Revision 596660467 of "VisionSpring" on enwiki

'''VisionSpring''', formerly Scojo Foundation, is a [[social enterprise]] founded by Jordan Kassalow and Scott Berrie in 2001, a year after Kassalow co-founded [http://www.scojo.com/  Scojo Vision LLC], a designer and distributor of high-end reading glasses.<ref name=about-founder>{{cite web|url=http://visionspring.org/about/staff-detail.php?id=2|title = About Us: Founder and Staff: Jordan Kassalow}}</ref>

''' Mission''': To ensure [[wikt:equitable|equitable]] and affordable [[Glasses|eyeglass]] is available to every individual to live a productive life.

== About VisionSpring  ==
VisionSpring works to ensure affordable access to eyewear, everywhere.  The World Health Organization estimates that over 700 people who need eyeglasses do not have access to this important product.  This leads to an estimated 35% loss of economic productivity, children falling out of school, and a significant loss of quality of life.  Since inception, VisionSpring has sold over 1.6M eyeglasses to their target customers who typically earn between $1-$8 per day.  As a social enterprise, VisionSpring deploys philanthropic capital to uncover economically viable business models that can scale through market forces.  In 2013, their operations in Central America were on the cusp of achieving this important milestone.  

VisionSpring has two working models.  One called the Hub & Spoke model and the other the Partnership model.  The Economist likened their Hub & Spoke model to "Lenscrafters meets Mary Kay."  In this model, they operate fixed cross-subsidized optical shops with optometrists from which a small band of "Vision Entrepreneurs" fan out into the neighboring communities to provide eye screenings, sell reading and sunglasses, and refer more advanced cases back to the store to see the optometrist.  They operate this model in India and El Salvador and have active plans to scale this model to several other countries in Central America including Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.  The Partnership model, typified by their work with BRAC in Bangladesh, helps organizations with existing distribution networks and teaches them to add vision services into their product offering.  VisionSpring operates this model in over a dozen countries including Rwanda, Morocco, Afghanistan, Paraguay, and Ethiopia.

== 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’ [[Gross domestic product|GDP]]. By 2007, VisionSpring's "India programme has become the organization’s largest and fastest-growing, training more than 450 VEs 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 the inaugural [http://mcnultyprize.org/#subsection-2008-winner John P. McNulty Prize] in 2008,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mcnultyprize.org/#subsection-2008-winner|title=2008 McNulty Prize Winner - VisionSpring}}</ref> the 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>

==Funding==

VisionSpring has received funding from a number of foundations focused on [[high impact philanthropy]] including the [[Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation]],<ref name=draperrichards>{{cite web|url=http://www.draperrichards.org/fellows/visionspring.html|title = VisionSpring (link doesn't seem to work properly)|publisher = Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation|accessdate = 2012-08-14}}</ref> [[Skoll Foundation]],<ref name=skoll>{{cite web|url=http://www.skollfoundation.org/entrepreneur/jordan-kassalow/|title = VisionSpring (portfolio page)|publisher = [[Skoll Foundation]]|accessdate = 2012-08-14}}</ref> [[Mulago Foundation]],<ref name=mulago>{{cite web|url=http://mulagofoundation.org/portfolio/vision-spring|title = VisionSpring (portfolio page)|publisher = [[Mulago Foundation]]|accessdate = 2012-08-14}}</ref> and [[Jasmine Social Investments]].<ref name=jasmine>{{cite web|url=http://jasmine.org.nz/who-we-fund/|title = Who We Fund (click on VisionSpring for details)|publisher = [[Jasmine Social Investments]]|accessdate = 2012-08-14}}</ref>

== References ==
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[[Category:Ophthalmology organizations]]