About Us
Our Found Inspiration
We are inspired to assist humankind to gain the ability to see clearly. Our motto: Let's See, means let us all see as well as possible. Let vision not hamper anyone's way of life.
We will measure community impact one beautiful human at a time. When one person is granted the gift to see clearly every day, they are given the gift of success. To be able to see they are able to work, protect, learn, succeed. The gift of corrective vision is a gift for life. One person’s betterment raises the entire community’s betterment.
Our Story
Terrie's Inspiration
Being fortunate to travel to different corners of the world, it became apparent that the prevalence of corrective eyewear was notably low. This observation led me to consider the benefit in providing corrective eyewear to enhance the daily life of anyone. The challenge of helping humans reach something, as straightforward as, optimal vision seemed like low hanging fruit. Fortunately, I have a personal connection to the company, PlenOptika, that has developed a portable instrument to aid in this goal.
Improving one’s vision with just a pair of eyeglasses may impact so many aspects of life: reading instructions, following recipes, reading instruments, recording data, fostering education; not only helping that one human being, but also those in their family and community.
When visiting with a friend who teaches English to students in Bali, I mentioned this idea to her and her first words were: “when can you bring this program to Bali?” That spark ignited this company, with a lot of help from many friends (and seat mates on airplanes) we developed a non-profit company and T-Up Vision Inc came to fruition.
Krystin's Inspiration
Krystin is inspired by the belief that strong financial stewardship empowers nonprofits to change lives. With more than 20 years of experience supporting nonprofit organizations and over 25 years in corporate finance leadership, she brings both heart and expertise to her role as Treasurer of T-Up Vision.
Throughout her career, Krystin has dedicated her time and talent to organizations that serve communities and create opportunity, including In Kind Friends, LLC; CAM Raleigh; Montessori School of Raleigh; St. Raphael Catholic School; the SCRIPT Gift Card Program; and the Bishop’s Annual Appeal for St. Raphael Parish. Her work reflects a deep commitment to ensuring that missions are supported by sound financial practices and thoughtful governance.
In her professional life, Krystin has led corporate finance teams through complex financial reporting and system integrations, always focused on clarity, accountability, and sustainability. She brings this same passion to her nonprofit service—believing that when finances are strong and transparent, organizations can focus fully on the people they serve.
Krystin is proud to support T-Up Vision’s mission and is inspired by the opportunity to help build a financially sound future that amplifies impact and transforms lives.
Olivia's Inspiration
I’ve always had the desire to travel the world, to gain perspectives that differ in ways big and small from the ones I hold. Last summer, as a rising senior in college, I had the incredible opportunity to travel to the mountains of rural Honduras on a medical brigade trip. Every day for about a week, after an hour bus ride from our lodging up winding, rocky mountain roads, we arrived in the secluded community of Arenalitos, to provide medical, dental, nutritional, pharmaceutical, and educational assistance. One of our clinic’s stations was also aimed to assess eye sight and vision health, and the lack of adequate access to visual health resources was immediately apparent. I saw first hand the extent to which the lack of access to healthcare pervades corners of the world, but was simultaneously amazed by the grace and gratitude with which the loving people of Arenalitos met us. I learned so much about not only global healthcare, but about how truly fortunate we are, the potential impact you can have on another’s life, and what it means to be a compassionate human being.
I have also been fortunate enough to know Terrie Wehse for the entirety of my life. Making a plethora of memories in college with my Dad and their group of friends translated into an annual tradition of spending a winter long weekend with Wehse family. Every year, I counted down the days to our visits up to Vermont the second temperatures started to drop in Boston. I am so grateful to Terrie and her compassionate, ambitious heart, which have afforded me the opportunity to continue sharing the opportunities and resources to which I have access. I am so proud to be a part of this organization, and cannot wait to “see” all that we can do in continuing to share our hands, minds, and hearts with those around the world!
Meet The Team
Terrie Wehse
President, Director, and Founder
Krystin Knox
Treasurer, Director and Co-Founder
Olivia Manning
Secretary, Media Guru, Director and Co-Founder
"What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make."
Jane Goodall
Advisory Board
We are honored to be working with these experts in the field.
Bruce Moore, O.D.
Dr. Bruce Moore is a Professor Emeritus at the New England College of Optometry and a nationally recognized expert in pediatric optometry and children’s vision care. His impressive career marked by hundreds of papers, leadership and teaching roles, and work to develop more sustainable policies and programs for child-focused visual care (New England College of Optometry).
Dr. Moore has extensive experience working as a part of international outreach initiatives aimed to promote visual health for populations underserved communities. His expertise in clinical care, vision screening, and the development of sustainable vision-care programs provides invaluable guidance to T-Up as we work to expand access to vision care in underserved communities around the world.
Learn more about Dr. Moore and his impact at New England College of Optometry.
Shivang Dave, Ph.D.
Dr. Shivang Dave is CEO and Co-Founder of PlenOptika, a healthcare technology company dedicated to expanding access to high-quality vision care through innovative technology (PlenOptika). PlenOptika developed the QuickSee, a handheld autorefractor which enables accessible refractive assessments in a variety of settings.
T-Up uses the QuickSee to assess vision in communities where access to traditional eye-care services may be limited. Dr. Dave's expertise in vision technology and innovation provides crucial insight as we work to provide scalable, efficient solutions to mediate a lack of access to visual care resources. Through the innovation of Dr. Dave and the PlenOptika team, T-Up is able to bring advanced vision-assessment technology directly into the communities we serve.
Learn more about Dr. Dave and PlenOptika's work at PlenOptika.