The Northampton Township Board of Supervisors recently recognized Kristin with the Distinguished Citizen Award, and now Bucks County has voted her the People's Choice Mover & Shaker of 2013!

We got the chance to ask Kristin a few questions after she was told of the honor:

BH: What does getting the People's Choice Mover & Shaker award mean to you?

KS: I am rarely speechless,  but the news of the nomination for this, as well as the award, took my breath away.  I ask a lot of our community – I have asked that everyone find a place for my special needs kids, I have asked kids to step up and make a difference in our world, and I have asked for a lot of time and energy from a lot of people to move my curing retinal blindness mission forward.  I am always trying to show my appreciation… so to have the people of this amazing community now show appreciation for me and my work here… it just makes me incredibly prouder than ever that Bucks County is where my family calls home

BH: What motivates you every morning?

KS: My dream of sight for my boys is achievable.  Working hard to move science along quicker is a daunting task, but knowing that one day, hopefully very soon, they are actually going to see my face full of pride in them… that is motivation at its best.

BH: What’s your idea of a perfect day?

KS: I don’t just have an idea of it… I actually have perfect days often. When I go out for a run in my beautiful neighborhood (The Woods at Northampton) in the morning, neighbors wave or stop to chat for a minute.  When I stop in at my favorite coffee spot (Manhattan bagel, Richboro) during errands, there is almost always a friend in there to say hello to and the staff are genuinely happy to see me.  My email inbox often has a message from another family wanting to help my fundraising mission.  My days almost always end with a soccer practice or a football game… and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I guess to be truly a “perfect’ day there would be a few more hours to get through the laundry pile and enjoy a good glass of wine!

BH: Who do you look up to?

KS: My parents.  They were the ones that taught me that life gets hard sometimes,  but you have to keep moving forward and you have to use every talent God has given you to do the best you can for your family and for your community.  And they were the ones that first taught me about the importance of being an active part of the community.

BH: How did you decide to choose the field you are in?

KS: I never chose to be the parent of two blind children, but I do believe God had quite a plan in store for me and my family. I did choose, along with my incredible husband, to embark on this miracle journey to bring the gift of sight to my sons and thousands of others affected with retinal blindness.

BH: Which achievement are you most proud of?

KS: In terms of the path to a cure for my sons’ blindness, the two big achievements that I am so proud of are hosting a research symposium with amazing specialists and funding several grants to teams around the world that are going to work toward treatments and cures for CRB1 retinal disease. HOWEVER, while those two achievements are absolutely incredible, I am most proud of our Bike the Basin event that was just held on September 29th.  I watched in pure awe as hundreds of kids celebrated that they are partners with us on this miracle journey.  Bike the Basin is achieving its first goal of teaching kids about philanthropy and being a part of a community that effectively and enthusiastically supports one another.  It is an incredible bonus that it is also achieving the massive fundraising goals as well!

BH: What has been the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome?

KS: FEAR!  Fear of raising blind children well.  Fear of starting and running an organization that I had no “official” training for.  Fear of approaching top scientists and doctors and asking for their help.  Fear of not succeeding with an incredibly important fundraising campaign.  I realized I was teaching my kids to face their fears by staying right beside them every step of the way so now I find people that can walk beside me with every new challenge.  It is amazing what you can accomplish when you get over the fears you have in your way!

BH: What is the biggest thing that you’d like to achieve over the next 5 years?

KS: I want to see treatments for CRB1 degenerative  retinal disease get to clinical trial.

BH: How do you think your friends & coworkers would describe you?

KS: I am blessed to be surrounded by people that cheer me on every step of this journey.  I know that those helping me appreciate that I am an incredibly motivated mom that looks for the positive in every single day.

BH: Where’s your favorite place to be in Bucks?

KS: The Northampton Civic Center soccer basin.

BH: If you could go back in time and talk to yourself 10 years ago, what advice would you give?

KS: Gosh… 10 years ago I was in a tough place in my life… I had just gotten the news that my second son was also blind like my firstborn.  I wish I had known then that science would evolve quicker than I thought, and that great people were going to come into my life to lift me out of sadness and into greatness.

Find out more about Kristin and her incredible pursuits on social media:

Facebook: Curing Retinal Blindness and Bike the Basin
LinkedIn: Kristin Smedley
Twitter: @KristinSmedley, @bikethebasin