A Vision For The Whole Planet

James Chen is the founder of Clearly, a new global initiative to solve the largest unaddressed disability in the world – poor eyesight

- Bruce Dennill

Kids always ask each other: “If you could have only one of your senses, which would it be?” For you, vision is obviously the most important – why is that?

I always think of that statement, “In the valley of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” I think that encapsulates the disadvantages of those who have impairments and reminds me why they need help.

You’re a philanthropist. How does the impact of your actions – and those of people who think the way you do – differ from the effect of political will when working on helping people with poor vision? It seems like a battle of passion versus bureaucracy.