Anne Coolen, VisionSpring Global Vice President of Programs, and Country Director Misha Mahjabeen share their goals to make affordable eyeglasses accessible to low-income communities in Bangladesh.
As a social enterprise, how is VisionSpring contributing to the development and sustainability of the affordable eyeglasses market in low-resource settings?
Anne Coolen: VisionSpring adopted the social enterprise model to address the market failure around affordable eyeglasses. While eyeglasses are inexpensive and impactful, traditional markets often do not reach low-income or remote communities. By generating earned income through low-cost eyeglass sales, VisionSpring builds market participation and strengthens supply chains involving retailers, distributors, and community health workers. Earned revenue provides financial stability, reducing dependence on donor cycles. Customers pay affordable prices, reinforcing dignity, choice, and long-term demand for eye care. Blending enterprise revenue with philanthropy allows subsidised outreach in underserved regions while maintaining sustainability.
What is VisionSpring’s “global standards, local adaptation” approach?
Anne Coolen: VisionSpring follows a “global standards, local adaptation” approach, ensuring core quality elements — product standards, screening protocols, training, and monitoring — remain consistent across countries. Local teams adapt outreach methods, awareness strategies, and partnership models to cultural and economic contexts. In Bangladesh, this includes tailored community engagement, working with grassroots organisations, and aligning service delivery with local livelihood patterns. This ensures operational consistency and contextual relevance.
Misha Mahjabeen, VisionSpring Country Director
Photograph: Mohammad Arif
What is VisionSpring’s Reading Glasses for Improving Livelihoods (RGIL) Program?
Anne Coolen: VisionSpring’s Reading Glasses for Improved Livelihoods (RGIL) program provides affordable reading glasses to low-income workers who struggle with near-vision loss. By delivering on-site vision screenings and low-cost glasses through villages, factories, markets, and community partners, RGIL helps workers improve productivity, accuracy, and income. The program combines evidence-based impact, strong partnerships, and sustainable market-building to support Bangladesh’s broader national vision-care goals.
Based on the impact of the RGIL Program, what broader changes do you hope to see as the initiative scales?
Misha Mahjabeen: VisionSpring measures RGIL impact through monitoring systems and studies show a 5–32% productivity increase among workers who receive reading glasses. Improved accuracy, speed, and earning potential strengthen livelihoods and economic stability. These findings encourage government agencies, donors, and private-sector partners to invest in vision care as a development tool. As RGIL scales, VisionSpring aims for vision screening and eyeglass provision to become routine within adult healthcare. The broader goal is for clear vision to be globally recognised as a driver of economic opportunity and poverty reduction, starting with large-scale progress in Bangladesh.
What are some strategic risks VisionSpring is facing today, and how are you mitigating them?
Anne Coolen: The most significant risk is fluctuation in global and local funding priorities. As donor landscapes change, organisations reliant on external financing face uncertainty. VisionSpring mitigates this by diversifying funding, strengthening earned revenue, and building long-term partnerships across public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Political and regulatory shifts also pose risks. VisionSpring maintains political neutrality, invests in compliance systems, and works with partners to adapt to policy change. Leadership emphasises evidence-driven advocacy to demonstrate the economic and social value of vision correction, strengthening stakeholder commitment.
What are the key goals and metrics VisionSpring aims to achieve in Bangladesh over the next 5 to 10 years?
Misha Mahjabeen: VisionSpring aims to ensure that every adult in Bangladesh who needs eyeglasses — especially those with uncorrected presbyopia — can access them affordably. Over the next decade, the organisation plans to expand the RGIL program to reach millions of low-income earners such as tailors, farmers, artisans, and shopkeepers whose livelihoods depend on clear near vision. By 2030, VisionSpring intends to distribute 10 million pairs of eyeglasses globally, with Bangladesh as a primary driver of scale. The strategy includes expanding outreach and integrating vision care into national health, workforce, and community development systems. Strengthening partnerships with NGOs, government programs, and social enterprises is central to long-term sustainability. Bangladesh’s progress directly contributes to VisionSpring’s mission of reducing poverty, enhancing productivity, and embedding vision care within public health and economic development.
VisionSpring is a global social enterprise working to ensure that people in low-income communities have access to affordable eyeglasses. Working in Bangladesh through partners since 2006, VisionSpring formally opened its office here in 2019. Today, VisionSpring is expanding its efforts; Anne Coolen and Misha Mahjabeen explain their goals to integrate vision care into national systems, sharing insights and evidence from VisionSpring’s RGIL initiative.
