When it comes to fighting for children’s vision on Capitol Hill, few voices have been as persistent or impactful as Sara Brown’s. For the past eight years, Sara has been at the heart of Prevent Blindness’s government affairs and advocacy work, bringing relentless determination to a cause often overlooked, early detection of vision impairment in children.
Since joining Prevent Blindness in 2017, Sara has expanded the organization’s presence in Congressional advocacy. She leveraged the expertise of the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness to help draft what would become the Early Detection of Vision Impairment for Children (EDVI) Act, a bipartisan bill designed to ensure every child in the U.S. is screened and connected to eye care before vision problems escalate.
Focused on providing funding for state vision screenings, data tracking, awareness and education on children’s eye health, and improved access to care, the bill would be the first of its kind to establish a national program focused on children’s vision. Its focus on early detection, diagnosis, and treatment has huge potential to comprehensively address vision problems facing children, including those who have already experienced vision loss.
It took five years of persistence, compromise, and consensus-building to first bring the bill to Congress in 2024. At the time, Sara and Julie Grutzmacher, Director of Patient Advocacy and Population Health Initiatives, partnered to bring dozens of advocates trained through the Prevent Blindness ASPECT Patient Engagement Program to Washington for the initial push at engaging co-sponsors.
Now, reintroduced as H.R. 2527 earlier this year, the EDVI Act is gaining traction and not just among vision advocates. Sara and her colleagues have also engaged school nurses, parent groups, and organizations focused on education and child health, as they’ve built a growing coalition of over 100 endorsing groups.
The bill proposes $10 million annually over five years ($50 million total), which is a modest investment toward potentially massive returns. But even with its bipartisan appeal and clear public health benefits, progress has been slow. “The environment for new programs and new spending is tough right now,” Sara admits. “But our job is to advocate even when Congress isn’t ready to legislate.”
That advocacy push ramps up this summer, with Prevent Blindness and its partners urging more congressional co-sponsors to sign on. And while the bill’s framework intentionally leaves room for flexible implementation to meet state level needs, Sara emphasizes that the awareness component is essential. “We need to let parents, educators, and even health providers know what to look for. A child’s vision problem might go unnoticed—until it’s too late.”
As the Senior Director of Government Affairs for Prevent Blindness, Sara’s approach is deeply inclusive. She encourages organizations of all sizes and capacities to participate by writing support letters to members of Congress, sharing stories on social media, or publishing op-eds. “Endorsement doesn’t have to mean funding a lobbyist,” she says. “It means lending your voice in any way you can because it’s going to take a choir of voices to get this bill passed into law.”
One of Sara’s long-term goals is to have at least one supporting organization in every state. That way, when she meets with a representative, she can point to a local partner standing behind the bill. She’s already welcoming new groups like Know The Glow, WE C Hope, and others to the fold, expanding a tapestry of support that includes the likes of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Optometric Association, American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Seva, Sight Savers and the World Council of Optometry, alongside other esteemed organizations.
World Sight Day, observed this October 9th, will mark another milestone. Prevent Blindness plans to center its Capitol Hill activities on the EDVI Act, weaving it into a broader theme of storytelling—a nod to the personal experiences that so often drive policy change. Sara hopes to feature voices from a range of organizations and conditions (from myopia to retinoblastoma to cortical visual impairment and more) to help congressional staff understand why this work matters.
Introduced by Congressmen Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Marc Veasey (D-TX), the EDVI Bill is positioned to be embraced on the Hill with its bipartisan support and national interest.
For now, Sara, backed by the Prevent Blindness team, remains the bill’s primary driver. To help make progress toward its passage and enactment, with a focus on strengthening grassroots advocacy, Rachel Sherman-Presser has recently joined the team as Manager of Government Affairs and Advocacy. “I’ve lived every step of this journey,” Sara says. “It’s hard work—but it’s worth it when you know the impact early detection and access to eye care can have on a child’s future.”
In Sara Brown, Prevent Blindness, and every child whose vision depends on early detection, has found a relentless, passionate advocate. Her work is a reminder that some of the most powerful changes begin quietly, with someone who sees the need and refuses to look away.
To find out how you can support the EVDI Act, please visit advocacy.preventblindness.org/edvi-act.
