HER Insight: Caroline Casey, IAPB

Erinn Morgan: My name is Erinn Morgan. I am with Insight Media and I am very excited to be here today with you, Caroline. Thank you for joining us. Caroline Casey from the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. Welcome and thank you.

Caroline Casey: I’m troublemaker at large.

EM: And that’s right. For sure. I should have added that. And you have a lot that you’ve done. I mean, it’s amazing. So can you maybe just give us a short kind of synopsis of your career and what you do currently?

CC: Wow, well for starters, I’m 53 years old, so there’s been a lot packed into that, with lines on my face and all. So the role I’m here today for is I’m the President of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. My career began, I was an archaeologist, a management consultant, an elephant handler, and then I moved into activism around global disability inclusion and working with business to partner in business really to end the exclusion crisis that faces disability.

Yeah, so I’ve done a lot. It’s very personal. I myself have ocular albinism. I’m registered legally blind so I can’t see your face, but that means I look always amazing. I don’t see the lines of my own face. But yeah, so I have a very unusual story that had got me to that place. So I’ve been able to view the world around disability and sight loss from a person really looking onto it as well as somebody living with it.

EM: Amazing. Well, and by the way, we are here in gorgeous Santa Barbara today. It’s cold. I know, right? It’s January, but it is cold, but it’s gorgeous here and beautiful and green. So, our podcast is called HER Insight. It’s a focus on women in vision care leadership. So I have five kind of quick questions for you. And we want to share your insights with our viewers. First, what would you say excites you the most about your current role with IAPB?

CC: I mean, so many things excite me. As I said, I’m a troublemaker. I have tried to solve really big problems by bringing people together. And what we’re on the precipice now with the IAPB is working to have the first Global Summit for Eye Health where we will be inviting all of the heads of state. Amazing. And to work with them over the next decade to put into action their commitment to the resolution of getting eye health into primary health care in our countries.

So this is going to be really big and it’s going to happen in 2026 and I am excited to campaign for that to happen, to be part of making that happen because we can end avoidable sight loss right? We know we can do this. This is not an issue that is weaponized, it is not political. We know what to do. And I think we’re in that moment of just the perfect time. Just to be involved in that and to be part of it, it’s really exciting and I think it’s super me personally it draws on a lot that I’ve you know worked on in the past but then I get to hang out with some absolutely fabulous people. You know is this something that Jim said yesterday that this sector is like the hotel California?

EM: You can check out but you can never leave.

CC: I can just tell you, I don’t ever want to leave. I love it. It’s a real personal passion because obviously it touches my own lived experience and disability and so, yeah, I love it. I’m very, very excited for the next two years.

EM: Wonderful. Yeah. So where will that be held in 2026?

CC: So we want to get a host country and believe it or not we already have three options. The big issue is which country is going to be able to attract as many heads of state. So it’s a what month in the time of year, what part of the world. We’re kind of working through all of that but to have three potential offers.

EM: Wow. That’s pretty incredible.

CC: I mean, I would love it to be Ireland.

EM: Sounds like a good place to go. So my next question is, what is your personal leadership philosophy? How do you like to lead?

CC: Well, so my biggest thing about leadership is accountability. I’m obsessed with it. I have on my right wrist a tattoo the word the truth. I really believe when you fail, you need to take responsibility for it. For sure. You know, and not be frightened of that. Right. Because I think that’s it’s a really important part of building trust with the people that you’re working with to say you’re sorry when you’ve got it wrong.

I also think I’ve learned a lot. I spent the first part of my career as a female leader, like being a terrier and I was like a wounded warrior going up a hill and the resilience and whatever. And I never asked for help, you know. But I think one of the things I’ve learned as I’ve grown older and hopefully wiser is, yeah, vulnerability is key in leadership. As is being accountable. So I think bringing your head and your heart is essential and I think very much in this day and age.

EM: That’s amazing. I love that and it really is kind of, you hear more about that type of leadership and hopefully we will see more of that you know and as more even more female leaders come in into different companies. So what, as a leade, would you say you find most challenging for yourself?

CC: Well, my biggest challenge area was to give negative feedback. That’s tough. I’m a recovering people pleaser, right. My gut instinct would tell me, you’ve got to do this. But I was always so worried about how that would make the other person feel. So it’s my greatest challenge is look, you’re in the business of business, right? When you’re doing work, it’s yes, bring your heart to it. But you must be pragmatic. Make tough decisions fast. Rip off that bandage. I have this habit of going, I want to make sure that you’re really making the right decision. Give the negative feedback in a compassionate way and make the tough decisions.

And lastly, you must go with your gut instinct. Your gut instinct is right for you. The day that you don’t, and I have done this, is the day of the big failures.

EM: Yes, right. And you know it, you know, when you have that gut instinct, it’s the way to go. So in our industry, in your area of philanthropy, you know, where do you see things heading? What is kind of the direction right now in 2025? Where would you say vision philanthropy is heading?

CC: What I’m very excited about, partly why I’m here in Santa Barbara after being here last year when I met you, what I’m excited about is the partnership and the collaboration now that we see emerging to end avoidable sight loss between the business and the private sector.

And then the not-for-profits and the philanthropy, it’s this multi-stakeholder partnership and collaboration that is… Because listen, the issue of ending avoidable site loss is not going to be solved by philanthropy alone. It’s not. No chance. Everything’s, it’s just about money. It’s not just about money. It’s about governments. It’s about business. It’s about market. It’s about technology. Definitely. It will not be resolved by philanthropy and I think what I’m very excited about is this really radical collaboration of multi-stakeholder and the role of the private sector and business.

EM: It has a lot of potential. It’s very exciting.

CC: This is the thing, this is where I do believe we have this moment where we could leave a legacy, where if we come together. Well, billion people in the world are unnecessarily blind.

EM: And what a legacy. And that affects their lives every single day.

CC: What I say is you know you’re in the business of helping people see but I think you’re in the business of helping people be the very best they can be achieve their dreams achieve their potential.

EM: Yes. I love what you said at the executive summit when you gave the keynote last year, right? It was… Oh, you were in business, the business of freedom.

CC: You’re in the business, you think you’re in the business of sight. I think you’re in the business of freedom, potential, and dreams. And I believe that. Because when I think of somebody like me who lives with ocular albinism, if I hadn’t had the access to eye care, I wouldn’t be here. And look at all the things that I might not have done. And I think about all the young little ones.

Of the billion people at least half of that is children. We’re squandering the potential of our future. I want them to see their future, I want them to themselves in their future.

EM: So true. Beautiful. So my last question is just a simple one. Kind of, if you were to give one idea, one tip to other female, other aspiring female leaders in our industry or any leader for that matter, you what would it be?

CC: So I’m going to give this to my father. He often plays a key role. My dad said something to me a lot before he died, you know, be yourself because everyone else has taken it’s like an Oscar Wilde quote. Right. I think the only way that we can lead is genuinely to find a sense of self and being true to self and self-acceptance. Definitely. And not living out somebody else’s story of you or being defined by your role or a moment in your life.

I have this idea of it’s the undefining of self, the constant undefining of self. So you become closer to who you really are because you cannot lead if you’re pretending to be somebody else. And I know that personally because I never disclosed my sight for a long time and hiding and covering who you are less makes you less effective.

I also think people pick up on it. So it’s really about your own self being true to who you are, self-acceptance. It’s a big thing, and if I could give any one piece of advice is do the work. Like if it’s therapy it’s yoga or work. Right? Because when you when you’re free in yourself you’re the very best you can be.

EM: And it’s hard. It is hard. And it might take you on different paths, you know, to be your authentic self.

CC: But I also think this age can I just say turning over 50 we get to look at just have learned so much more about being true to who we are.

EM: And we know ourselves.

CC: And forgive ourselves for the messes.

EM: Wow, well that was really powerful. Thank you so much for joining me today. I always love talking with you. It’s so inspiring. So, and thank you all for joining us. We will be back again with more episodes of Her Insight for Insight Media. Thank you, Caroline. Have a good day.

CC: You too. Thank you.