Revision 450780957 of "VisionSpring" on enwiki

== '''VisionSpring''' ==

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 that there is equitable and affordable eyeglass available to every individual to live a productive life.


=== About VisionSpring ===
VisionSpring aims to reduce poverty in the developing world by training entrepreneurs to give eye screenings, sell eyeglasses to the different communities and to refer customers who needed prescription glasses to a VisionSpring optometrist.  It works according to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottom_of_the_pyramid| base of economic pyramid (BoP) ]<ref>Ted, L. (2009, May). ''Making Better Investments at the base of the pyramid''. Retrieved September 14, 2011 from http://hbr.org/2009/05/making-better-investments-at-the-base-of-the-pyramid/ar/1</ref>.


Once hired, a vision entrepreneur will receive a package containing marketing materials and the details required to carry out an eye test. For every pair of glasses sold, the vision entrepreneur will earn between $1.50 and $3.50. Some 9000 women under VisionSpring’s community have sold over 600,000 pairs of reading glasses throughout seven countries including India and South Africa. By understanding the needs of low-income customers, VisionSpring designs simple but strong glasses and tries to reduce the economic cost of vision loss, which amounts to $3 trillion a year.<ref>http://94.236.6.207/download/?Key=xGkrOu3skrc6DceOOZirWI%2FpY+rkYXP+7SRqQMjAQXdt84G1oIQFcQPeVq0GBARYSJuxzAk24MfwjFdUAPTDuun614qJy3IcNQHg1NSJCmQ%3D</ref>



=== Impact and Success ===
VisionSpring has impacted 11 countries, benefitting both vision entrepreneurs and their customers. With improved vision, customers were able to improve their productivity and effectiveness which in turn increase their income with improved vision. Vision entrepreneurs are empowered with a job that sustains a livelihood though the sales of the glasses. These cause an aggregate increment in the nations’ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_domestic_product| GDP]. Studies have shown that VisionSpring has increased the earnings of an average customer by $106 and generated $38million in economic growth. <ref>http://www.acumenfund.org/investment/visionspring.html</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 help social enterprise industry learn. 


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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank| World Bank’s] definition of population who lives in extreme poverty (with less than $1.25 per day) and moderate poverty (with less than $2 per day), VisionSpring might not have contributed and/or be contributing to help such population. <ref>http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.2DAY</ref> VisionSpring might have to reassess the price of the glasses they are selling especially if they are planning to reach out to more countries in poverty.


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 Vision Entrepreneurs, 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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