Author: Corinne Waldon

July 21, 2026 

Renowned Costa Rican optometrist and myopia management pioneer brings nearly five decades of industry leadership to the global vision care organization

Optometry Giving Sight (OGS) is pleased to announce the appointment of Javier Prada-López, OD, to its Board of Directors. A trailblazer in contact lens specialization, myopia management, and optical industry development across Latin America, Dr. Prada-López brings more than 47 years of experience spanning clinical practice, education, manufacturing, and executive leadership.

Dr. Prada-López is the founder of CEOM (Centro de especialidades Oculares y manejo de Miopía) in Costa Rica and currently serves as president of the Latin American Academy of Ortho K and Myopia Control, a role he has held since 2024. He is also a fellow of the International Academy of Ortho K and Myopia Control (FIAOMC) and a member of the Board of the International Academy of Ortho K and Myopia Control (IAOMC).

A graduate of the University of Costa Rica with a Bachelor’s degree in Optometry and Optics, Dr. Prada-López went on to complete specialized training in contact lenses in 1983, followed by fellowships in Fort Lauderdale and London in 1983 and 1984 respectively. His clinical expertise in contact lenses and the treatment of refractive errors spans more than four decades, with a particular focus on myopia prevalence and management over the past 14 years.

Beyond clinical practice, Dr. Prada-López has played a defining role in shaping the optical industry across Central America. He served as director of Grupo Visión — a chain of optical clinics with 140 locations in Costa Rica and 16 in Nicaragua — for nearly five decades, and was instrumental in developing the first optical laboratory in Costa Rica based on the Essilor philosophy in 1984. He has also served as president of DIOPSA, a distributor of optical, ophthalmological, and pharmaceutical products, since 1984, and as president of VisionLab, a digital laboratory of specialized contact lenses, since 2012.

His commitment to optometry education is equally distinguished. Dr. Prada-López served as director of the Ophthalmology Postgraduate Program at the University of Costa Rica from 1996 to 2016, and has been a lifelong advocate for advancing the profession throughout Latin America.

“We are thrilled to welcome Javier to the OGS Board,” said Juan Carlos Aragón, co-chair of the Optometry Giving Sight Board of Directors. “His depth of experience across every dimension of the optical industry, combined with his leadership in myopia management and his deep roots in Latin America, make him an extraordinary addition to our team. We look forward to the perspective and expertise he will bring to our mission.”

“Throughout my career, I have seen firsthand the ways in which access to primary eye care can change the trajectory of a life. Optometry Giving Sight is doing the essential work of ensuring that access is not a privilege, but a right. I look forward to supporting that mission in every way I can,” said Dr. Prada-López.

Optometry Giving Sight (OGS) raises funds from the optometric community to support programs that end preventable blindness and vision impairment worldwide. By offering immediate eye care and building the sustainable infrastructure needed to expand permanent access, OGS empowers communities to thrive. Over the last 20 years, OGS funding has provided primary eye care services to more than 15 million people, assisted in training over 14,000 professionals, and established more than 200 vision centers in over 70 countries.

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Media Contact:
Emma Alvarez Gibson
Director of Marketing and Communications
Optometry Giving Sight
emma.alvarezgibson@givingsight.org

A Megaphone for the Mission:

When OGS has something to say to the optometry profession, Jobson Optical Group makes sure the profession hears it.

As the company behind some of the most trusted names in eye care media — including 20/20, Vision Monday, Vmail, Review of Optometry, Women in Optometry, Review of Myopia Management, AI in Eye Care, and Review of Optometric Business — Jobson reaches eye care professionals through the publications they already read and rely on every day.

Through a generous in-kind partnership, Jobson helps OGS stay top-of-mind across this distinguished network, fostering an ongoing presence in the publications optometrists read every day. They keep the OGS mission visible, timely, and connected to the people doing the work on the ground.

“The work of OGS is critical to bringing quality vision care to underserved communities throughout the world,” said Tom Lamond, President, Jobson Optical Group.“We’re incredibly proud and humbled to support their mission and be a part of bringing vision care to those who otherwise might go without.”

We’re deeply grateful to Jobson Optical Group for helping OGS reach the community whose generosity changes lives around the world.

Twenty Years of Showing Up

Some partnerships are built in a single dramatic moment. This one was built over nearly twenty years of steady support from Oxford Eye Clinic. When we reached out for a quote, the team at Oxford Eye Clinic gave us far more than we expected — a heartfelt reflection on exactly why this work matters to them.

“At Oxford Eye Clinic, we see every day how much good vision impacts someone’s life, from a child being able to see the board at school to a grandparent driving safely again. That’s why our doctors are proud to support Optometry Giving Sight,” the practice shared.

“Good vision changes lives, and we believe eye care should be accessible to everyone, not just those who can afford it,” said Dr. William Strickland.

That belief extends well beyond their own patient base. Each year, the doctors at Oxford Eye Clinic participate in mission work in Honduras, providing care directly to communities with little access to vision services — an experience that brings their support of OGS full circle.

“We’re grateful to be part of a profession that helps people not only here at home, but around the world too,” said Dr. Ryan Wally.

We’re equally grateful for partners like Oxford Eye Clinic, whose long-standing commitment reminds us that meaningful impact is often built one year, one gift, and one mission trip at a time.

Each year, donations to Optometry Giving Sight (OGS) enable us to fund projects globally that provide immediate eyecare to those in need today, and expand optometry so vision care is available for years to come.

Building the Optometry Schools That Will Outlast Us

We’re sharing updates from five very different projects with a single throughline: the establishment and strengthening of optometry schools themselves. Spanning Nigeria, Nepal, Vietnam, and a network of Francophone countries, these stories showcase the deliberate work of building academic institutions capable of producing optometrists long after any single grant ends.

In Vietnam, the undergraduate Bachelor of Optometry program at Hanoi Medical University — supported by the Brien Holden Foundation with OGS funding — achieved formal government accreditation, establishing optometry as a recognized academic discipline for the first time in the country’s history. That accreditation has already opened the door to a new Master’s program, and it dovetails directly with a separate achievement: the Vietnamese government’s approval of an Optometrist Job Code, supported by OGS alongside our grantee partners, which allows locally trained optometrists to legally practice alongside ophthalmologists. In effect, Vietnam now has a fully recognized optometry profession built from the ground up.

The Université de Montréal/Unité de santé internationale is tackling a related but earlier-stage challenge: building optometry education from the ground up across several Francophone countries. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a formal partnership agreement with HONU University is now signed, equipment has been delivered, and local lecturers received their first hands-on training in how to teach clinical procedures themselves. In Mali, a new director at the Institut Ophtalmologique Tropicale d’Afrique has renewed conversations about launching a Master’s program. Even in Lebanon, where geopolitical instability has paused in-person visits indefinitely, the work of building toward formal governmental recognition continues online.

Despite extraordinary circumstances, Université de Montréal/Unité de santé internationale also continues to make progress in support of the UEH School of Optometry in Haiti. Port-au-Prince remains in a state of armed conflict and institutional instability, yet the first semester of 2026 launched on schedule in February, with both external and local faculty delivering courses remotely. The final students from the 2018–2023 cohorts have begun their clinical internships at the Cathy Pearson and Fortune Previl Memorial Clinic, and discussions are underway to formally accredit a residency program there — a pathway designed to transition graduates into faculty roles at the UEH School of Optometry, building long-term teaching capacity from within.

In Nepal, the Nepal Optometry Students Society is laying a different type of foundational groundwork: a functioning optical lab. Sourcing instruments internationally has meant navigating shipping delays and import hurdles most schools never have to think about. But the lab being built will give Nepali optometry students practical training they’ve never had access to before.

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, OPTOGLOBE is approaching the same issue from the student side. Faced with a smaller grant than requested, the Equipping the Future initiative pivoted toward gathering hard data on the barriers that optometry students worldwide face in accessing the clinical instruments their education depends on. That evidence — now live on a public dashboard — is already informing advocacy efforts and earning international attention, including an invitation to present at the IAPB meeting in Nairobi.

The work continues, across different countries and different stages of development, united by the belief that a profession is only as strong as the schools that train it. This is the kind of investment OGS is proud to stand behind.

PECAA has been a committed partner of Optometry Giving Sight since 2017, and in that time, they’ve found a way to make global giving a natural extension of what their members already do.

Their Growing Through Giving program makes charitable giving remarkably simple: members donate 5% or more of their IncentivEYES® rebate checks to OGS, and PECAA matches the first $20,000 in donations each year. For the average member, that’s roughly $1,250 annually, redirected from rebate income they’re already earning, toward communities that have never had access to basic eye care.

The program also doubles as a practice-builder. Participating members receive a full digital marketing toolkit — social media images, website banners, waiting room video, and a templated patient email — making it easy to share their generosity with the patients who inspire it.

“Professional Eye Care Associates of America’s (PECAA) Growing Through Giving program gives the organization’s member doctors an easy way to support charitable projects within the optical community, while promoting good works within the practice. In collaboration with Optometry Giving Sight, this program harnesses the charitable giving power of the PECAA community and provides a simple and effective method to grow practices through cause-related marketing and branding,” says Jonathan Worrall, PECAA president.

“The goal of Growing Through Giving is to raise funds to support Optometry Giving Sight’s mission to end preventable blindness and vision impairment through the establishment of optometry-based, long-term solutions around the world. PECAA members who participate receive a Tax-Deductible donation receipt from OGS annually. To date, PECAA Max members have donated more than $1M to Optometry Giving Sight,” Worrall adds.

We are grateful to PECAA for their long-standing commitment to OGS and for making global giving an effortless part of everyday practice life.

For two decades, Dr. Tom Wilk, Dr. Michele Naruszewicz, and the entire team at Mountain View Optometry have shown up for the World Sight Day Challenge, year after year, without fail. Since 2006, they’ve raised more than $93,000 for sustainable vision care around the world. More than donations, they’ve built a legacy.

And they didn’t slow down in 2025, even with a major clinic renovation underway. Instead of pulling back, they leaned in, launching an online fundraiser and extending their momentum through the holiday season with a “12 Days of Giving” campaign that was as creative as it was effective. Through emails, social media, newsletters, and in-office outreach, they inspired 30 online donors and rallied their community around something bigger than themselves. Combined with a generous practice donation, Mountain View Optometry raised more than $6,400 in 2025 alone.

“Since we began practicing more than 25 years ago, we have been proud supporters of Optometry Giving Sight. Their simple message of addressing preventable blindness worldwide resonates with our staff and patients during the annual World Sight Day fundraisers. OGS’s dedication aligns with our values of compassionate care and giving back to communities in need.” – Dr. Tom Wilk

Dr. Wilk’s commitment to OGS goes beyond the fundraiser. He’s also a former member of our Board of Directors, where his leadership left a lasting mark on the organization.

To Dr. Wilk, Dr. Naruszewicz, and the whole Mountain View team: thank you. You are exactly the kind of partners who make this mission possible.

Optometry Education Around the World

Grantees: VOSH California, Charis Vision and Health Mission, Canadian Vision Care, University of Cape Coast

Every donation to Optometry Giving Sight funds two kinds of impact: the patient who receives an exam or a pair of glasses today, and the optometrist who will provide that care for decades to come. Many of our funded projects include an education component — here’s a closer look at four whose training work is particularly central to their mission.

VOSH California — Nicaragua
VOSH California has been foundational to the development of optometry in Nicaragua, helping to establish the country’s first optometry school at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN). An OGS grant is now funding a Specialty Contact Lens Clinic within the Visionary Clinic in Managua, providing hands-on training to UNAN students and graduates in scleral and rigid gas-permeable contact lens fitting — services previously unavailable in the country — while delivering affordable, advanced care to patients who need it most.

Canadian Vision Care — Philippines
For more than 12 years, Canadian Vision Care’s Eye Train project has delivered eye care from two converted railway cars in Manila — a permanent, locally managed clinic that has served over 120,000 patients and now functions as a clinical training site for Filipino optometry students. An OGS grant is helping to expand the clinic’s capacity and deepen its outreach, including immersive learning experiences when Canadian optometry teams visit each year.

University of Cape Coast — Ghana
OGS awarded a grant to UCC’s School of Optometry and Vision Science to launch Opto-SCOPE, a program that embeds mobile eye care units within Ghana’s existing community health compounds in the Central Region. Final-year optometry students gain hands-on clinical experience through the program while bringing vision services to rural communities that currently have none — a model designed to be replicated and sustained well into the future.

Charis Vision and Health Mission — Nigeria
In partnership with Arthur Jarvis University in Akpabuyo, Cross River State, OGS helped fund a state-of-the-art optometry clinic — one now reported to house diagnostic equipment not available in many Nigerian teaching hospitals. The clinic serves the surrounding community while giving optometry students hands-on clinical training. Late last year, the facility was formally commissioned in a ceremony that also celebrated the induction of seven new Doctors of Optometry.

By investing in this life-changing work, we are helping to build a future where quality eye care is not a one-time gift, but a lasting, local reality that the community owns and sustains. Your donations make a difference now and into the future.