Industrial Automation Magazine India

VisionSpring announces new COO

Published on : Thursday 09-07-2020

Leena Palav joins social enterprise to drive growth and scale as VisionSpring aims to deliver clear vision for their 10 millionth customer.

New York, July 8, 2020 – VisionSpring, the award-winning social enterprise that is addressing the need for the 2.7 billion people who need glasses to see clearly, announced the addition of a new Chief Operating Officer, Leena Palav. The new member of the executive leadership team brings two decades of private sector experience in health and technology, managing strategy, business development, global operations and supply chain. As COO, Palav will have global responsibility for VisionSpring's organisational development, operational excellence and performance at scale for an organisation that serves partners in 18 countries. A strategic and multi-functional leader with 20-plus years of experience driving operational rigor, building systems, improving customer service, and developing people and culture for growth, Palav brings an analytical and entrepreneurial approach to her work. She has built, managed and grown operations in start-up, mid-size and large health care and tech companies with P&Ls ranging from $10 million to $16 billion. Prior to joining VisionSpring, Palav led services quality, operations and corporate strategy at GE Healthcare and the scale-up of medical device sales, manufacturing and operations with Zimmer, Cardionics and AMC Health. Palav earned a Masters of Science in engineering at the University of Manitoba, and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin, and her deep expertise includes certifications in Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, project management, ISO and FDA quality management systems. Palav brings her unique experience to VisionSpring as the organisation works to reach its 10 millionth eyeglasses customer in 2021 and respond to the spread of Covid-19 in low-income customer communities.

"We are so fortunate to have Leena join us during this key moment in VisionSpring's history," said Ella Gudwin, VisionSpring CEO. "We have integrated COVID prevention into our community-based work and are providing PPE to our global health care partners. In the context of a 'new normal,' Leena's commitment to service quality, process excellence and inclusive leadership will enable VisionSpring to scale-up access to vision screening services and glasses delivery, emerging from this global crisis stronger than ever. We are thrilled she is here," added Gudwin.

"I am very excited to start this new chapter in my career," shared Palav. "After 20 years of working in the healthcare industry, I am looking forward to leveraging my experiences to help VisionSpring in its impactful mission of providing access to affordable vision care in low-income communities. It is a simple but powerful premise: clear vision can exponentially improve livelihoods and productivity. I am glad to have this opportunity to make such a difference in a person's life. I was raised in Mumbai, India, and as a young girl, I was the first eyeglasses wearer in my family. I look forward to helping create millions of such stories," she added.