In June 2024, Eversight, a nonprofit global eye bank network with a mission to restore sight and prevent blindness, hosted an all-staff meeting called Eversight Unite to celebrate every member of the Eversight team and the incredible impact they have on others.
“The idea for Eversight Unite began with the knowledge that our greatest strength has always been our people,” said Michael O’Keefe, Chief Administrative Officer, Eversight. “We wanted to create an event that celebrated the passionate individuals who pour their hearts into our mission each and every day. They deserve to be recognized for their unwavering commitment and dedication to those in need. Additionally, it was very important that we also provide them an opportunity to connect with colleagues they only knew through email, video chat or sometimes not at all.”
This daylong meeting was a critical investment in Eversight team members worldwide and an opportunity for staff to connect in a meaningful way to help advance our mission.
Due to the nature of this gathering and the desire to bring everyone to the event, Eversight closed its services for the entire day of June 27 and leaned heavily on our partner organ procurement organizations (OPOs) to ensure emergency tissue would still be available to surgeons and their patients if needed.
Eversight extends our deepest gratitude to our surgeon partners around the world who supported our operational pause. Their support, understanding and foresight to work around Eversight’s service adjustments made Eversight Unite possible.
"Our amazing partners help make vision a reality every day. That is nothing new,” O’Keefe said. “We knew when we began planning this event in 2023 that for all staff to attend, we needed to take the unprecedented step and shut down for the day. With that in mind, our priority was to minimize any impact on our surgeons so their patients would still receive the gift of sight without delay. With the help of our OPO and surgeon partners, I’m proud to say we were able to pause operations and host Eversight Unite, while maintaining service to our surgeons and their patients.”
Eversight does not take for granted the dedication to the gift of sight and commitment to our ongoing partnerships that allowed us to make this investment in our remarkable team. Together, Eversight will continue to grow our impact restoring sight to more people worldwide.
Staff traveled from all service locations, including from South Korea, to participate in this special day.
This event allowed colleagues from across Eversight to get to know each other and even meet for the first time. Team members brainstormed ideas to help grow Eversight’s impact and better serve our constituents every day. Most importantly, the team had fun bonding through energizing and meaningful activities.
“Eversight Unite was an opportunity to forge new connections, reinvigorate existing ones and remind ourselves why the work we do is so vital,” O’Keefe said. “This special occasion was something I envisioned for years and am so proud of how it turned out, all thanks to our Eversight Unite planning committee and our gracious partners.”
The event consisted of team building, guest speakers, brainstorming sessions and idea presentations. The day would not be complete without the people who helped illustrate our mission in action–donor sister Kelly Klamer and bilateral cornea recipient Barry Casler.
The evening concluded with Eversight President/CEO Diane Hollingsworth recognizing each department who continually helps make vision a reality for thousands worldwide through their compassion and demonstration of Eversight’s core values of Service, Drive and Trust.
“It can seem daunting or even impossible to imagine shutting down an organization to provide everyone an opportunity to attend an event like Eversight Unite,” O’Keefe said. “I can say for Eversight, it was 100% worth it.”
Throughout the event and after, Eversight colleagues were sharing how appreciative they were that they weren’t left behind to keep things running back at their home offices. They noticed that Eversight took a gamble on shutting down so that they could attend the event without distractions, and they shared that they saw it as an investment in them as valued Eversight colleagues.
“In our current culture we have never been disappointed investing in our people and Eversight Unite was no exception,” O’Keefe said. “I would encourage anyone else on the fence about investing more into their people to just do it and see what greatness grows from it.”
