Optical Women's Association - 2015 OWA Pleiades Honoree

2015 Pleiades Award Recipient — Maureen Cavanagh

Maureen Cavanagh was recently named president of the Vision Impact Institute, currently supported by Essilor. The mission of the Vision Impact Institute is to raise awareness of the importance of healthy vision, including the socio-economic impact of Uncorrected Refractive Errors (URE) and quality-of-life benefits of visual correction.

Cavanagh joined Essilor in October 2005 as the director of DEFINITY lenses, launching DEFINITY throughout the Essilor network, following the acquisition of The Spectacle Lens Group. Soon after, she was named vice president of integrated retail, carving out a separate division and launching a new platform to specifically meet the needs of surfacing retail customers for Essilor. In December 2009, Cavanagh was promoted to president of Nassau Vision Group and OOGP, overseeing several stock lens and contact lens distribution centers, along with a local digital lens laboratory, Nova and the Shore Lens division.

Cavanagh is a strong advocate for women in leadership roles. She currently mentors several women in business and was integral in the launch of the Diversity and Inclusion initiative at Essilor. She has served as keynote speaker on topics of inspiring change and was a guest on the Power Hour radio show, advocating on behalf of women taking control of their own career development. In 2011 she was recognized as one of Jobson's "Most Influential Women in Optical."