Meet Dawn. Many of you may already know her. She’s been a part of the OneSight team for more than 23 years and is a superstar OneSight Clinic Manager, leading our on-the-ground efforts. Those that know her know how big her heart is – on and off clinics. But there’s a few things you may not know about her –
How many years have you been involved with OneSight?
23 years. My first touch point with OneSight (which at the time was called Gift of Sight) was in 1998 when I was a LensCrafters Lab Manager and was cutting lenses for our Chabella program in-store. I would receive a box of lenses that were all the same power and would cut them all to the 50mm size. After that, in 1999, I experienced my first Vision Van clinic in Washington, DC where I was living at the time. When I moved to Florida in 2000, I got involved even more. I helped coordinate 7 years worth of vision van clinics before attending my first global clinic in Mexico in 2004. On my way home from that clinic, I knew I needed to do this work full time. At the end of 2007 I accepted my first role at OneSight and started officially working with the team on Jan 2, 2008. Since then, I have led around 70 clinics plus around 75 Vision Van clinics.
How many clinics have you been to?
All in, I would guess 158.
If you had to pick a favorite/most memorable OneSight clinic what would it be?
This is nearly impossible to answer! There are elements from many that resonate in my heart.
💙 Almost all of the 12 years in Fishkill, NY. Being from NY, this clinic always feels like going home and helping kids from where I grew up.
💙 China 2015: This clinic literally fell apart 2 months before it was supposed to happen. We lost our partner school and location. Being on the other side of the globe you can only imagine how difficult this was. In the end, we had a giant tent on a field with generators for power. I think I aged 5 years after planning that one.
💙 Bakersfield Hub and Spoke clinic: It was a day dream I had about how we could help more kids in a single week. Ultimately, that dream turned into a real plan, that turned into a clinic with 70+ team members, 2 clinics running simultaneously and 2300 kids helped in 5 days. This is probably the one I am most proud of!
What’s your favorite book?
Fish!
If you could only have one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
My dad’s lasagna
Do you have any fun facts to share?
🌟 I started ski racing when I was 5 and continued until I fell in a race that would have qualified me to try out for the Jr. Olympics.
🌟 I was born in the Bronx, NY. We moved upstate to ski when I was 5.
🌟 I lived in a small, rural mountaintop community. I only had 29 people in my High School graduating class.
🌟 My dog’s social calendar is busier than mine!
Thank you Dawn for all you do to #HelpTheWorldSee . See the rest of the team leading OneSight’s efforts.