Lions World Vision Institute

Lions World Vision Institute Lion World Vision Institute is a global nonprofit for sight restoration, research, and outreach.

SightLife is the only global health organization working relentlessly to eliminate corneal blindness worldwide by 2040. Sight restoration has a profound impact on recipients, their families and communities—we believe no one should have to wait to experience the joy and possibilities that vision brings. With partners in 33 countries, SightLife is increasing the number of corneal transplants performed each year to transform millions of lives around the globe. Corneal blindness is a neglected issue in the developing world, where the majority of the world's estimated 10 million bilaterally corneal blind live. SightLife addresses key systemic barriers to sight restoration in several developing countries—especially India where the current need is the greatest. In October 2016, SightLife launched its subsidiary, SightLife Surgical, becoming a combination non-profit and for-profit organization. This unique, mission-driven structure maintains the non-profit status of SightLife as the parent organization and adds a for-profit “engine” to power and accelerate our mission. SightLife Surgical will drive necessary innovation in cornea research, products, blindness prevention and public policy to help SightLife eliminate corneal blindness in our lifetimes. Learn more about SightLife Surgical at www.sightlifesurgical.com. Founded in 1969 and based in Seattle, SightLife is an accredited member of the Eye Bank Association of America and a member of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. SightLife and its global partners provided nearly 24,600 corneas for transplant in 2015.

Our LWVI team was delighted to visit King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital (KKESH) and witness the impressive advancements...
11/19/2025

Our LWVI team was delighted to visit King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital (KKESH) and witness the impressive advancements of their corneal surgery program.

The team showcased Endo-In DMEK and other advanced endothelial keratoplasty cases, demonstrating consistently strong surgical outcomes across complex scenarios.

We also reviewed their expanding CAIRS experience for keratoconus, utilizing the Ziemer LDV femtosecond platform to achieve high-precision stromal channel creation, and LWVI’s OptiGraft® CAIRS. Our visit included an excellent wet-lab session, reflecting the hospital’s high technical standards in donor tissue preparation and surgical training.

Our ongoing collaboration with KKESH continues to strengthen our shared commitment to quality, innovation, and delivering patient-centered excellence in corneal care, .

Today, we proudly celebrate our CEO, Jason K Woody, as he marks 35 years with Lions World Vision Institute, an extraordi...
11/19/2025

Today, we proudly celebrate our CEO, Jason K Woody, as he marks 35 years with Lions World Vision Institute, an extraordinary milestone that reflects his lifelong dedication to restoring sight and transforming lives.

A fourth-generation Tampa native, Jason began his journey in 1990 as a young Eye Bank Technician. From those early days, his passion, technical expertise, and compassion propelled him to Technical Director and ultimately to his role as President and CEO in 1996.

Over the past three and a half decades, Jason’s leadership has helped deliver the gift of sight to more than 500,000 people worldwide. He has expanded cutting-edge transplant technologies, strengthened global surgeon-training networks, and built a community of donor families, researchers, partners, and clinicians who make sight restoration possible every day.

Jason’s connection to donation is deeply personal. In his family, organ and eye donation is a legacy of compassion and hope. Four of his loved ones have been donors, turning moments of loss into opportunities for others to live, heal, and thrive. Their selflessness continues to inspire his life’s work and reflects the profound impact of giving beyond oneself.

As Jason has shared: “Eye donation has profoundly impacted my family. My father and two sisters were generous contributors as eye donors, transforming a transplant recipient’s life through the gift of sight.”

During his tenure, Jason has been a guiding light in the eye banking industry—advancing innovation, championing donor families, and inspiring countless professionals worldwide. His legacy is measured not only in years of service, but in the thousands of lives touched through the gift of sight.

Beyond LWVI, Jason has served on national and regional boards—always advocating for donors and protecting sight as a basic human right.

Today, we honor a leader who has devoted his life to giving others the chance to see a brighter tomorrow. Thank you, Jason, for your vision, compassion, and extraordinary leadership.

Here’s to all we will accomplish next, .

👓 This Giving Tuesday, help a child see the joy of giving! A simple pair of glasses can open up a whole new world for a ...
11/18/2025

👓 This Giving Tuesday, help a child see the joy of giving! A simple pair of glasses can open up a whole new world for a child struggling to see. Mark your calendar for December 2nd and together, we can change how children see the world.

Today, we are delighted to welcome Steve Bernstein as the newest member of the Lions World Vision Institute Board. As we...
11/17/2025

Today, we are delighted to welcome Steve Bernstein as the newest member of the Lions World Vision Institute Board. As we celebrate , we honor the Everyday Heroes who help guide our mission, including our dedicated Board of Directors.

Steve brings more than 35 years of national leadership in labor and employment law as Regional Managing Partner at Fisher Phillips and co-chair of the firm’s Labor Relations Group. His extensive experience includes representing employers before the NLRB, DOL, and EEOC, along with building preventive employee-relations programs that strengthen organizational culture.

His long-standing community includes service on the Tampa-Hillsborough Planning Commission, the Pepin Academies Foundation Board, the Tiger Bay Club of Tampa Bay, and as past Chair of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.

Our CEO Jason K. Woody shares:

“With having employees throughout the country, we look forward to Steve’s invaluable knowledge of employee relations and human relations insight.”

We are grateful for leaders like Steve who help advance our mission to bring the gift of sight to more people, .

This excitement is growing as LWVI builds the future of vision health in the heart of Ybor City. The LWVI Vision Healt...
11/12/2025

This excitement is growing as LWVI builds the future of vision health in the heart of Ybor City. The LWVI Vision Health Center will be a 20,000-square-foot hub for clinical care, research, and community outreach.

By ensuring that every child can see clearly, the LWVI Foundation helps students reach their full academic potential. The LWVI Vision Health Center is where vision meets community and represents a clear path to care for every child, family, and neighbor.

Learn more at: https://lwvi.org/vision-health/vision-health-center/

For this we are featuring LWVI Medical Director, Dr. Benjamin Lambright, who highlights the exceptional attendance and...
11/11/2025

For this we are featuring LWVI Medical Director, Dr. Benjamin Lambright, who highlights the exceptional attendance and engaging interaction at our exhibit.

LWVI wet labs provide cornea surgeons with hands-on training in EK and CAIRS techniques to advance skills in corneal reshaping for patients with keratoconus, .

“We had a great show at AAO with Lions World Vision Institute and had the opportunity to train and connect with surgeons from across the globe during wet labs on Endothelial Keratoplasty and CAIRS Keratoplasty for patients with keratoconus.”

https://youtu.be/jNORMl6yx2g

Most of Cherrie and Alex’s best talks happened on the front porch of their Northeast Florida home, a place filled with l...
11/10/2025

Most of Cherrie and Alex’s best talks happened on the front porch of their Northeast Florida home, a place filled with laughter, scooters whirring down sidewalks, and love that ran deep.

Alex was a devoted dad, a man of quiet strength who faced Type 1 diabetes since age 11 but never let it define him. His priorities were simple: faith, family, and giving back. Just a month before he passed, he began mentoring middle schoolers at church to share hope even as his own health declined.

When Alex died at 39, his story didn’t end.

His corneas restored sight to two people. For a man who had lost most of his own vision, that gift felt like divine poetry. “He would have loved that,” Cherrie said. “You will never regret helping someone else because it means someone else gets to see. To see a graduation, a wedding. To see at all.”

After Alex passed, Cherrie found comfort in his community.

People she’d never met came forward with stories about his kindness, his humor, his love for life. She’s now working on projects at their church that he once cared deeply about. Through her grief, she found new , his purpose, and is carrying it forward.

This Eye Donation Month, LWVI honors everyday heroes like Alex—whose love and generosity live on .

This month, as we celebrate , the Lions World Vision Institute (LWVI) team will be in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for theInter...
11/07/2025

This month, as we celebrate , the Lions World Vision Institute (LWVI) team will be in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for theInternational Conference of the Saudi Ophthalmological Society SOS الجمعية السعودية لطب العيون sharing knowledge and training eye surgeons from around the world.

Through hands-on Wet Labs, our LWVI trainers help surgeons learn, grow, and bring the miracle of sight to more patients in their own communities, .

11/06/2025

This Eye Donation Month, we honor the Everyday Heroes whose generosity transforms loss into light, families like Candace’s from Auburn, Washington.

When her mother Linda passed away, Candace and her family made the selfless decision to give the gift of sight through eye donation, an act that changed her outlook on life and brought healing in unexpected ways.

“Because the world is a beautiful place, and it’s meant to be looked at, it’s meant to be seen and experienced.”

Candace has lived her whole life in the same home she was brought to as an infant, surrounded by the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, a place where Lions World Vision Institute proudly supports families through our Seattle office.

“You feel very lost when you lose a loved one, but if you have something to focus on that’s for the greater good, it makes the loss not in the forefront of the grieving process...it’s more, I’m helping somebody now.”

Through her mother’s legacy, others now see that beauty too.

🎥 Watch Candace’s Story and join us in celebrating the gift of sight this Eye Donation Month.

For , Sharon Boyes, Executive Director of the LWVI Foundation, spoke to Gayle Guyardo about our new LWVI Vision Health ...
11/05/2025

For , Sharon Boyes, Executive Director of the LWVI Foundation, spoke to Gayle Guyardo about our new LWVI Vision Health Center on Bloom TV.

Set to break ground next month, the 20,000-square-foot Vision Health Center will deliver comprehensive vision services—including screenings, diagnostics, treatment, and community programs—all under one roof. Designed to close critical service gaps, the center will bring high-quality, compassionate care to those who need it most, hashtag .

“Kids don’t know the world is supposed to look any different,” says Boyes. “By the time vision issues manifest, often around third grade, it can be mistaken for a learning disability — putting children at risk of falling behind.”

https://www.wfla.com/bloom-tampa-bay/honoring-the-gift-of-sight-how-lions-world-vision-institute-is-transforming-eye-health/

WFLA News Channel 8

This November, LWVI proudly celebrates Eye Donation Month, honoring the everyday heroes whose selfless gifts restore sig...
11/04/2025

This November, LWVI proudly celebrates Eye Donation Month, honoring the everyday heroes whose selfless gifts restore sight and transform lives. 💙

11/03/2025

This , LWVI celebrates the everyday heroes who make the gift of sight possible, from the donors and their families who say yes to donation to the surgeons who carry that generosity forward.

Our LWVI Business Development team transforms lives through training, innovation, and collaboration. From developing advanced transplant techniques to leading hands-on wet lab trainings at major ophthalmology conferences, each effort ensures more patients safely regain their vision.

As Dr. Brendan Cronin, Australian ophthalmologist and LWVI trainer shared: “It’s amazing for our patients. It makes the procedure safer and more accessible to our patients, which is really part of the mantra of the Lions World Vision Institute.”

Together, we honor the donors who make these advancements possible and recognize the LWVI Business Development team and outstanding surgeons who bring their gift to life .

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1410 N. 21st Street
Tampa, FL
33605

Telephone

+18132891200

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