Opening Your Eyes: The Vision Council Scholarship Fund Selects Seven Recipients

07/26/2021

The Vision Council today announces that the selection committee for Opening Your Eyes: The Vision Council's Scholarship Fund has chosen the first round of scholarship recipients. Seven recipients were selected and notified this month. Opening Your Eyes: The Vision Council's Scholarship Fund is intended to provide financial assistance and career guidance to high school seniors and recent high school graduates from marginalized communities who show an interest in the eyecare and optical industry.

The scholarship fund will support selected students through monetary scholarships to opticianry school, paid internships and mentorships. The intent of the program is to launch a far-reaching effort that can expand to other segments of the industry.

The first round scholarship recipients include:

Genesis Opokularbi
Jaedon-King Fletcher
Aaron Nyambe
Melissa Bottex
JonChris Valerio
Anastacia Paul
Diya Folia

Application Deadline Extended Until August 20

Additionally, in an effort to give more students the opportunity to participate in the program, the online application has been extended for two additional rounds. Round two closes on Monday, August 2 and the final, third round closes on Friday, August 20. Round two applicants will be notified by Monday, August 9 and round three applicants will be notified by Friday, August 27.

To view the application, click here.

Scholarship Program Supporters

To-date, more than $330,000 has been pledged towards Opening Your Eyes: The Vision Council's Scholarship Fund. Supporters include:

EssilorLuxottica: $100,000
National Vision, Inc.: $90,000
Luxury Optical Holdings: $83,837.68
CooperVision: $10,000
The Vision Council and RX: $10,000
Europa Eyewear: $7,000
DeRigo REM: $5,000
MyEyeDr.: $5,000
MODO Eyewear: $3,000
Jobson: $1,000
Eschenbach Optik: $1,000
Opticians Association of America: $1,000

Additionally, more than $25,000 has been donated by independent retailers, individual donors, and auction bids from a virtual auction held in January 2021.

More About the Scholarship Fund

For scholarships for the 2021–2022 school year, eligible students must be interested in pursuing an Associates Degree in Ophthalmic Dispensing from either Georgia Piedmont Technical College or New York City Technical College. Scholarships will cover tuition and fees, and $250 allowance per semester for books and supplies. Scholarships are renewable each semester upon successful completion of all course work and internship/mentorship requirements.

The scholarship fund does not include admittance to the colleges; students must apply separately to the ophthalmic dispensing programs.

Please direct any questions to Ashley Mills, CEO of The Vision Council.