Bonnie Strickland.
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CHICAGO—The National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness (NCCVEH) has opened nominations for its fifth annual Bonnie Strickland Champion for Children’s Vision Award. This award recognizes significant efforts to improve public health approaches to children’s vision and eye health at the state or national level. Nominations are open until July 10, 2019. Nominees for this award may include individuals or a group of diverse stakeholders, including family/caregiver and community leaders, who are creating and implementing changes to improve children’s vision in the U.S. Nominees should show an impact in one or more of the following areas:

• Key Stakeholder Engagement or Collaboration, including representation from families and diverse racial/ethnic/geographic and socio-economic levels target populations.
• Training and Education.
• Public Awareness.
• Provision of Resources and/or Services.
• Surveillance and Accountability.
• Reduction of Health Disparities.
• Infrastructure Development-Local, State or National Level.
• Making the connection between vision and overall health, early childhood development and learning.

The Bonnie Strickland Champion for Children’s Vision Award will be presented on Sept. 14, 2019, in Baltimore, Maryland, at the annual NCCVEH meeting. The winner(s) will receive a plaque, opportunity to present at the annual meeting, roundtrip transportation for one to and from Baltimore, and one night of lodging. In addition, the winner(s) will be featured on the NCCVEH website, including an overview of their program. Past winners include the Vision in Preschoolers (VIP) Study Group; Richard Bunner, retired from the Ohio Department of Health; Sean P. Donahue, MD, Ph.D., professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Vanderbilt University; the Illinois Eye Institute (IEI) at Princeton Vision Clinic; and the Pediatric Physicians’ Organization at Children’s (PPOC).

The Bonnie Strickland Champion for Children’s Vision Award was created to honor Bonnie Strickland and the work she undertook in order to establish a comprehensive system for children’s vision in the U.S. She served as director of the Division of Services for Children with Special Health Needs, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, until her retirement in 2014.

An all-volunteer committee will review all nominations for the Bonnie Strickland Champion for Children’s Vision Award and select the winner. To nominate someone, visit the Prevent Blindness website, or contact Donna Fishman at (800) 331-2020 or dfishman@preventblindness.org.