NEW YORK—Warby Parker has been among the many companies and brands who have been encouraging their patients, consumers and employees to take part and vote in the upcoming national election. This year, to ensure all employees are prepared and able to vote safely and securely, Warby Parker provides paid time off to vote, serve as poll workers, and volunteer or take action to increase voting participation. The company is also providing resources and encouraging team members to take advantage of mail-in and early voting opportunities in their state.

Warby Parker is a dedicated partner to several organizations marshalling the resources of businesses and brands across various fields, such as Civic Alliance, Business For America and Time to Vote to amplify the importance of providing all Americans with the access, resources, and time they need to vote.

Last month, on National Voter Registration Day, Sept. 22, Warby Parker launched a new Civic Engagement Initiative to make it easier for customers and employees to register to vote ahead of this year’s election. Among the efforts against this, Warby Parker created resources for their employees and all citizens, including a step-by-step registration guide and as well as videos on social media,with non-partisan information about how to check if registered to vote, how to register to vote, state-level voting guidelines and accurate details about who is on the ballot.


Neil Blumenthal

In addition, all of Warby Parker's 120 U.S. retail locations are featuring QR codes on their storefronts for customers to check their voter registration status, register to vote, and access important information about upcoming local and general elections, with store associates on hand to help with questions. With Vote 411, the QR codes will provide localized, step-by-step guidance to aid customers to the voter registration process.

At the recent Vision Monday Global Leadership Summit, during the session, "Leadership Lessons from the Front Lines," Neil Blumenthal, co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker discussed the company's views toward corporate social responsibility that has been a core and expanding part of the company's mission since its inception just over 10 years ago.

In an interview with Vision Monday, Blumenthal said, "We believe that businesses are part of a community, and should give back. When I think about what motivates...it's about the idea that businesses can grow, grow profitability, deliver great value and can do good in the world. Like our Buy a Pair Give a Pair program as well as other initiatives recognizing social issues, we feel, if we can be an example to other businesses, then hopefully other entrepreneurs and executives will run their businesses in a similar manner and we can all just have greater and greater impact."

During the pandemic, Warby Parker's Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program pivoted to help provide PPE to those workers serving on the front lines. In addition, the company has recently taken steps to promote more diversity and inclusion initiatives, which has included publishing a more robust racial equity strategy and company Impact Report (both of which are posted on the company's website.

And the company recently announced a partnership with New England College of Optometry to provide scholarships to Black optometry students, as VMAIL reported. It was one of three eyewear companies partnering with Black Eyecare Perspective on career fairs at HBCUs across the country.