Vision Friend Sakib Gore

I am Samit Gore, a 27-year-old second-generation social worker and first-generation social entrepreneur from India. I serve as Director of Operations and Innovation at Vision Friend Sakib Gore, a 33-year-old grassroots movement founded by my father, Sakib Gore. a former truck porter who turned his life’s mission toward restoring sight in rural communities. Over three decades, we’ve conducted 2.7 million free eye tests, distributed 1.6 million free spectacles, and enabled 63,000 free cataract surgeries across 1,750+ villages. all without external funding. These efforts restore not just vision, but the ability to learn, work, and live with dignity. In 2020, when COVID-19 nearly took my father’s life, I realized our impact needed to survive us. I stepped in to continue and scale his work by co-founding two social enterprise arms: Vision Friend Eyewear (specs starting at just 0.11$ a low-cost Eyewear Brand for Indian Market), and The VCU Series (We See You) a global initiative offering spectacles for just $0.38, available exclusively to NGOs, governments, and social health programs. We pair this model with accessible innovation. Our Vision Kit is a field-friendly, electricity-free testing device that enables trained volunteers, teachers, and healthcare workers to conduct basic eye exams and dispense power spectacles in under two minutes. without requiring optometrists or complex equipment. It is currently in pilot trials and built specifically for humanitarian, post-disaster, Low Resources areas and remote outreach scenarios. Beyond affordability, what sets our work apart is replicability. We’ve started replicating our model internationally building locally owned ecosystems in Ethiopia and Brazil where young social entrepreneurs lead localized manufacturing, testing, and distribution. we seed ownership and sustainability. These systems are not pilot projects. They are proof-of-concept pipelines for how low-cost innovations, embedded in grassroots leadership, can strengthen public health access far beyond India. Helping Reach the goals of WHO's Specs 2030 and UN SDG Our work is not a rejection of donation-based approaches. it is a complement to them. When NGO projects end, demand often collapses due to the absence of local infrastructure. Our model exists to fill that gap, ensuring continuity through earned income, job creation, and grassroots leadership. Recognized globally as a Young Systems Leader by IAPB, we’ve shared our journey at the 2030 In Sight Live Summit and worked alongside Government policymakers in India to advocate for structural shifts, such as integrating spectacles into school uniforms and mandating annual student vision exams. Through Catalyst Now, I seek connection with changemakers who understand that systems don't change by chance. They change when those closest to the problem become architects of the solution. Together, we can design a future where health access is not dependent, but community-anchored, innovation-driven, and built to last.