GOLDEN, Colo.—Optometry Giving Sight has formed a new board of directors. The fund-raising organization operates in Canada and in the U.S., with two separate boards, with the same directors for both. The U.S. Board is chaired by Dr. Juan Carlos Aragón, who has been active with Optometry Giving Sight as a board and committee member for over 10 years. The Canadian Board is chaired by Dr. Susan Cooper, also involved with OGS over the past decade. The OGS Board includes seven members:

• Juan Carlos Aragón OD – Chair, U.S., president, CooperVision Specialty Eye Care
• Susan Cooper OD – Chair, Canada, former president and managing director, World Council of Optometry
• Donna Mikulecky – Treasurer, chief financial officer, Vision Source
• Millicent Knight OD – senior vice president, Customer Development, Essilor of America
• John Flanagan PhD – dean, Berkeley School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley and president, Association of School and Colleges of Optometry
• Paul Karpecki OD – medical director at Keplr Vision and director of Cornea Services, Kentucky Eye Institute
• Luigi Bilotto OD – international eye health advisor, University of Montreal

In a joint statement, Drs. Aragón and Cooper said, “We are delighted with our new board and grateful to all of our board members for their commitment to helping grow Optometry Giving Sight. It is a strong group that will help take the organization to a higher level.”

OGS’ executive director, Anne Marie Hand, added, “The Optometry Giving Sight team and I are very excited to welcome our new board and to working with them in the years ahead to further our mission of bringing eyecare to those who are in need.”

Optometry Giving Sight is a global fundraising initiative that specifically targets the prevention of blindness and impaired vision due to uncorrected refractive error—simply the need for an eye exam and a pair of glasses. More than 1.2 billion people around the world are blind or vision impaired because they do not have access to an eye exam and the glasses they need. Donations enable Optometry Giving Sight to fund the solution by supporting programs that train local eyecare professionals, establish vision centers for sustainability, and deliver eyecare and low-cost glasses.