Kristan Gross.
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DALLAS—The Vision Impact Institute (VII) this week announced that leadership of the organization will transition from president Maureen Cavanagh to Kristan Gross, who held the title director of global content and communications. Cavanagh has led the VII for more than two years in its mission to raise awareness about the importance of healthy vision and quality of life benefits of vision correction. The change was effective Jan. 1.

Gross has been with Essilor of America since 2007, when she joined the company as a public relations and communications lead. She has served as global director of content and communications since 2015, and was appointed vice chair of Vision2020 USA in 2016.

“We’re pleased to announce the promotion of Kristan to her new role as global executive director,” said Essilor International chief mission officer Jayanth Bhuvaraghan. (VII is a non-profit organization that receives support from the Vision for Life Fund from Essilor.) “Kristan’s longstanding devotion to the conversation around vision health has been clearly seen in her previous work at the VII and her support of efforts to expand awareness through evidence-based research of the global need to address uncorrected refractive error,” he added.

Gross, who was named one of the Most Influential Women in Optical in 2014 by Vision Monday, said she is “grateful and thrilled” by the opportunity to lead VII. “Together, with the help of our partners and the evidence apparent in credible, compelling research, we can validate the importance of the socio-economic impact of vision health and continue Giving Vision a Voice,” she said.

Bhuvaraghan also cited Cavanagh for her work. “I would like to thank Maureen for successfully leading the Vision Impact Institute for more than two years and for championing healthy vision to organizations, policy makers, teachers and many others around the world. Her contributions have positioned the VII as a thought-leader in the global conversation around the impact of vision, and we wish her all the best as she transitions into her soon-to-be-announced new role with Essilor of America.”