Hedley Lawson.
SANTA ROSE, Calif.—Twenty-year senior corporate executive for SOLA Optical USA, Inc. and SOLA International, Inc., and long-time, highly-regarded optical industry advisor, contributing editor and professional speaker, Hedley Lawson, has announced his retirement. Lawson began his optical industry career in 1980 with SOLA Optical USA as director of human resources. He was a key member of the executive leadership team, serving in various senior management roles. He was instrumental in the integration of numerous acquisitions including Syntex Ophthalmics, Coburn and American Optical.
 
Lawson was a frequent speaker at Optical Laboratories Association of America (OLA) meetings and at regional lab association meetings. In 1991 he introduced and led SOLA’s biannual Business & HR Conference for optical laboratories which provided an opportunity for lab owners and operators to learn new business and HR strategies that enabled them to sustainably grow their labs.
 
In 1991, he also began a 25-year career as a contributing editor for the Jobson Optical Group, including VisionMonday and LabTalk, as well as for other optical industry publications.
 
Following SOLA, Lawson served as vice president human resources for several communications and tech companies. Most recently, he was the founder and global managing partner for Aligned Growth Partners, LLC, where he worked with and advised domestic and global boards of directors, executive teams, equity investors, founders, and business owners across multiple industries.
 
He also led the firm’s global executive search practice from offices in the U.S., Europe, Singapore, India, China, Japan and New Zealand.
 
Lawson will continue to serve on the boards of companies and organizations. Presently, he serves on the board of Give Sight Global.