A pair of eyeglasses can change a life.

Eyeglasses help children succeed in school and develop the skills they need to pursue the careers they want. Proper vision care gives adults the opportunity to be more productive, connect to the digital highway, and earn more over their lifetime.

But this simple solution is just beyond the reach of millions of people living with poor vision around the world.

This is where the EYElliance comes in.

The Opportunity

More than 2.5 billion people are visually impaired because they do not have access to eyeglasses. Without good vision, children can't learn and adults are excluded from a world of economic opportunity.

Highly effective, scalable solutions exist to solve this massive, global problem -- in this generation. Eyeglasses have existed for over 700 years. Today, we have innovative technologies and large scale distribution models that mean better access to eyeglasses for everyone.

Now is the time to bring new actors -- from all sectors -- into the solution. These powerful collaborations engage national governments and harness market forces to transform systems and solve a problem that slows economic growth, limits children's potential to learn, and stands in the way of a more inclusive global marketplace.

Who We Are

EYElliance is a multi-sector coalition that drives the global strategy to increase access to eyeglasses at scale, so that those in less developed countries can fully avail themselves of vital educational and economic opportunities. EYElliance identifies highly effective, proven models and integrates those solutions into broader, pre-existing public and private systems to increase access to glasses at scale.

Focal Points

MOBILIZING
NEW RESOURCES

SIGNALING
ATTENTION &
ADVOCACY

ACCELERATING
IMPACT

MOBILIZING NEW RESOURCES

The EYElliance works to catalyze new and unaccessed funding options, including impact investors, private sector donors, foundations and governmental organizations. We educate leaders in these areas on the importance of eyeglasses and eye health with the goal of appropriating more resources to this neglected field.

SIGNALING ATTENTION & ADVOCACY

The EYElliance makes the case for investment in vision care and the provision of eyeglasses as a global development priority. We take the latest available evidence of how better vision leads to improved lives and highlight bright spots from organizations that are solving the problem in innovative, replicable, and scalable ways. With this information in hand, we meet with leaders from governments, the private sector, and civil sector to advocate for incorporating these models into funding and programmatic agendas.

ACCELERATING IMPACT

Ultimately, the EYElliance measures our success by the number of glasses that make it to those living with poor but correctable vision. To make the largest impact, we improve coordination between existing actors in this space and facilitate collaboration across sectors to support market-led development and school eye health initiatives.

Members

Connecting the world with vision care means seeing the larger picture, finding ways to help, and working with partners towards our common goals.

Board of Stewards

Essilor

Jayanth Bhuvaraghan
Chief Mission Officer
Essilor International
Founding Steering Committee Member

Alliance for Justice

Leslie Cordes
Vice President of Programs and Operations
Alliance for Justice

Brien Holden Vision Institute

Chris Jurgens
Director of Impact Investing
Omidyar Network
Founding Steering Committee Member

Vision Spring

Jordan Kassalow
Founder
VisionSpring
Founding Steering Committee Member

Brien Holden Vision Institute

Professor Kovin Naidoo
CEO
Brien Holden Vision Institute
Founding Steering Committee Member

Tides Center

Alex Sloan
VP, Strategic Partnerships
Tides
Founding Steering Committee Member

Vision Spring

Liz Smith
Chief Executive & Co-Founder
EYElliance
Founding Steering Committee Member

Brien Holden Vision Institute

Andy Tembon
Senior Health Specialist
World Bank
Founding Steering Committee Member

Brien Holden Vision Institute

Rebecca Weintraub
Managing Director
Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation

Major Donors

Alcon
Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation
Grand Challenges Canada
McNulty Foundation
Skoll Foundation
The Aspen Institute
The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation
USAID
Peery Foundation
Essilor

Members

2.5 New Vision Generation
Alina Vision
Aravind Eye Care System
BRAC
Brien Holden Vision Institute
BR
CBM
Clearly
Essilor Vision Foundation
Global Vision 2020
Helen Keller International
IAPB
International Council of Ophthalmology
International Eye Foundation
Kevin Frick, PhD
Light for the World
LV Prasad Eye Institute
Magrabi Foundation
National Vision
One Dollar Glasses
One Sight
Optometry Giving Sight
Orbis
Our Children's Vision
Ovitz
Peek Vision Ltd
Pellicud
Plenoptika
REAP
Restoring Vision
salauno
Sightsavers
Two Billion Eyes
USAID
Ver Bien Para Aprender Mejor
Ver de Verdad
Vision Aid Overseas
Vision Impact Institute
Vision for a Nation
Vision Spring
Vosh International
VSP
Warby Parker
World Council of Optometry
Tides Center

EYElliance is a project of Tides Center, the nation’s largest fiscal sponsor.

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