Unite for Sight is a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

founded in 2000 by Jennifer Staple-Clark specializing in

healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

delivery to communities around the world. The organization invests human and financial resources in local eye clinics in Ghana, Honduras, and India to eliminate patient barriers to care. As of January 2017, Unite for Sight has assisted more than 2.4 million people worldwide and provided over 97,000 vision-restoring surgeries.

Volunteer abroad program

The Global Impact Corps is a

volunteer Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...

abroad program that places students and professionals with Unite For Sight's local eye

clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...

partners. After completing

global health Global health is the health of populations in a worldwide context; it has been defined as "the area of study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide". Problems th ...

training, Global Impact Fellows travel to one of three country locations to support local clinicians as they deliver eye care to patients living in extreme

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

. Global Impact Fellows can also work with Unite For Sight to design and implement a global health research study via the Global Impact Lab. Primarily students, these research volunteers work with Unite For Sight, the partner eye clinic, and a university mentor to develop a research question and methods; they also are required to receive

Institutional Review Board An institutional review board (IRB), also known as an independent ethics committee (IEC), ethical review board (ERB), or research ethics board (REB), is a committee at an institution that applies research ethics by reviewing the methods proposed ...

(IRB) approval from their institution. Global Impact Fellows complete a Certificate in Global Health Research, preparing them for the challenges of conducting research in the developing world. Many Fellows go on to share their findings in academic journals or at research conferences. In

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, volunteers have the option of participating in

Dhenkanal Dhenkanal is a town and a municipality in Dhenkanal district in the state of Odisha, India. Geography Dhenkanal is at . It has an average elevation of 80 metres (262 feet). Demographics As per the 2011 India census, Dhenkanal had a p ...

(Orissa), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), or in

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

(Bihar). In Dhenkanal, Global Impact Fellows partake in NGO management programs while learning about sustainable healthcare at Kalinga Eye Hospital and Research Centre (KEHRC), which was founded by

social entrepreneur Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, Startup company, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to ...

Sarang Samal and provides

to the 7 million people residing in the seven

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

of central

Orissa Odisha (), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is a state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the thir ...

. In Chennai, Fellows join the Pranav Foundation, founded by ophthalmologists Dr. Senthil and Dr. N Malathi, in providing eye care outreach programs to remote communities. In

, Fellows work alongside cataract and glaucoma specialist Dr. Satyajit Sinha,

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

Dr. Ajit Sinha, and retina specialist Dr. Pooja Sinha at the A.B. Eye Institute and outreach clinics to deliver free eye care; they also have the opportunity to visit Bihar Netraheen Parishad, the only school in Bihar exclusively for blind girls. Unite For Sight's program in Ghana includes three eye clinics in Accra and two in Kumasi. One-week volunteers travel to Crystal Eye Clinic to assist Dr. James Clarke and clinic staff in conducting village eye care outreach programs. Global Impact Fellows staying for more than a week rotate between multiple clinics and have the opportunity to participate in long-distance or overnight outreach programs. In Tegucigalpa,

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

, Global Impact Fellows accompany Centro de Salud Integral Zoe staff, on outreach trips to remote villages up to three hours outside of the city, helping to provide eye exams, glasses, and medication to over 100 patients a day. In August 2012, Unite For Sight established a partnership with Global Eyeglasses, an online eyeglasses retailer, to obtain 50 new pairs of prescription glasses each month for use in their eye clinics around the world.

Global Health University

Global Health University (GHU) is an online compendium of educational resources for students and professionals involved in global health. It consists of certificate programs, free webinars led by experts in their respective fields, and consulting for non-profit and for-profit social ventures. Cultural competency, social entrepreneurship, research, monitoring evaluation, and program development & management are among the many topics covered by GHU programming. Unite For Sight also offers internship opportunities for current students and recent graduates.

Global Health and Innovation Conference

Since 2003, Unite For Sight has hosted the annual Global Health & Innovation Conference (GHIC), the world's leading and largest global health conference that brings together professionals and students from across the country and around the world. In addition to lectures and workshops featuring leaders in global health, development, and social enterprise, the conference provides ambitious students with an opportunity to present their research and receive feedback. Starting in 2015, GHIC has featured an Innovation Prize that awards $10,000 and $5,000 cash prizes to two social impact pitches presented at the conference.

Social Entrepreneurship Institute

Since 2012, Unite For Sight has offered an annual Social Entrepreneurship Institute with interactive sessions to provide participants with mentoring and guidance applicable to ventures in global health, social entrepreneurship, international development, and education.

Global Health Societies

Unite For Sight's Global Health Societies are student organizations at North American high schools and universities. Members educate their peers on best practices in global health and help to support Unite For Sight's eye clinics via campus fundraising events. Society officers receive leadership training and have the opportunity to complete a Certificate in Student Leadership through Unite For Sight's Global Health University; they can also receive a Certificate in Global Health Innovation by participating in at least five of Unite For Sight's free webinars during the academic year.{{cite web, title=Unite For Sight Global Health Society, url=http://www.uniteforsight.org/global-health-society, website=Unite For Sight, access-date=27 January 2017

References

External links

Official webpage
Non-profit organizations based in Connecticut Organizations established in 2000 501(c)(3) organizations