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When her friend Rick Wheeler approached Anne Marble about visiting Overbrook School for the Blind, the timing seemed perfect. It had been six years since Marble ended an affiliation with The Caramanico School, the middle school in Cambodia she cofounded in 2006.
Enjoying retirement and devoting time to her artwork, she nonetheless felt what she describes as a “service gap” in her life. The poverty and lack of quality education in Cambodia had propelled her to launch that school, which today operates in partnership with Villanova University.
Raised as a Quaker to serve, she needed a new cause.
Once on the OSB campus, Marble found it. “This is a special place and I just loved it right away,” she says. “I knew this was worth my time and energy.”
So in 2019, Marble accepted an offer to join the board. Since then, she has served as a vice president, and she currently chairs the development committee.
Beyond her Quaker upbringing, Marble has more than 30 years of business experience as an entrepreneur. She began as an environmental consultant in the late 1980s, and eventually launched her own company, employing over 100 professionals at the time of her retirement. She holds a B.A. in Biology from Earlham College as well as a Masters in regional planning from the University of Pennsylvania and has served on the board of another Philadelphia private school for more than 17 years.
That business and board experience has prepared her to work at OSB. “Being on several boards and running a business gave me the tools I need to be here,” she says. And her work in Cambodia still impacts what she does now. “It widened my understanding of education and the value of it. You can’t do anything unless you’re educated.”
So when she saw the staff and students in action, Marble was inspired. She is also excited about the Taking Flight Campaign, especially the campaign’s Braille Signage and OSBnb initiatives that will employ students. “This is a well-run school and it’s a very loving environment,’’ she says. ``The students feel known and that’s a big part of a good education.”
Outside of OSB, Marble is just as dedicated to her varied artwork – a talent she showed as early as four years old. “Not a day goes by where I don’t do something around my art, “she said. Her Norristown studio has been her new “office” since her retirement. She also frequently travels to California to visit her son and daughter-in-law.
For Marble, her devotion to OSB is only beginning. “I want these students to get the best education they can receive and I believe they are getting that here. I believe in what this school is doing.”
