What We Do

BrightFocus is committed to:

• Funding the most promising and innovative research that approaches the diseases from diverse angles to have the best chance of defeating them for good.
• Growing community to reflect better and support every person impacted by mind and sight diseases.
• Supporting and educating scientists from all backgrounds to foster creativity and innovation in addressing complex scientific challenges. We strongly encourage applications from individuals who are from groups underrepresented in the field to apply for our grants. Nearly 45% of our funded researchers across 25 countries are women and from a non-white racial background.
• Reflecting the broad community we serve by hiring with a mindset of inclusivity. We believe diverse perspectives and representation amongst our staff and leadership are essential to better understanding and serving everyone.

• Increasing awareness across every community about mind and sight diseases, with an emphasis on under-resourced communities where there is a significant distrust in healthcare professionals and a lack of understanding about the diseases and the importance of taking them more seriously.
• Growing our strategic diversity, equity, and inclusion partnerships to better educate and engage with underserved communities in a meaningful way that provides value to these communities. We believe that change starts from within, and that success occurs when community ambassadors build relationships and trust as agents of change over time.
• Listening to and making changes in our initiatives to reflect better the voices of the people we serve.
• Ensuring our informational programs and materials meet the highest ADA standards for accessibility and low vision possible.
• Increasing our free multilingual resources.