As chief technology officer with Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York, NY, Rao Chalasani created the firm’s risk management platform and received a patent pending for his Enterprise Risk Management System. Outside of his professional career, Rao Chalasani has contributed to numerous charitable efforts, including Sankara Eye Foundation (SEF).
With US chapters in California, New Jersey, New York, and Washington State, SEF is a nonprofit organization that oversees eye care hospitals throughout India. Its mission is to prevent curable blindness in India, which comprises about one-fifth of the world’s total blind population. Many Indians experience blindness caused by cataracts or glaucoma, both of which can be treated to restore vision. The American arm of SEF has raised money to help provide over 1.25 million free eye surgeries since its founding in 1998.
SEF’s signature Gift of Vision Program is an outreach program that aims to assist people in rural areas. SEF workers go door to door in these areas to screen for individuals in need of further eye care. Identified individuals are next examined at nearby eye camps, and those in need of surgery or more advanced treatment are transported by bus to an SEF eye care hospital. There, they are provided surgery, medication, food, and accommodations, free of charge, before being transported back to their village. Follow-ups are done 30 days later to ensure that the treatment was successful. As of 2014, SEF managed eight eye hospitals in India, and it has plans to construct at least 12 more.
With US chapters in California, New Jersey, New York, and Washington State, SEF is a nonprofit organization that oversees eye care hospitals throughout India. Its mission is to prevent curable blindness in India, which comprises about one-fifth of the world’s total blind population. Many Indians experience blindness caused by cataracts or glaucoma, both of which can be treated to restore vision. The American arm of SEF has raised money to help provide over 1.25 million free eye surgeries since its founding in 1998.
SEF’s signature Gift of Vision Program is an outreach program that aims to assist people in rural areas. SEF workers go door to door in these areas to screen for individuals in need of further eye care. Identified individuals are next examined at nearby eye camps, and those in need of surgery or more advanced treatment are transported by bus to an SEF eye care hospital. There, they are provided surgery, medication, food, and accommodations, free of charge, before being transported back to their village. Follow-ups are done 30 days later to ensure that the treatment was successful. As of 2014, SEF managed eight eye hospitals in India, and it has plans to construct at least 12 more.
