Prevent Blindness, Ohio Affiliate
Helping Ohioans Enjoy Good Sight for Life
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The Ohio Affiliate of Prevent Blindness reduces the incidence of unnecessary vision loss and impairment by providing access to comprehensive vision care services for high-risk, medically disadvantaged Ohioans of all ages. Nearly 50% of all vision loss can be prevented through regular eye exams and the use of protective eyewear. Providing access to professional eye care can stop vision loss in its tracks, leading to increased academic, job and life success. Blindness and vision impairment affect one’s ability to drive, read, work, learn, stay active in the community, and/or take care of household tasks. Declines in these abilities can lead to social isolation, depression and increased risk of falls and injuries. Poverty and a lack of health care and vision care coverage often means that uninsured residents seek help for emergency medical problems only and often forgo preventive health services such as comprehensive eye exams.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Adult Vision Screening
Train and equip vision screeners. Adult vision screening leads to early detection of vision loss risk and impacts employment, depression, falls prevention
Children's Vision Screening Training and Certification
Train and equip vision screeners. Children's Vision screening leads to early detection of amblyopia and visual acuity problems impacting development, socialization and academic success.
Vision Care Outreach
PBO provides access to da donated system of eye exams, eyeglasses, medications and surgeries
Vision Research Fellowship for Female Scholars
Summer fellowships of $3000-$5000 for predoctoral female students interested in the public health aspects of vision research studying in Ohio academic institutions.
Where we work
Accreditations
Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations Standards for Excellence Seal 2019
Awards
Standards for Excellence Seal 2019
Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations
Affiliations & memberships
Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations Standards for Excellence Seal 2019
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Children Vision Receiving Vision Screening
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Children's Vision Screening Training and Certification
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of adults receiving a vision screening
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Adult Vision Screening
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Underserved individuals receiving comprehensive, donated vision care
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Vision Care Outreach
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Vision screeners trained, certified and equipped
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People with vision impairments
Related Program
Children's Vision Screening Training and Certification
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Patient and Consumer Education
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Media Impressions
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The mission of Prevent Blindness is to prevent blindness and preserve sight. The vision of the Ohio Affiliate of Prevent Blindness (PBO) is to help Ohioans enjoy good sight for life. PBO is an affiliate of Prevent Blindness, the country's second-oldest national voluntary health organization. PBO serves as a consumer advocate for eye health and safety and our main emphasis is to serve those at highest risk for vision loss – preschool age children, older adults, minority populations and other individuals at risk for eye injuries at home, work and play. PBO promotes early detection and prompt professional treatment. Finding vision problems early is critical, when treatment is most successful and further vision loss can be prevented.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Prevent Blindness promotes eye health and safety while working to find the cures for blinding eye diseases. Our mission is carried out through the following programs.
Early Detection and Treatment - Early detection and prompt, professional treatment are essential in halting eye diseases such as amblyopia and glaucoma. PBO’s vision training and screening programs enable thousands of volunteers and providers of primary health care to detect potentially blinding eye diseases and refer individuals for professional treatment early, when it is most effective.
Eye Health and Safety Education - PBO offers workplace wellness programming, educational exhibits for museums and libraries, grades PreK-12 classroom lesson plans, and speakers that provide eye health and safety facts to all ages to help them take good care of their gift of sight. Our website, social media and public media messaging reach nearly 100 million each year.
Vision Advocacy - PBO advocates for all Ohio citizens regarding issues of vision safety in regards to fireworks safety, vision and safe driving, access to eye health care, and providing policy makers with the information they need to fight the growing future problem of vision loss in Ohio’s senior population.
Research - PBO is committed to educating key groups about the growth of vision problems and the important role that research, public health, clinicians, and the patients themselves play in reducing unnecessary vision loss. PBO expands eye health education and vision research through our Young Investigator Student Fellowship Awards for Female Scholars in Vision Research. Past fellows have worked on projects that will have future impact on early detection of glaucoma, regeneration of retinal cells impacting Age related Macular Degeneration, and the impact of nutrition on vision preservation. PBO funds three to six Student Fellowship Awards for Female Scholars in Vision Research each year. This grant provides support for scientific research investigating public health issues related to the burden of illness of eye-related health and safety. All research grants promote the core mission of PBO - preventing blindness and preserving sight.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
PBO is a well-run organization and is one of only 40 nonprofits among Ohio's 37,000+ nonprofit organizations to be awarded OANO’s Standards for Excellence Seal for demonstrating accountability and ethical standards (as of 11/1/2019).
Our business strategy is to enhance existing systems of care by training, certifying, and equipping those who serve the needy to provide sight-saving programming to their constituents. This approach supports sustainability and ownership of the service among those implementing and receiving it.
PBO’s programs are evidence-based and developed in concert with the Prevent Blindness America Scientific Advisory Committee, which assures accuracy of information presented, literacy appropriateness for target populations, and assures health equity in delivery to people of all ages, genders, races, ethnicities, and socio-economic status. All clients receive the same quality services and products, eliminating vision health disparities among medically disadvantaged populations.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Prevent Blindness partners with more than 1,500 schools, childcare centers, senior centers, social service organizations and healthcare facilities across the state of Ohio and provides them with vision assessment training and tools to identify people in need of vision care.
PBO is the only statewide organization that has a certified vision screener training program that employs evidence-based standards developed by Prevent Blindness America and its National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health and National Center for Vision and Population Health.
Through the generosity and collaboration of our friends in optometry, ophthalmology, the vision care industry, and the pharmaceutical industry, PBO has created an innovative health care solution and an important preventive care impact that is the largest statewide “virtual free clinic” for indigent eye care anywhere in the United States.
We serve all 88 Ohio counties, providing direct services to more than 1,000,000 Ohioans annually and educating millions of consumers about what they can do to protect and preserve their precious gift of sight. We save the sight of disadvantaged Ohioans by providing 5,000 needy residents with donated comprehensive eye exams, eyeglasses, medications, surgeries, and follow-up care each year. Annually, we train, certify and equip 1,200 volunteers that provide evidence-based vision screenings to more than 200,000 Ohioans each year.
PBO makes improvements to our programming to ensure effectiveness and efficiency. We will continue our programming in eye health education, advocacy, and early disease identification for Ohioans at high-risk of losing their sight. Working with our partners, our strategy is to serve as a catalyst for long-term systems change, making healthy vision a part of healthy living.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Case management notes,
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve,
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback,
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Prevent Blindness, Ohio Affiliate
Board of directorsas of 05/17/2022
Mr. Marc Molea
Retired, Ohio Department of Aging
Term: 2022 - 2023
Kim Campbell
Mount Carmel College of Nursing
Ben Antonelli
Rea and Associates
Jenny Camper
Lesic & Camper Communications
Andre Joiner
Community Volunteer
George Kademenos
Community Volunteer
John Kuhl
Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease
Doug Piper
Huntington Bank
Doug Singler
Messer Construction
Nick Stack
Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick
Lisa Boyd
Huntington National Bank
Kyle Gang
Kristina McCann
CoverMyMeds
Carolyn King
Huntington National Bank, Retired
Tani Mann
Dispatch Printing Company
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/18/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.