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"A little investment in a pair of glasses goes a long way."
As a young optometry student, Jordan Kassalow traveled to rural Mexico with an organization that provided eye care to under-served populations. While there, he was stunned to find that many of the patients' eye problems could instantly be fixed with simple reading glasses--the kind that you can easily buy for $10 at most grocery stores in the United States. Jordan realized that there must be millions of people with the same predicament around the world, and he wanted to help. Seventeen years later, Jordan created an organization to do just that.
In 2001, Jordan created Scojo Foundation (later renamed VisionSpring). The organization aimed to make affordable eye exams and eyeglasses available, particularly to the poor. Using a business in a bag model, VisionSpring armed rural women with affordable business start-up kits and vision screening training. These new vision entrepreneurs then spread out to conduct vision tests, sell reading glasses, and refer customers who need prescription lenses to a VisionSpring optometrist or partner eye institution.
From its inception, VisionSpring has been a revolutionary organization. The results are instantaneous and impact is significant. A recent study by the University of Michigan, showed that on average VisionSpring's customers experience 35% increased productivity. That's like adding two and a half extra work days to the user's week! For the rural poor, this is a life-changing investment.
To date, VisionSpring has expanded to work with ten partners on four continents. They have trained more that 9,000 vision entrepreneurs and sold over 613,000 pairs of glasses.
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