About us
Our story
The VCF was co-founded by Professor Andrew Bastawrous, CEO of Peek Vision, an eye health technology social enterprise and Dr Astrid Bonfield, former Chief Executive of The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, which invested over £100m in avoidable blindness.
The VCF builds on the legacy of The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, Standard Chartered Bank’s Seeing is Believing, and Essilor’s See Change campaign bringing together founding partners EssilorLuxottica, Standard Chartered and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness as well as with seed funding from UBS Optimus Foundation and James Chen. EYElliance joined the VCF as an anchor partner focused on the lens donation initiative.
Our approach
Funding programmes
We help create and fund catalytic programmes and partnerships at scale, acting on opportunities for sometimes overlooked efficiencies and collaboration.
We support efforts for all eye health conditions, across geographies working on health systems change, market shaping and multi-sector collaboration at scale.
We are committed to programmes that are outcomes focused and have a pathway to exit, either to the private sector and/or government.
Raising capital
We are raising more and new capital for eye health. We are integrating with cross-cutting issue areas and engaging funders from new sectors.
We are committed to the potential of alternative finance to meet the funding needs of eye health.
How we are building a global fund for vision
Our vision
An organisation to raise significant capital for eye health
We set out to raise $1 billion in catalytic funds using alternative finance, engaging funders from other sectors, and integrating eye health with issues such as education and employment.
A significant funder for vision for eye health diseases
We have developed a credible decision-making body with an inclusive and neutral governance structure, enabling us to create and support catalytic eye health programmes across lower and middle income countries.
A focus on collaboration
We will bring together NGOs, the private sector and the government to create sustainable and equitable programmes.
An accountable and transparent funder
We will work closely with partners to measure results, as well as share open-source evidence and insights about what works and what we are learning.
Board of Trustees
HEAD OF SUSTAINABLE FINANCE AT STANDARD CHARTERED
FORMER AMBASSADOR AND CHARITY DIRECTOR
CO-FOUNDER OF EYELLIANCE AND FOUNDER OF VISIONSPRING
CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF PEEK VISION
FINANCIAL PROFESSIONAL, PUBLIC SPEAKER AND DISABILITY ADVOCATE
Global Ambassadors
FORMER VICE-CHAIRMAN OF ESSILORLUXOTTICA
SENIOR ADVISOR AND BOARD MEMBER
FORMER CHIEF MISSION OFFICER OF ESSILOR
Programmes Expert Committee
Professor Matthew Burton (Chair)
DIRECTOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR EYE HEALTH AT THE LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE AND TROPICAL MEDICINE
Dr Fatima Kyari
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF OPHTHALMIC EPIDEMIOLOGY AT THE INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR EYE HEALTH
Malcolm Spence
INVESTMENT DIRECTOR AT THE GLOBAL INNOVATION FUND
Professor Kovin Naidoo
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT SOCIAL IMPACT FOR AFRICA & LATAM AND ADVOCACY AT ESSILOR INTERNATIONAL
Eleanor Fuller
TRUSTEE OF THE VISION CATALYST FUND
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(1) Photo submitted by William Shepard for Deepanjali Chopra courtesy of the IAPB #LoveYourEyes Photo Competition on World Sight Day 2021.
(2) Photo courtesy of EssilorLuxottica.
(3) Photo courtesy of RestoringVision.
(4) Photo courtesy of Peek Vision.
(5)Photo courtesy of EssilorLuxottica.
(6) Photo courtesy of EssilorLuxottica.
(7) Photo courtesy of EssilorLuxottica.
(8) Photo by Nancy Mariana Chaclán Delgado courtesy of the IAPB World Sight Day Photo Competition.