Kate and Lauren Represent Seva at SPECS 2030 in Geneva

In low- and middle-income countries, refractive error is the leading cause of vision impairment in both kids and adults. As part of Seva’s ongoing mission to end avoidable blindness, This July, Lauren Jesudason and Kate Moynihan joined more than 30 organizations from around the world at the launch of the World Health Organization SPECS 2030 in Geneva, Switzerland. 

SPECS stands for the Service, Personnel, Education, Cost, and Surveillance necessary to close the gap on refractive error coverage. 

The goal for WHO SPECS 2030 is to expand effective refractive error coverage amongst the first two segments, ideally resulting in a smaller segment of untreated individuals.

Imagine you had 100 people with a vision impairment. Only 36 of those individuals will receive the medical care and treatment they need to properly regain their sight. Eight people will receive some sort of medical care and treatment, but oftentimes not enough to regain their full vision. Think getting the glasses with the wrong prescription. The last segment, which represents over half the total group (54 people), will receive no medical care or treatment for their vision impairment.

The SPECS network is composed of various nonprofits, manufacturers, and organizations with a common vision to promote refractive error coverage advocacy. This includes conducting awareness campaigns, developing briefing papers demonstrating the link between things such as refractive error education outcomes for children, and conducting research to illustrate the case for action.

Seva will participate in awareness and workforce workstreams to amplify our mission on a global stage. But our work continues on the front lines day after day, helping patients in underserved and remote regions regain their sight.

Suzanne Gilbert Training Academy Established

As Senior Director of Research and Strategic Opportunities, Suzanne Gilbert led Seva's efforts to bring good science and research to the work she supported for over 47 years. Suzanne’s legacy of commitment to teaching and innovating local communities through training for excellence has been pivotal in the expansion of eye care systems now spanning the globe.

To honor her legacy, Seva has established the Suzanne Gilbert Global Training Academy to carry out the work Suzanne has been committed to for over 47 years: training local talent to build the capacity of every community and expand access to eye care - at every level. We can think of no better way to honor our beloved Dr. Gilbert, then by naming a training institute after the legend herself.

The Academy encompasses all of Seva’s training programs and will train upwards of 25,000 individuals in the next  5 years (and more, beyond the five) to serve as community promoters in eye care, doctors, allied personnel and administrators. Suzanne’s impact will continue in perpetuity.

New Children’s Eye Health Initiative Takes Shape in India

Providing quality refraction services on a continued basis is a challenge as it requires a dedicated team and continuous monitoring and follow-up. This project aims to focus on the need for refractive error services for children in the Drishti Sehi Duniya area of India via Vision Centres (VCs) and the base hospital. The proposed project will strengthen VCs, and teams will be based at VCs. 

On the day of examination at VCs, each child will undergo a complete eye check-up.  A prescription will be provided, and children can choose trendy frames. The delivery date will be three days from the refraction. Annual follow-up visits ensure that children requiring a new or changed prescription are covered, giving all children regular opportunities for eye checks.

The Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) project employs a comprehensive approach to address the needs of premature infants in NICUs across Coochbihar, Darjeeling, and Jalpaiguri districts. Key components of the project include:

• Utilization of ROP fundus cameras and telemedicine services in level 3 and level 2 NICUs. 

• Deployment of a trained technical team. Assessment of ROP severity and determination of necessary treatments.

• Provision of laser therapy, injections, and vitrectomy treatments to infants diagnosed with severe ROP. Referral of identified cases to base hospitals for medical, surgical, and rehabilitative services.

• Training of 350 nurses and pediatricians in local NICUs on ROP identification and management protocols.Organization of quarterly Continuing Medical Education (CME) sessions for local pediatricians, neonatal care specialists, and gynecologists to enhance awareness and expertise in early ROP detection and preventive care.

Social Media Takes Off

The final quarter of FY 23-24 was a strong close for Seva’s social media presence. To start, in recognition of Mother’s Day the #SeeTheLove campaign was launched in collaboration with four eye care social media influencers, each producing an original video in conjunction with the campaign’s holiday theme. Collectively the videos drove over 35,000 views and were met with unanimously positive follower feedback.

We also leveraged a few on-location events, utilizing those moments as storytelling opportunities. This includes Seva’s trip to Geneva for the WHO SPECS 2030 launch, presence at IAPB’s In Sight Live 2030 in Mexico City, and our participation at Dead Forever’s Participation Row in the Las Vegas Sphere, all of which cumulatively drove over 135,000 video views.

Seva’s LinkedIn page increased follower count by 58% year-over-year, while Seva’s Instagram account increased follower count by 89% year-over-year. This was in addition to driving over 1.2M Facebook impressions (+30% over FY goal) and 40M Instagram impressions (+300% over FY goal) during that same timeframe.   

The view from Ohana Room at San Francisco’s SalesForce Tower is crazy; a 360 panorama of one of the most beautiful cities in the world and its outlying environs. It was apt, then, that this was the location for what turned out to be a double celebration in November 2023. Because what else is crazy, in 1980 terms, is the idea of conducting a blindness survey in Nepal, a country of multi multis: cultural, lingual, racial, geographical. Conducted by a diverse and passionate team, it revealed cataract as the primary cause of preventable blindness and still stands today as a landmark in research. Click here or on the image to the left to view a new version of the study, with a foreword by Seva CEO and Executive Director Kate Moynihan.

The Eyes of the World event observed the 40th anniversary of the Nepal Blindness Survey, but in the course of planning the event, there was news. A new Seva Foundation research paper conducted by a Harvard economist and published that month in the WHO Bulletin concluded that every dollar invested in eye health returns $36 in benefits across society, on par with other ‘Best Buys’ in international development. The implications of that number are remarkable: approximately $10 can provide one person with good vision for one year. Solutions such as glasses or cataract surgery are feasible and proven. No policy or behavior shift is needed. 

To uncover this finding, a team of researchers first conducted a systematic review, identifying all peer-reviewed studies published since 2001 that estimated productivity, learning and welfare impacts from correcting refractive error and cataract. Using benefit-cost analysis, the report meticulously and transparently quantifies the return on investment of 21 identified studies across 10 low-and-middle-income countries. With a median return of $36 for every $1 invested the paper presents an unequivocal case for action on eye health. Correcting visual impairment leads to plausibly large improvements in productivity, learning and household income. In contrast, the costs of correcting visual impairment are modest, typically less than $10 per year of improved vision. The technologies to correct vision – glasses and cataract surgery – are proven with demonstrated effectiveness in low-and-middle-income country contexts.

Click here or on the image at left to read more about this study.

Evidence Informed Practice Workshop

All eight partner eye hospital teams working with the Indian Institute of Public Health-Hyderabad and Seva designed and completed several rapid improvement cycles focused on issues each had prioritized. Two deliverables from the workshop have been initiated: the evaluation including results of the mini-improvement projects and a manuscript for journal publication.

Seva Wins Anthem Award

In January, Seva CEO Kate Moynihan and Dr. Suzanne Gilbert, Sr. Director of Research and Opportunities, were recognized in the categories of Health, Product and Service for the Pristine 5.0 camera (formerly Vistaro). Launched in 2021 by the Webby Awards, the Anthem Awards recognize mission-driven companies and organizations worldwide.

“The Pristine 5.0 camera is the physical embodiment of our ethics and what we work for: it’s high-tech yet pretty easy to use,” said CEO Kate Moynihan. “It’s efficient and at the same time powerful. It’s equitable in that it makes eye care, including diagnosing potentially life-threatening eye infections, available to everyone. It’s a textbook example of art and science meeting compassion to make great things happen.”

The winter appeal campaign closed over goal by more than $97,000. The $250,000 matching gift offer raised in total $597,000 in support of seven vision centers in Bangladesh.

Development closed out the fiscal year almost 40% over budget (goal was $7.46million, ended with over $11.7m in revenue)

Fiscal Year closed ahead of target revenue!

Seva's FY year closed ahead of the target revenue. The books aren't closed, but we are already at $9.5+M in revenue as of this writing. Our goal was $9.0M. We expect the final total from Finance any day.

New grants received

Seva received two large grants in July. L'Occitane, the French company, granted a $356,000 grant for work in Ukraine to be spent over three years on the ROP and AIDS initiatives.

Another large gift was received by a Leadership Donor for $111,100. Spread out over two years, the gift will support VMANNN's Corneal Blindness program. This program was supported in its inception by Dr. Dick LItwin and Judith Litwin.

Donor trips to celebrate World Sight Day

Seva is planning two donor trips to celebrate World Sight Day. Kate will take the Jackson Kemper family to Guatemala over WSD. Julie will travel to Nepal with Lisa Laird, and we hope to have the MODO team along as well. MODO is in the second year of a three-year campaign to fund seven vision centers in Nepal and seven in India.

Updates from Cambodia

Seva provided replacement of cataract instruments to Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Pursat, Kampot eye units, Siem Reap Regional Eye Hospital and Takeo Eye Hospital.

Supported to have Reverse Osmosis (RO) Water System in Banteay Meanchey and Pursat eye units, Angkor Hospital for Children, and Caritas-Takeo Eye Hospital for quality improvement in eye care.

Printed and provided medical emergency posters with frames to partner eye units/hospitals (Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Pursat and Kampot eye units, Siem Reap Regional Eye Hospital and Takeo Eye Hospital). These posters will be helpful for staff to follow the procedures in case of emergency.

Conversations with Kate: Big Dreams Start Small

On our latest session of Conversations with Kate, the remarkable Rebecca Giefer, CEO of MODO Americas joined me to share with our audiences how we deliver world class pediatric care around the world and the impact we’ve had in the past few years. You can view the recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Np-AjvTQWM

Programs Operations Team met at the Seva office in June + more updates

 Seva brought the Program Ops team to Berkeley in June to meet for the first time since 2019. They focused on program planning for the coming fiscal year

Lavelle Fund for the Blind awarded Seva $1M to establish a Regional Training Center in support of Guatemala Brillando

Katie McMillan began working with Seva as the Technical Product Manager. She will take a lead role propelling our technology driver forward

IAPB organized its annual meeting in Singapore. Arun, Brad, Chundak, Jerry, and Suzanne presented Seva's work at various sessions

Updates from Nepal

This year’s target was to reach 3250 volunteers. Our partners have been successful in reaching 3605 Femal Community Health Volunteers, teachers and mothers’ groups.  This last quarter alone, partners reached 2622 volunteers. 4 Vision Centers became operational this quarter.

Updates from India on training

April: 37 Dr and AOPs (9 Women) from 10 Hospitals (India and Nepal) completed 5-day Eyexcel to help trainers train young trainees who deliver quality eye care services in underserved communities

May: 68 Dr, Admin and AOPs (25 Women) from 14 Hospitals in Nepal completed Eyexcel, Quality and Management Development workshop to deliver high-quality eye care in Seva partner hospitals

June: 35 Dr, Admin, AOPs (13 Women) from 12 Hospitals across India, Nepal and Cambodia completed the Observe-Understand-Change Workshop to improve Quality and Safety systems

Observe, Understand, and Change

Observe, Understand, and Change is a training program conducted twice a year, sponsored by Seva Foundation in partnership with Zamindar Microsurgical Eye Center, Bangalore, India. In June 2023, the third batch of participants (about 40) from three countries (India, Nepal and Cambodia) observed the standard operating procedures implemented at the center, followed by a group discussion. Participants then shared the current practices at their respective centers and presented the desired changes for improvement to maintain minimum standards for patient safety. The following video clip shows the program.

Seva co-sponsors International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness 2030

InSight Live Singapore

Seva had a strong presence at this in-person and virtual meeting convened during June 25 and 26 at the Singapore Eye Research Institute. In person talks were given by Seva consultant Dr. Jerry Vincent on fragile communities “From Crisis to Action” (with focus on Rohingya community) with commentary by Chundak Tenzing and Suzanne Gilbert on Technology for Access to Services (presented on the Vistaro IR retinal camera). Virtual presentations were given by Seva’s Arun Acharya and Dhivya Ramasamy to the IAPB Human Resources group and by Radhika Krishnan to the Diabetes Retinopathy working group, and by Consultant Brad Wong during a session on eye care financing. The newly formed Indigenous Peoples Special Interest Group met in Singapore with Seva’s Jennifer Leo joining virtually. The meeting was attending by 350 participants from over 40 countries.

Suzanne and Chundak note the value of getting to connect with representatives from more than a dozen Seva partner institutions while catching up in general on what is happening with WHO, Ministries of Health, and other eye care NGOs.

Something good for a change

The clown prince of counter culture celebrated his birthday with 900 people! Wavy Gravy’s birthday concert benefitting Seva was a good old-fashioned lovefest, brimming with soul. And bubbles.
Wavy and his wife Jahanra took the show in from the front row; Dr. Larry Brilliant emceed.

Musician friends including Steve Earle, Maria Muldaur, and special guest Taj Mahal kept things jumping, video greetings and anecdotes from a slew of Seva stalwarts played between acts.”He brings people together,” said Bonnie Raitt in her video, “He’s the Pied Piper of our generation.”

Budget Process FY 23-24

The budget process allows for all learning and communication styles. The four-month robust budgeting process is complete with: pre-reading, committee review, in person exchange, rolling questions, and synthesis of all the information in comprehensive budget notes all aimed at helping the board fully engage with and understand the work of Seva Foundation staff & partners. See key dates and other information here.

Conversations with Kate

Seva’s homecoming: It all began in Nepal

Seva continues to make enormous strides in bringing vital eye care to the doorsteps of Nepali communities. To spearhead the next chapter of our impact in this region, we recently welcomed our new Country Director Dr. Binita Sharma.

I invite you to meet her! Please join this special Conversations with Kate on 3-30-23 that we are calling: It All Began in Nepal. Click here to Register.

Register today to attend live on
March 30 at 5 PM PT (8 PM ET) and/or
watch the recording at your convenience.

Financing 2 Eye Care Articles

Given there is limited high-quality data for global economic estimates in eye health, particularly for low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), two years ago Seva started an initiative to bring the spotlight on the ‘cost of community and primary care in the eye health’ and ‘The economic and social costs of visual impairment and blindness’ with the aim to generate the firsthand evidence. As an outcome of these efforts led by Seva, two separate studies have been published by leading peer-reviewed journals.

- ‘The economic and social costs of visual impairment and blindness in India’ published by the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology

- ‘Strategies for cataract and uncorrected refractive error case finding in India: Costs and cost- effectiveness at scale’ published by The Lancet Regional Health - Southeast Asia – This is one of its kind study (in terms of scale and geography) to highlight the evidence on major eye health interventions championed by leading Seva partners (including Vision centers, School eye screening, eye camps, and door-to-door screening.)

Seva Foundation received 4 National Awards

Seva Foundation received 4 national awards from the Government of Cambodia, signed by the King and the Prime Minister. These Awards were conferred in recognition to Seva’s contributions in Eye-Care Services since 1999. It also recognized Seva’s special contributions in recently promulgated National Strategic Plan for Blindness Prevention and Control (NSP-BPC 2021-2030) and the Provincial Roadmap on Blindness Prevention and Control 2021-2030.

Eyeglasses for Everyone

Seva joins Aurolab for strategic planning on affordable, quality eyeglass lenses

Aurolab inaugurated its Optical division, thus underscoring the commitment to quality, affordable eyeglasses. David Green and Suzanne Gilbert conducted a learning saloon on Opticals with the Board. Seva consultant reports are contributing to business planning and selection of manufacturing technologies. With Seva involvement, Aurolab has hired additional staff to head up Opticals sales & marketing. WHO and major global eyeglass providers are following this Opticals project with interest. 

SEVA AT THE UN DURING WORLD SIGHT WEEK

For the past year, Kate has participated in the UN Friends of Vision of which Seva is a financially supporting member. This group had a major set of events in New York in mid October at which Suzanne provided Seva representation. The lead events at UN headquarters were a formal roll out of the WHO Strategy for universal eye care through 2030 and a high level briefing on the indicators which are recommended by WHO to gauge progress on the 2030 plans. In addition, a launch event for In Sight 2030 entitled Love Your Eyes was held at the Japan Society with "TED-talk" style pithy presentations and a lot of engagement with members of UN delegations. The thrust throughout all of these events is to mainstream eye care into UN goals for Universal Health Care. 

50 MILLION PEOPLE SERVED

Our eye care solutions are designed to thrive within and in spite of challenging global environments. How? By co-creating sustainable systems and solutions with local communities. We work with government and private partners alike, along with a committed team of staffers and a robust network of eye care institutions, to execute at the scale of a corporation and the nimbleness of a start-up. That has resulted in more than 50 million people receiving eye care services since 1978, including 3.5 million people in the last year alone.

As you engage with this report, you’ll learn more about new diagnostic technologies we are developing, our investment in capacity-building of eye hospitals, clinics, as well as our investment in better-trained personnel. Most importantly, you will meet a few of the smiling faces whose lives are forever transformed.

See report here.

SEVA SOLSTICE WITH JACK KORNFIELD & TRUDY GOODMAN

Seva hosted a special Solstice Edition of Conversations with Kate. Author, Buddhist practitioner, and founder of Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Jack Kornfield, as well as Dharma teacher and founder of Insight LA, Trudy Goodman, joined Kate in a conversation around spirituality, mindfulness, and the spirit of compassion. Both of these remarkable individuals were students of Seva Co-Founder Ram Dass’s teachings and longtime members of our Seva family. Watch the recording here: https://www.seva.org/site/SPageServer/?pagename=solstice

Data, anyone? 

After two years of virtual research skill learning, Seva partners finally got to have an in-person data analysis workshop at Seva partner India Institute of Public Health - Hyderabad. The two week training built upon multiple online workshops and preparatory use of the Stata software so teams arrived ready to work. Research teams from Nepal and India are using the newfound skills to analyze results of their randomized control studies to improve service delivery. Services for kids, Vision Center patients, and people with Diabetes will be improved as a result.

AN ENDURING MASTERPIECE TO CREATE LASTING CHANGE

Art enables us to see the world through a new lens and make a difference through it. It is by no insignificant serendipity that the art of William Wolk (1951-2022) captures the rainbow essence of Seva Co-Founder, Wavy Gravy. The thread that ties Wolk and his wife Marie to our foundation is deep and meaningful. For nearly a quarter century, they have supported Seva as charitable donors and tireless advocates because of their personal conscious awareness and commitment to help people 'see' on so many levels.

In celebration of Wavy's 86th birthday and in support of the philanthropic work of the Seva Foundation, Wolk honors the playful spirit with vision, color, and a bit of joyful whimsey that is Wavy Gravy, in "Bubblicious" the final piece the artist completed prior to his passing this past May.

Not unlike the founders of Seva, William Wolk used his passion and artistic gifts to express his vision and bring his unique insight to the world through his inimitable art. It is fitting that this brilliant piece, filled with love and light, comes to us so that we can transform this 'energy' toward the work of our foundation through your generous auction bid this coming fall. All proceeds benefit our sight-restoration efforts – keep an eye out for more details.

Yours in gratitude,

Kate Moynihan
Executive Director
Seva Foundation

Marie Wolk
William Wolk Fine Art

Organizational Development Training

An organizational development training program for SCEH (Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital, New Delhi, India) was developed by Arun Acharya (Global Training Specialist, Seva Foundation) after consulting with their top management, HODs and Administrators.  

This program was needed to fill the gap in the number of skilled management personnel who could lead quality and process improvement projects. The purpose was to train their high potential employees such that SCEH becomes a Centre of Learning and Excellence in terms of high-quality patient-centered eye care. 

This initiative is part of the GSI as a global platform initiative and fuels one of Seva’s core drivers I.e., “Training and Job creation” 

Seva Eyecare Africa Landscape Analysis

During the coming fiscal year, Seva is positioned to refocus on this region. See more in Access Capacity & Evidence Highlights

Seva Foundation Vision Report - Part I of a Four-Part Report

Seva is committed to ending avoidable blindness in our lifetime. This is the first of several reports that take a deep dive into the economic burden of blindness and its negative impact on one of the world’s largest economies. By the end of 2021, we will release the solutions - what will it cost to provide the bold solutions required to secure sight for all.

An Investment Program Consistent with Our Values

Seva’s board had long aspired to reflect the values of the organization in its investment portfolio through social screening, not holding the stock of companies deemed objectionable (e.g., fossil fuel, tobacco, etc.). Unfortunately, given our size, a cost-effective socially screened option was not available, and the board decided to invest Seva’s assets in a low-cost passively managed target-risk fund. The purely passive implementation kept costs low but meant that Seva could not eliminate certain objectionable securities from its portfolio holdings.

In 2018, Seva received a sizable bequest which increased its investible assets meaningfully, although the portfolio is still small by institutional investment standards.  At the request of Dr. T. Stephen Jones, Seva co-founder, honorary lifetime board member, and fossil fuel divestment advocate, a search was again conducted to identify an option that would allow for screening. This time though, another option was identified. Rhumbline Advisers (“Rhumbline”), a Boston-based investment firm, offered to create a custom strategy that substantively mimicked the risk profile of Seva’s existing investment program but would allow for social screening. The customized strategy consists of three accounts to be held at a custodian bank: a US equity separate account, a non-US equity separate account, and a US fixed income strategy. The two equity accounts are socially screened. The fixed income strategy is invested in an Exchange Traded Fund and is not socially screened.  Rhumbline has the authority to rebalance among the asset classes in accordance with guidelines determined by Seva’s board.

Seva’s board elected to eliminate the producers and manufacturers of fossil fuels, tobacco, guns and ammunition, and prisons from its investment portfolio. Although the implementation of this strategy is more complex than buying and selling a mutual fund, our investment costs have not increased. The new investment program has been in place for nearly a year now, and we are pleased to report that the strategy is performing very much in line with expectations. The board is delighted that the organization’s values are now a part of the investment program!

Lisa Laird

Lisa M. Laird, CFA, is an institutional investor and Seva board member. Previously, Lisa was the Chief Investment Officer of Providence St. Joseph Health and a Towers Watson consultant.

May 2022
Wavy Gravy’s 86th Birthday!

People Who Make Magic Happen—Updated Seva Staff Profiles and Pics!