Unite For Sight: High Impact Through Social Innovation

"Unite For Sight has ballooned, and last year it provided eye care to 200,000 people...Today the most remarkable young people are the social entrepreneurs, those who see a problem in society and roll up their sleeves to address it in new ways. Bill Drayton, the chief executive of an organization called Ashoka that supports social entrepreneurs, likes to say that such people neither hand out fish nor teach people to fish; their aim is to revolutionize the fishing industry. If that sounds insanely ambitious, it is." -- Nicholas D. Kristof, "The Age of Ambition," The New York Times, January 27, 2008

Unite For Sight's Programs Demonstrate The Highest Standards in Social Entrepreneurship

"Imagine that Andrew Carnegie had built only one library rather than conceiving the public library system that today serves untold millions of American citizens. Carnegie's single library would have clearly benefited the community it served. But it was his vision of an entire system of libraries creating a permanent new equilibrium - one ensuring access to information and knowledge for all the nation's citizens - that anchors his reputation as a social entrepreneur."--Roger L.Martin and Sally Osberg. “Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition.” Stanford Social Innovation Review (Spring 2007): 29-39.

Investments To Fundamentally Change The Sustainable Impact of Local Eye Clinics

We support eye clinics worldwide by investing human and financial resources in their social ventures to eliminate patient barriers to eye care
We cultivate and invest in the talent of local ophthalmologist leaders who have the determination and skill to create successful social enterprises that serve the world's poorest people
We develop and enhance the capacity and effectiveness of eye clinics to provide care to those living in poverty
We empower patients and communities to be engaged as Community Eye Health Workers
We create employment opportunities for local health workers
We mobilize eye care professionals in countries throughout the world to work collaboratively, and exchange skills and best practices across continents

Impact: Our innovative programs have provided the highest quailty of care to 800,000 of the world's poorest people. All of the eye care is provided by local eye doctors.The communities where we work did not previously have access to eye care due to many barriers. Unite For Sight's model has enabled local eye clinics to create real change and a sustainable impact for those living in extreme poverty.

With Unite For Sight's investments of human and financial resources, the eye clinics eliminate patient barriers to care by fully funding surgeries, bringing eye care services to the patients, providing transportation to the eye clinic for surgery as needed, and educating communities about blindness elimination.
The eye care services are comprehensive, including examinations by local eye doctors, diagnosis and care for all treatable conditions, promotion, and prevention. This full range of services is delivered to the population year-round.
Examples of Unite For Sight's Success:
- In Tamale, Ghana, ophthalmologist Dr. Wanye is the only eye doctor for 2 million people in the entire region. Prior to working with Unite For Sight, Dr. Wanye often went months without providing a single cataract surgery because the community members could not afford the cost of surgery. Unite For Sight volunteers now work with him to assist with screening outreach programs, and Unite For Sight funds the cataract surgeries for the patients so that no one will remain blind due to lack of funds. With the support of Unite For Sight, Dr. Wanye now provides close to 2,000 cataract surgeries each year.
- In Accra, Ghana, Unite For Sight's support has enabled Crystal Eye Clinic to more than triple its annual number of surgeries, and 86% of the surgeries are now provided to patients living in extreme poverty. Unite For Sight annually sponsors more than 2,000 surgeries provided by Crystal Eye Clinic for patients living in extreme poverty.
- In Chennai, India, Uma Eye Clinic has more than quadrupled its capacity to provide surgeries to poor patients from rural villages. During the past two years, Uma Eye Clinic's ophthalmologists provided 2,114 surgeries to patients from rural villages.

Global Impact Corps: Training The Next Generation of Global Health Leaders

"Through this organization[Unite For Sight]...I see that it's possible for medical practitioners, public health workers, and students, to come together and to achieve what seems impossible. That working selflessly with sensitivity to cultural difference and to human dignity, right thinking individuals can together change the way that the whole world works...And to provide a model for all those idealistic young people...who want to do their part to make this world a better place."--Jane Edwards, Associate Dean for International Affairs, Yale University, at the 2008 Unite For Sight Conference

We provide Global Impact Fellows - the next generation of global health leaders - with the opportunity, training, and tools to drive change
We fundamentally change the role of volunteers and their long-term training, engagement, and impact
Global Impact Fellows gain hands-on, structured training in global health
We instill in our Global Impact Fellows a thorough understanding of best practices in volunteerism, global health, and international development
We cultivate creative collaboration between eye clinics, volunteers, and universities from five continents
Global Impact Fellows are encouraged to participate in Entrepreneurial Volunteering and the Global Impact Lab, optional programs for volunteers interested in social entrepreneurship and global health research

Impact: We have engaged, inspired, and trained 1,300 fellows to become new leaders in global health while participating in community-based eye health services

Community Fellows Program: North America Chapters Reduce Barriers To Care

Fellows are trained and empowered to reduce patient barriers to care by linking community members with free health coverage programs so that they can receive a complete eye exam by an eye doctor. The free health coverage programs are offered through high quality professional organizations such as the American Academy of Ophthalmology and American Optometric Association.
We provide Community Fellows with hands-on training in evidence-based public health program

Impact: Annually, more than 1,100 fellows in 90 chapters throughout North America serve as advocates for community eye health

Global Health and Innovation Summit: Innovative, High-Impact Idea Incubator

We provide tools to identify global problems, engage in social entrepreneurship, and create change and real solutions
We connect individuals, organizations, universities, the public, and communities, to collaborate on sustainable solutions
We inspire leadership, talent, and ideas
We encourage learning and innovation by providing a forum to share information and best practices across all disciplines of global health, social entrepreneurship, and international development

Impact: More than 2,200 participants from 50 states and from 55 countries gain skills and tools to create change and engage in social entrepreneurship

Global Health University: Innovative Online Learning In Global Health Innovation

Comprehensive training in best practices promotes the maximum beneficial impact of global health endeavors
Free and available to the public, the training helps to effect widespread change in global health

Impact: Annually, more than 1,400 Unite For Sight Fellows are required to complete the Global Health University courses, which instills in them best practices in global health and social entrepreneurship. Thousands more actively use the important training materials.