Blair Wong, founding member and Board President of GoodVision USA, is fully blind. Last Saturday in Paris, he won International Optician of the Year, one of the optical profession’s highest honors and the first blind optician to receive the award in its history.
The same week, GoodVision delivered its one-millionth pair of eyeglasses to someone who otherwise couldn’t afford them.
The timing feels extraordinary. But if you know Blair’s story, it also makes perfect sense.
From Diagnosis to Global Impact
Blair was 26, working as an optician in Cambridge, when doctors diagnosed him with retinitis pigmentosa, an incurable degenerative eye disease. His older brother received the identical diagnosis the same day.
Blair could have walked away from optics. Instead, he earned a Master’s in Education and spent 45 years teaching others to see clearly. For over 30 years, he taught optics to optometry students at New England College of Optometry. In 2007, he founded the opticianry program at Boston’s Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology, achieving a 99.5% job placement rate.
One of Blair’s early students was Jennifer Hyde, who graduated in 2017. She went on to create GoodVision USA, and Blair became a founding board member and eventual Board President. Jennifer now serves as Associate Director.
“Blair doesn’t just teach students to fit glasses—he teaches them they’re changing people’s lives. That perspective transforms how they approach their work.”
This is Blair’s impact: A student becomes a founder. A teacher becomes a board leader. A local program becomes a global movement.
The Model That Works
Under Blair’s leadership, GoodVision USA has proven that sustainable vision care can scale. We manufacture quality eyeglasses locally using a simple bending machine requiring no electricity. Material cost: approximately $1 per pair. Local technicians conduct eye screenings, manufacture glasses, and provide ongoing care.
In 11 countries across Asia, Africa, and South America, we’ve conducted 2.2 million free eye screenings, created 530+ permanent jobs, and delivered one million pairs of eyeglasses.
“Blair reminds us regularly that we’re not just in the vision business, we’re in the business of human dignity. Everyone who works with and learns from Blair starts to see that every pair of glasses is a bridge to someone’s full potential.”
What This Means
This recognition validates GoodVision’s approach and puts our work on the international stage. It proves that locally-led, sustainable vision care works at scale.
“I am very humbled and overwhelmed by this amazing honor from the International Opticians Association. I hope this moment helps elevate the awareness that not only is opticianry an exciting career choice but is also an opportunity to serve the most vulnerable and vision needy populations, locally and throughout the world.”
But 950 million people worldwide still lack access to affordable eyeglasses. Our ability to continue this work is completely dependent on the generosity of people like you.
Please consider joining Blair and the GoodVision Community by making a donation today.
Blair Wong continues to serve as Board President of GoodVision USA, Executive Director of the Opticians Association of Massachusetts, and Chair of the Eye Health Technology and Opticianry Department at Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology. He was inducted into the Opticians Association of America Hall of Fame in 2022.