Difference between revisions 451661376 and 451836471 on enwiki

== VisionSpring =={{Multiple issues|wikify = September 2011|dead end = September 2011|orphan = September 2011}}

'''VisionSpring''', formerly Scojo Foundation, is a social enterprise founded by Jordan Kassalow and Scott Berrie in 2001, a year after Kassalow co-founded Scojo Vision LLC, a designer and distributor of high-end reading glasses.<ref>http://www.draperrichards.org/fellows/visionspring.html</ref>

'''Mission''': To ensure equitable and affordable eyeglass is available to every individual to live a productive life.

=== About VisionSpring in India ===
VisionSpring in India was launched in 2005. About 92.4 million people in India suffer from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyopia  Presbyopia], causing them to be less productive in their work. VisionSpring, with its business model, provide employment opportunities in India by training Vision Entrepreneurs (VEs) to give eye screenings, sell eyeglasses to the different communities and to refer customers who needed prescription glasses to a VisionSpring optometrist. Once hired, a VE will receive a package containing marketing materials and the details required to carry out an eye test. For every pair of glasses sold, the VEs will earn between 40 to 50 Rupees. These VEs are responsible for reaching out to the innermost area of rural India, as most eye care professionals are located in the urban area and are very costly.<ref>http://www.globalens.com/DocFiles/PDF/cases/inspection/GL1428610I.pdf</ref> VisionSpring also conducts about 60,000 eye screenings in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andhra_Pradesh  Andhra Pradesh] alone every year.<ref>http://modernmedicare.co.in/2011/02/18/visionspring-india-making-a-difference-towards-presbyopia-2/</ref>

=== Impact and Success ===
VisionSpring has impacted India widely, benefitting both VEs and their customers. The organization today provides eyesight to a huge Indian population, which increased their productivity by 35% and thus their income  .<ref>http://www.visionspring.org/newscenter/downloads/news/scojo_news_876.pdf</ref>. VEs are empowered with a job that sustains a livelihood though the sales of the glasses. These caused an aggregate increment in the nations’ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_domestic_product  GDP]. By 2007, VisionSpring's "India programme has become the organization’s largest and fastest-growing, training more than 450 Vision Entrepreneurs and selling more than $100,000 worth of glasses." <ref>Dan L. (2007). "Microfranchising: using markets, community to cure illness, poverty" ''Mint''</ref> In 2010, research in India have shown that VisionSpring has generated $228 million in economic growth and increased the earning potential of an average customer by $381.  <ref>http://www.visionspring.org/newscenter/news-detail.php?id=876</ref>

The success of VisionSpring’s capitalistic and philanthropic operation has been used as a learning example and role model for social enterprises. Stanford Social Innovation Review,<ref>http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/freeing_the_social_entrepreneur/</ref> Handbook of Research on Social Entrepreneurship <ref>Fayolle, A(ed.), Matlay, H(ed.) (2011) ''Handbook of Research on Social Entrepreneurship.'' Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, UK</ref> and Next Generation Business Strategies for the Base of the Pyramid: New Approaches for Building Mutual Value<ref>Ted, L, Stuart L. H. (2010) ''Next Generation Business Strategies for the Base of the Pyramid: New Approaches for Building Mutual Value''. FT Press, New Jersey</ref> have featured VisionSpring and published its experience to allow other social enterprise industry learn from them. 

VisionSpring has won awards such as 2010 CASE Awards for Social Enterprising Innovation <ref>http://www.caseatduke.org/events/ESIaward/2010Winner.html</ref> and several others.<ref>http://visionspring.org/newscenter/news.php</ref>

=== Shortfalls ===
VisionSpring pledges to reach out and serve those who are living under $4 per day.<ref>http://www.warbyparker.com/visionspring</ref> Considering that 880 million people in India lives under US$2 per day,  VisionSpring might not have contributed much to help such a population. VisionSpring might have to reassess the price of the glasses they are selling especially if they are planning to reach out to the larger population in India.  <ref>http://www.globalens.com/DocFiles/PDF/cases/inspection/GL1428610I.pdf</ref>

Being a social enterprise, VisionSpring aims to be self-sustainable, however it still relies heavily on charity, it managed to gather $1.7million in 2010.<ref>Forbes Asia; Feb2011, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p26-26, 1p</ref>

The VEs, who will conduct eyesight screening, are trained shortly within 3 days, the reliability of their assessment skills can be questioned.<ref>http://inspiredeconomist.com/2011/08/31/visionspring-a-model-toms-shoes-would-be-wise-to-adopt/</ref>

== References ==
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{{Uncategorized|date=September 2011}}