Vogue recently featured a new line of socially-conscious specs by Warby Parker, “a line of boutique vintage-inspired frames and lenses for savvy urbanites at a revolutionary (read: low) price point.”
The idea for the line came from Wharton School of Business student Andy Hunt, who was frustrated after repeatedly losing his frames and being forced to pay a bundle for frames he didn’t care for. Hunt collaborated with three other entrepreneurs (classmates at Wharton) to make the line a reality. One of the four founders is former VisionSpring Director, Neil Blumenthal.

Genevieve Bahrenburg of Vogue writes:

“The founders didn’t enter into the eyewear business blindly. Blumenthal had spent the previous five years with the non-profit foundation VisionSpring, which provided low-cost eyeglasses in developing countries and won him the distinction of developing the first line of reading glasses for populations living on less than $4 a day. Relying on Blumenthal’s insight, the founders discovered they could dramatically lower prices by cutting out cost-inflating middlemen like optical shops and licensing companies and selling the glasses exclusively online, where you can upload your photo and virtually try on different pairs before committing to a style. As a result, all Warby Parker eyeglasses, which include anti-reflective prescription lenses, are available for less than $100, and better yet, these frames have a social conscience.”

For every pair purchased, Warby Parker will donate a pair to the world’s “500 million visually impaired, impoverished people.”

Plus, since the line is available exclusively online, the “virtual try-on” feature of the website is a fun and easy way to test out your look before committing to a frame. Why not give it a try on the aptly named monocle, the Colonel?

We at VisionSpring love Warby Parker’s look and the attention given to the millions of people in the developing world without access to vision care. Thanks to Blumenthal’s innovative business insight, socially-conscious urbanites and fashion-conscious social entrepreneurs and the like can step out in (affordable) style.

To read the full article on Vogue.com.

Check out Warby Parker here!

Last week Scientific American reported on an American Journal of Epidemiology study that has discovered a surprising connection between untreated vision problems and dementia in the elderly. The study indicates that untreated vision problems can contribute to the onset of the disease.

An excerpt from the article:

“Visual problems can have serious consequences and are very common among the elderly, but many of them are not seeking treatment,’ said University of Michigan researcher Mary Rogers, the study’s lead author, in a prepared statement.

Poor vision often prevents people from participating in the types of activities thought to reduce Alzheimer’s risk, such as socializing, reading, and physical activity. Early treatment of vision disorders, the authors suggest, could delay the onset of dementia, and of Alzheimer’s disease in particular.”

VisionSpring’s mission is to spark opportunity in the developing world by providing affordable vision care where it is inaccessible, targeting middle aged workers in end-of-the-road communities whose livelihoods are hindered by the natural onset of blurry up-close vision. This new found link between untreated vision problems and dementia reveals another critical economic and social benefit to VisionSpring’s work

To read the full article, click here.

Caroline Misan recently returned from her first trip to the field as VisionSpring’s Partner Manager for Latin America. Caroline brings to VisionSpring a valuable fresh set of eyes along with her experience growing businesses in the developing world. I sat down with her to learn more about what’s new with VisionSpring in Latin America and hear her newly garnered insights into the challenges and opportunities in the region moving forward.

Check out Caroline’s VisionSpring Central America photo here!

Welcome back to New York Caroline!

Thanks!

So what was your goal for your first time in the field?

My goal for this trip was to gain a deeper understanding of how VisionSpring works and establish solid relationships with our local teams. Since I will be working mainly in Latin America, it was important that I go to El Salvador to see our direct channel, where VisionSpring innovates its business model and strategies. I was also excited to visit our partner in Nicaragua, Cause for Hope, because VisionSpring’s partner channel is the key to growing our micro-franchise model throughout the region.

What was the biggest takeaway from your trip about VisionSpring’s Central America programs?

That we have a phenomenal resource in Heidy Serpas, the VisionSpring El Salvador Country Director. She is honestly a superstar. Heidy understands every aspect of our business – how to recruit and train VEs, how to connect with the customer base, and the role of the field staff in generating ideas for the improvement of our product and service offering. Beyond that, she understands the importance of building up a team of Vision Entrepreneurs as stakeholders. She manages a core group of 13 VEs, and has infected them with her dedication to the program. She invests a lot of time, and is always finding ways to build their enthusiasm and revenue-generation.

I’d say that my ten days in El Salvador convinced me that local resources are key to the success of any organization that wants to create real impact on the ground. The VisionSpring team really values her, and we’re looking forward to working with her to train and empower other managers in the region.

What is the main challenge you identify for VisionSpring in the region over the coming year?

A main challenge is establishing good channels of communication to provide the local managers the support they need to create significant, scalable impact. As I just hinted at, local managers are critical to the success of the VisionSpring model because they are the ones running the program in real time. We need to make sure we’re assisting them as much as possible. This will mean things like checking to make sure they have the tools they need to deal with managing inventory, or asking if they would like help interacting with institutions like banks, which they can be uncomfortable doing. The right lines of communication will unlock their potential and really help the region flourish.

Beyond this greater challenge of communication, what are some next steps you want to take as Partner Manager to help the programs succeed?

I have a bunch of goals. I want to improve our sales and franchise partner materials to ensure quality control. For example, I’d love to see us supplying our VEs with functional, one-pager VisionSpring “cheat sheets.” This will ensure that our local partners have more clear guidelines and materials to support their VEs.

I also want to work on firming up our incentive structure to make sure managers have a way to keep VEs interested and selling. Oh, and create material to drive regular “refresher” courses for managers on eye care and VE recruitment and training.

Any exciting developments in the Latin American innovations realm?

Yes, there are some very exciting new developments on the ground. While I was in El Salvador, the team was getting ready to pilot a new service: the VisionSpring full-service optical shop. Up to this point, VisionSpring has been solely focused on providing reading glasses, so all patients that needed eye care beyond reading glasses had to be referred to eye doctors or clinics. Now we’re going to test hosting an optometrist in our office and at our major campaigns so that we can provide glasses to patients with more advanced vision problems. Patients will continue to be screened by our VEs first, but those that do not have presbyopia will be referred to our optometrist so they can purchase affordable prescription glasses.

Our VEs are really happy about the optical shop idea because it will let them serve customers, both young and old, that they were never able to cater to before. The pilot launch will take place at a large church with over 9,000 congregants next Sunday. I’m very excited to hear how it goes.

What are you most looking forward to achieving in the region with VisionSpring?

Creating self-sustaining programs and growing – but carefully, with a purpose. We need to constantly ask ourselves – is this expansion going to create value for VisionSpring, our VEs, and our customers in the long run? I look forward to finding the answer to this question in Latin America and integrating it as part of VisionSpring’s global strategy.

Can you share one of your highlights from the trip?

One day in El Salvador I was accompanying a Vision Entrepreneur, Nelson, who was meeting with local leaders in a few villages. We stopped by a church that Nelson had never visited before and spoke with the pastor, who told us he had recently purchased a $90 pair of sunglasses to provide relief for his extremely light-sensitive eyes. Nelson asked him how he would feel if he could have the same protection with VisionSpring glasses for $5.The pastor immediately saw the value of the program and scheduled a vision campaign in his church for the end of the month.