mankind. I don’t think there’s a significant difference in how men lead and how women lead. If you fit the bill, you fit the bill. But women have a special way of embracing and presenting [organizations]. |
Puppy Raising Program
Photo Courtesy: The Seeing Eye |
I’m dedicated to the people here, the students, and I love the dogs. The leadership is the footnote to the story. The story is the trailblazers who want to move on with their life and partner with a dog. That kind of self-confidence, to me, is unique.
Kyle and Hugh
Photo Courtesy: The Seeing Eye |
I’m truly honored to be CEO and president. At this time in history, I bring the right things they need for leadership. I have management experience. I’m a licensed social worker. And I let everyone be the best person they can.
What’s your vision for the future of the organization? The greatest thing in the world would be that we’d have to close [for lack of need for our services]. Other dog guide schools have expanded their services. We do one thing, and we do it well. COVID didn’t help us because for two years we couldn’t help anyone. Our waiting list increased. We truly shut down for the first two months, then did in-home retrains. We have to move forward and stay strong and true to our mission. We have the best training going on but continue to look for best practices. We need to focus more on social media so people who need our services can find us. IT is another direction we have to focus on, for social media and operations. We need to stay on top of organizational operations. |
Where do you find sanctuary?
I find sanctuary in three ways. The first is with my three grandsons. One is one-and-a-half and lives in Seattle. We go at least twice a year. The others, four and six years old, are in Mt. Laurel [New Jersey]. I’m one of those doting grandmas. Second, I love to garden. And third, I’m addicted to murder mysteries.
I find sanctuary in three ways. The first is with my three grandsons. One is one-and-a-half and lives in Seattle. We go at least twice a year. The others, four and six years old, are in Mt. Laurel [New Jersey]. I’m one of those doting grandmas. Second, I love to garden. And third, I’m addicted to murder mysteries.
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Dorothy's Legacy
Dorothy Harrison Eustis (1886-1946) was a trailblazer whose innovations and philanthropic efforts laid the foundation for equal rights and opportunities for disabled people.
When Frank and “Buddy 1” came back to the United States, arriving in New York Harbor in 1928, a skeptical press corps awaited them. To prove what they could do, the pair successfully and speedily crossed busy West Street in lower Manhattan. (Legend has it that the reporters, terrified of the aggressive traffic, hired cars to get them across the street.) Dorothy subsequently returned to the United States; The Seeing Eye was incorporated as the nation’s first dog guide school in Nashville in 1929. It moved to Whippany, New Jersey, in 1931 and to its current campus in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1965. It recently matched its 18,000th team. Before Morris Frank demonstrated what a human-canine team could do, blind people were shunted to back rooms and thought incapable of holding jobs or having active social lives. Today, dog guides and other companion and emotional support animals are widespread, socially accepted, and granted equal access to public accommodations by law. Because Dorothy thought it important that people who came to The Seeing Eye pay a modest fee for their dog and the expenses related to training with it, she disabused the idea of disabled people as charity cases. Rather, they were treated as functioning and productive members of society. Because of her legacy of destigmatizing disability and creating a climate of acceptance, inclusion, independence, and mobility, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2011. |
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