Mission, vision & values
Eversight’s mission is to restore sight and prevent blindness through the healing power of donation, transplantation and research.
Our purpose in doing this work is to empower people and transform lives through our philosophy of building authentic relationships.
Our values of service, drive and trust guide us every step toward our vision of one day seeing a world without blindness.
A letter from Eversight President/CEO
Eversight President/CEO Diane Hollingsworth reflects on a year defined by impact, growth and gratitude
A record-breaking year
A letter of gratitude from Eversight’s Board Chair Kathy Zelenock
Donation & Transplantation
9,811 donors and their families gave the gift of sight—bringing hope to thousands awaiting life-changing transplants.
Donors leave a lasting impact by giving the gift of sight for transplantation, research or education and training. At Eversight, we recognize this selfless decision is accompanied by moments of profound grief. In 2025, we created donor family resources to support families, friends and their community as they navigate grief in the hope of bringing comfort and healing.
Donor families can honor their loved ones by posting a tribute, writing to recipients, sharing their story or placing a leaf on our Tree of Vision.
Every donation tells a story of compassion and connection. In just days, one young man’s final act of generosity brought healing, hope and progress to countless others.
11,260 corneal tissues were provided for transplantation around the world—a service milestone!
Corneal transplantation has the ability to transform lives. It is one of the most common and successful types of transplants, with a 97% success rate.
When Teresita de Jesús Perozo de Dávila first noticed her vision declining, she didn’t yet understand how drastically her world was about to change. Within two years, Fuchs' dystrophy clouded her daily life—making simple tasks feel impossible. As the disease progressed, Teresita learned that to restore her vision, she would need a cornea transplant made possible by the generosity of a donor and their family.
Teresita sought help everywhere she could—Colombia, Mexico, Brazil—even her home country of Venezuela. Each time, she was met with the same reality: no access to the donated corneal tissue she would need to restore her vision. Still, she refused to give up hope.
Follow Teresita’s 1,500 mile journey to a second chance at sight, independence and hope.
More inspiring stories of cornea donors and transplant recipients can be found here.
Education & Training
By equipping professionals with critical skills and knowledge, we are advancing the field of corneal transplantation and strengthening the future of eye banking worldwide.
3,363 tissues were provided for research, education and training, and Eversight delivered 76 training sessions to 787 surgeons, fellows, residents, coordinators, eye bankers and other clinicians—ensuring that more professionals have the expertise to restore sight and improve patient outcomes.
In 2025, through hands-on Eversight Academy training and international collaboration, three Ukrainian surgeons visited our Ann Arbor headquarters to develop skills to meet a rising need for cornea transplants in their country.
“After the full-scale invasion in our country, the need for corneal transplantation is highly increasing,” Yana Sirman, MD, PhD, said. “In addition to the civilian trauma, we receive a lot of different explosive injuries, mine injuries from the soldiers. That’s why we almost doubled the needs of corneal transplantation. For the year we need almost 4,000 transplants, but in fact we’ve done only 200. The need is very big.”
This work reflects what global eye banking can achieve. Education today will translate into sight restored tomorrow.
Surgeon training is the foundation of progress in corneal care, and Eversight is proud to support hands-on learning opportunities that help ophthalmologists adopt innovative techniques to benefit their patients.
Through Eversight Academy, we facilitate wet labs so ophthalmologists have the ability to practice surgical techniques in a laboratory environment. In 2025, Eversight partnered with the University of Illinois Chicago to host a wet lab focused on Corneal Allogenic Intrastromal Ring Segments using KeraNatural®—a sterile, allogenic corneal tissue segment designed to treat keratoconus as a natural alternative to synthetic implants.
“It’s important to get your hands dirty and comfortable in a simulated setting before you do it on an actual human and on a real eye,” said Teja Alapati, MD, a cornea specialist at Ticho Eye Associates. “It's nice to get comfortable in more controlled settings, especially with supervision. You can use multiple eyes here and if you don't get it right the first time, you can do it again. Or if you get it right, you can keep practicing and getting the reps, but it's nice to practice a new technique first before attempting in the OR.”
By investing in education and training, we are investing in a future where sight-saving care reaches more people, more effectively around the world.
Discover how Eversight is empowering the next generation of surgeons.
Global Vision
Eversight works to eliminate corneal blindness globally through the power of local eye banking, clinical training and tissue provision. Together, with our global partners, we create local and sustainable eye health solutions to provide life-changing cornea transplants for people in need.
In 2025, 139 tissues provided by our charitable tissue and global aid programs extended sight-restoring care to underserved individuals and communities around the world.
How partnership and donation are restoring sight worldwide
For one young engineer in Eswatini, South Africa, life was becoming increasingly difficult. He had severe keratoconus, a condition that causes the cornea to thin and bulge outward, and he could no longer tolerate contact lenses.
“He saved up money, traveled to South Africa, tried to get contact lenses, couldn’t wear them, and he noticed a big decline in his quality of life and vision,” said Aman Mittal, MD, a cornea specialist at the University of Texas at Austin, and this young man’s surgeon. “As an engineer, he is highly educated, wants to work, wants to use his vision to the best possible rate, and losing vision at a young age is tough. He was extremely eager to pursue any avenue to improve his vision.”
In 2023, Dr. Mittal performed a cornea transplant on him using tissue provided by Eversight. The results were immediate.
Stories like this illustrate the transformative power of cornea donation—and they are the reason international teams of ophthalmologists have partnered with local providers in countries around the world to change lives. With Eversight’s ongoing support, philanthropic supporters and the courageous decisions made by donor families, this work continues to expand.
Our reach extended to 44 countries, where we collaborated with surgeons and researchers to advance eye care and sight-saving procedures. Philanthropic contributors gave over $190,000 to support Eversight's global development efforts, helping Eversight provide 4,478 tissues for transplantation globally to those in need.
In 2025, Eversight and Vision Share partnered with Cheikh Zayed Foundation to launch Morocco’s first regional eye bank—a beacon of innovation and hope. Through expert training and strong partnerships, local teams are being empowered with world-class skills to restore sight and transform lives. Together, we are building lasting capacity and expanding access to sight-restoring care across Morocco.
“This is about more than opening an eye bank—it’s about cultivating talent and trust, so sight-restoring care is available close to home. The Cheikh Zayed Foundation Eye Bank in Rabat will serve as a regional hub for donation and transplantation programs, meeting local needs and strengthening vision care across North Africa. Every step of this project points to one outcome—more people in Morocco regaining sight.”
- COLLIN ROSS, VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT
Education remained at the heart of our mission, with 85 international surgeons trained to enhance their skills and bring life-changing treatment to their communities.
Dr. Yuki Kusano of Kumamoto, Japan—that city’s only corneal surgeon—traveled to the U.S. for specialized training to expand access to care in his community.
“As we connect with eye bank leaders around the world, our goal isn’t just to share skills—it’s to build sustainable systems of care. When one surgeon gains the tools to restore sight for hundreds of people, the impact reaches far beyond one community. That’s what makes this work so meaningful.”
- HEATHER NUSKIND, EdD, GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT & SURGICAL INNOVATIONS DIRECTOR
By equipping local clinicians and eye bank personnel with new tools and knowledge, this collaboration helps advance sustainable improvements in access to sight-restoring care in places like Kumamoto.
Beyond direct surgical training, we invest in eye bank development to create long-term solutions for vision care. As one of the few nonprofit eye bank networks with the expertise, cultural competence and philanthropic support to assist partners in underserved countries, we work to establish sustainable eye banking infrastructure—ensuring that the gift of sight will be available for generations to come.
Learn about Eversight’s 2025 visit with Pakistani leaders and partners to inaugurate a new eye bank facility in Lahore, Pakistan, continuing the support of a comprehensive local cornea donation program and training local surgeons and eye banking professionals.
Research & Development
In 2025, 3,363 tissues were distributed for research, education and training. These gifts drive discoveries that have the potential to transform vision care for patients around the world.
In addition to providing tissue, Eversight’s research team collaborates with external research partners and stakeholders to share our expertise and develop treatments for blinding eye diseases. Eversight team members regularly contribute to industry presentations and peer-reviewed journal publications. In 2025, Eversight authored and supported eight publications—contributing to the global body of knowledge that shapes how vision care is delivered and improved.
In 2025, the Eversight Research & Development team—under the leadership of Onkar B. Sawant, PhD—and ocular surface stem cell transplant surgeon Nambi Nallasamy, MD, of University of Michigan’s Kellogg Eye Center, pioneered the development of KLAL-Pro.
KLAL-Pro is an eye bank-prepared, partial thickness keratolimbal allograft enriched with limbal epithelial stem cells to treat limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD).
Discover how this new breakthrough tissue transforms LSCD treatment.
Corneal blindness is a major global health challenge, one that continues to impact quality of life for millions. Philanthropic contributors gave over $200,000 to support Eversight's research and development efforts in 2025, supporting a wave of research, innovation and strategic collaboration in pushing the field of vision restoration forward—making transplants more effective, accessible and transformative.
Eversight contributed donor tissue and clinical expertise to a landmark study showing corneas from donors with diabetes are equally successful one year after transplant, expanding the potential pool of sight-restoring tissue.
Eversight and Emmecell announced a partnership to advance cell therapies for the treatment of various eye diseases through their shared commitment to curing blindness worldwide.
Eversight and LighTopTech announced a four-year partnership to improve state-of-the-art imaging modalities for eye tissues in both clinical and research settings.
Eversight joined a major undertaking bringing together more than 40 scientists, doctors and industry experts hand-picked from around the country to make vision-restoring whole eye transplants a reality.
“A common misconception is that research tissue might not be as important as transplant tissue. That’s really not true. The impact a research donation can make is tremendous. One tissue can provide multiple different research purposes.”
— CAITLIN QUALTER, RESEARCH CLIENT MANAGER
Learn more about the intention behind Research and Development at Eversight.
People & Culture
Investing in our people and fostering a supportive culture is essential to our life-changing work. From the compassionate care provided to donor families to the meticulous efforts in tissue recovery, research and transplantation, every department plays a vital role in restoring sight and transforming lives.
In 2025, Eversight was named a Top Workplace in Michigan, and nationally earned five Culture Excellence awards. These accolades reflect Eversight’s commitment to a supportive, people-centered culture.
Every act of donation begins with a conversation—often led by Donation Support Center (DSC) coordinators supporting families during deeply emotional moments.
In 2025, philanthropic supporters and Eversight’s Board of Directors funded a specialized professional training for Eversight’s DSC team with the Gift of Life Institute, reinforcing a commitment to compassionate, family-centered donation experiences.
“I realize now that this is truly an opportunity for meaningful impact,” said DSC Coordinator Treniecia Sanders. “Helping a donor’s family honor their loved one’s decision to extend their legacy can change that moment of loss into a beacon of hope.”
By investing in frontline teams, Eversight continues to strengthen the compassionate care at the core of its mission—ensuring donor families feel supported, respected and informed during moments that matter most.
Contributor spotlights
The strength of Eversight’s culture is made possible not only by its team, but by philanthropic supporters who invest in the people, programs and innovations that make our work possible.
In 2010 I was diagnosed with Fuchs Corneal Dystrophy. Fortunately, I had access to highly skilled doctors who performed successful partial corneal transplants in both eyes in 2018, restoring my vision. Those transplants would not have been possible without donors. The donated corneas found their way to me through Eversight. This sequence of events is nothing short of miraculous and I am eternally grateful. Supporting Eversight’s mission is, to me, both an obligation and an honor.
Julie Fleps
Due to Eversight’s vital ongoing research to improve vision outcomes for patients and their families, our lives have been transformed through the life-changing impact of John’s two corneal transplants. Thank you for your commitment to excellence and follow through which we are proud to support financially.
John and Anne Cauley
The Alcon Foundation is committed to expanding access to quality eye care for underserved communities worldwide. Eversight's leadership in cornea donation, transplantation and eye bank development makes them a valued partner in that mission.
Michael Fountas
Director of Social Impact | Alcon
Our club's support for Eversight stems from a longstanding partnership built on a shared mission. We proudly stand with Eversight because they are a leader in restoring sight through cornea transplantation, which directly fulfills the Lions' core commitment to fighting blindness. This partnership allows us to turn our motto, "We Serve," into sight-saving action.
Wood-Ridge Lions Club
I’ve experienced firsthand the life-changing impact of Eversight’s work. I understand in a very real way how profoundly such a gift can restore independence and quality of life, and my donation reflects a desire to “pay forward” the benefit I received by helping ensure that others can access the same opportunity for renewed vision.
Mike Gallutia
I support Eversight in memory of my wife Barb. She taught hundreds of preschool children at First Presbyterian Church in Farmington. She would be touched to know that Eversight helps children, among others, to enjoy the beauty of sight.
Jim Yoder
As we reflect on 2025, one thing is clear—every donor, recipient, partner, team member and philanthropic supporter makes this work possible. Thank you for being part of this journey. Together, we are changing lives.
Our financial discipline and future remain strong
Our history of making an impact