OUR MISSION

GoodVision USA became a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity in March 2019.
The GoodVision complete solution includes local production of eyeglass frames, training of local opticians, free vision testing, immediate assembly & fitting, and long-term service for the glasses. Our objective is to provide people living in poverty access to inexpensive and visually appealing glasses while simultaneously creating employment.

It is our vision to establish financially independent basic eye care programs in the world’s poorest countries.
We are committed to honesty, responsibility, and transparency with our donations. We will keep you informed about our ongoing projects and how your donation is being put to work. We greatly appreciate every dollar we receive, as donations are the building blocks of our work.

MEET OUR TEAM

Our team consists of professionals from diverse sectors, backgrounds, and nationalities most of whom serve volunteer roles with GoodVision. Our team consists of professionals from diverse sectors, backgrounds, and nationalities.

JENNIFER HYDE

Executive Director | Jennifer became aware of the lack of eyeglasses access globally after a trip to the eyeglass store with her kids got her thinking. Many questions and hours of research led Jen to GoodVision. In the 1980s, Jen worked in the Congo as a Peace Corps volunteer and became aware of the lack of access to basic health benefits (like eyeglasses) which can significantly hold individuals back in their potential. Jen first worked in the environmental field and moved on to the field of international public health and vision correction.

BLAIR WONG

Member, Board of Directors| Blair has supported GoodVision from the beginning with his energy and enthusiasm. He is a Master Optician in Ophthalmic Optics and teaches at the New England College of Optometry, and is the department Chair and founder of the Eye Health Technology and Opticianry department at the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology. Additionally, he is the executive director of the Opticians Association of Massachusetts, director to the American Board of Opticianry and National Contact Lens Examiners. At the age of 26, Blair was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, an incurable disease leading to blindness. Since the disease is progressive, he began to redirect his focus toward a career as an educator in ophthalmic optics and eye health technology.

MOSOKA P. FALLAH

Project Advisor, ODG USA/RPI Liberia | Mosoka P. Fallah is the founder and CEO of Refuge Place International and an advisor to the RPI- GoodVision project. Dr. Fallah has a MPH from Harvard University and a PhD in Immunology from University of Kentucky. Mosoka heard about GoodVision and immediately saw the possibilities of a partnership. “As a poor child growing up in Liberia, I needed lenses for school. My parents could not afford them and I survived by sitting in the front of the class, listening and writing, or copying from my desk mate”. It was not until 12^th grade that Mosoka was able to travel the 1000 kms for a pair of glasses.

KATHERINE SMITH

Secretary, Board of Directors | From the start, Katherine was impressed by GoodVision’s sustainable way of improving lives through eye glasses. In 2019, she traveled to Africa and was able to experience first-hand the nonprofits’s impact in Burkina Faso, where she learned how to create GoodVision glasses. She brings past experience in programming and data management. Her desire to help others is why she is part of GoodVision.

KARSTEN WOLF

Appointed Director, Board of Directors | Karsten Wolf is also a Board Member of EinDollarBrille e.V. Germany. Highly myopic probably since childhood, he got his first pair of glasses in his late adolescence. Seeing the world in full has become a defining moment for him. Learning later that nearly 950 million people have uncorrected refractive errors, Karsten knew that this was a cause he wanted to be involved in. He has a master’s degree in economics and organizational science and worked in public institutions and non-profit organizations all his life.

JIM SAYE SUAH JR.

Project Director, GoodVision/RPI Liberia | Jim Saye Suah Jr’s role is the County Director for the Liberia project. He is a graduate of Cuttington University of Liberia with a B.S. in Plant and Soil Sciences. After graduation, his career interests have focused on epidemiology with interest in investigating the incidence, distribution, and control of diseases. In 2018, Jim transitioned to Refuge Place International (RPI). At RPl Jim trains Community Health workers on data management and prepares RPI’s annual project reports, newsletters, and grant proposals.

BARBARA ARNING, M.D.

Public Relations Manager | Barbara became severely short sighted at the age of 10. The poor eyesight affected all parts of her life and she was glad to get glasses once her problem was diagnosed. Based on this experience, her passion is to help as many people as possible in the world to achieve good vision. As a physician, retired director of regulatory affairs in the pharmaceutical industry (Oncology, Vaccines) and former executive in marketing and advertising, she is happy to contribute to the work of GoodVision.

LAURA FULLER

Communications Manager | Laura is thrilled to offer her communications expertise to raise awareness of the efforts GoodVision in the United States and abroad. She is the Head of Communications for the United Nations Environment Programme’s North America Office in Washington D.C. Prior to joining the UN, she directed marketing communications for a Canadian lighting company. Laura is committed to helping others and has done extensive volunteer work in West Africa, India and Cambodia.

MICHAEL SCHUBERT

Administrative Manager | Michael Schubert comes to GoodVision from the German founding organization EinDollarBrille e.V. Michael studied cultural anthropology in Munich and is a trained banker. In his full-time job at EinDollarBrille e.V. in Germany, Michael has spent time working directly in Burkina Faso, helping to build up the structures in the sales and marketing department of the project. Michael mainly focuses on digital marketing and organizational development.

CHRISTINE BURKE

Communications | Christine has been wearing glasses to correct her distance vision since grade school, and she can’t imagine life without them. She comes to GoodVision after a 30–year career in publications, from producing newsletters for local profits to managing an international dental research journal. She believes GoodVision’s twin goals are a winning combination: bringing the life-changing benefits of improved vision to more children and adults and supporting meaningful employment for local GoodVision Technicians.

Portrait of Miracle Olaturiji in the Northeastern University

MIRACLE OLATUNJI

Communications | Miracle Olatunji is a keynote speaker, content writer, entrepreneur, and author of Purpose: How To Live and Lead With Impact. She is the founder of OpportuniMe, a mission-driven company which helps people and organizations (for-profit and non-profit) to realize and reach their full potential. Currently, she is pursuing her Bachelor’s Degree in Finance at Northeastern University. Miracle’s work has been featured in Forbes, Technical.ly, The CEO Library, The Female Lead, and other publications. Her latest inspirations are the GoodVision USA blogs.

Liz Magill

Graduate Intern | Liz is pursuing a global health masters from Brighton and Sussex Medical School and is excited to bring her past non-profit, social enterprise, and other professional experiences to GoodVision. Liz received her bachelor’s degree in international studies from American University. While at American she had the opportunity to study and travel in Kenya and Rwanda where she was able to see first hand the different health care systems and access, especially in rural regions. Liz is passionate about local and sustainable solutions, one of the many reasons she was drawn to work with GoodVision USA.

ANNA-LENA BAUMANN

Advisor, Business Development | Doing work that matters and having a positive impact on people’s lives is what drives Anna-Lena. In 2018, she traveled for GoodVision to West Africa to see and feel the project on the ground. What moved Anna-Lena greatly was how the sustainable business approach changed the lives of the employees in the production facility and GV shops who had never worked before. Anna-Lena holds a Master of Science in Business Administration and has worked in different Fortune 500 companies.

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Max Steiner

Coordinator South and Central America, Project Manager Bolivia

After committed entrepreneurial years in Switzerland and Germany, in 2000 I founded a social youth foundation in Bolivia, the country of origin of my wife Martha, today my second home. Hostelling International Bolivia (HI-Bolivia) runs the national youth hostel, offers Spanish courses and organizes adventure trips in the Andes. All of this for almost 1,000 volunteers who have been involved in the foundation's many social projects over the past 15 years and who continue to contribute. Initially, it was primarily childcare centers in the country, but HIB soon expanded its help in the health sector, such as dental care, fluorination and mobile consultations in remote mountain areas up to 4000m high on the Sunny Island outside on Lake Titicaca.

While on an exchange program with the Institute for Geography at the University of Erlangen, I came across Martin Aufmuth’s OneDollarGlasses program at the end of 2012. Right then, I wanted to close this exact gap in Bolivia, too, and give the well over 150,000 locals with insufficient eyesight the option of affordable glasses and new life chances. Fascinated by the manufacturing process, I asked the OneDollarGlasses team to train local producers, who produced around 15,000 frames this year and can thus generate an income that was simply not there before.

How satisfying it is for me today to remember that the goal of the LENTES AL INSTANTE (the name of OneDollarGlasses in South America) campaign in 2017 is to do about 20,000 eye tests in places where the people have never seen an ophthalmologist.

I was very honored to be appointed OneDollarGlasses coordinator from South and Central America. In my role, on the one hand I work to strengthen the launched partner structures in Mexico and Brazil, and on the other hand to extend this valuable social project to other Andean countries such as Peru, Colombia and later Ecuador. In 2020, we want to work together on this continent to bring around 50,000 OneDollarGlasses to happy, needy people who will finally see better.