Traditional optical companies have shown little interest in investing the time or resources required to transform the latent eyeglasses market for the BoP consumer into a viable one. Previous efforts to address the challenge of vision impairment have included the irregular distribution of donated glasses, as well as medical interventions such as cataract surgeries that restore vision to older individuals who are already retired. Jordan Kassalow, an optometrist, created VisionSpring, an organization that employs a Hub-and-Spoke approach, in which their optical shops function as hubs and vision entrepreneurs act like spokes conducting outreach to the communities surrounding the shops. All of VisionSpring’s optical shops employ an optometrist capable of conducting comprehensive eye exams, and each optical shop has a team of what they call “vision entrepreneurs” associated with it. Vision entrepreneurs are local people that VisionSpring has trained to conduct vision screenings and educate their communities about the importance of eye care and the benefits of corrected vision. They conduct education campaigns in communities that have limited access to eye care services; many individuals that attend their campaigns have never received an eye exam before. Detail: Kassalow never used or needed eyeglasses. 
Web site: http://visionspring.org/
