Caroline Casey – The Aisling Foundation

Victor "Global X" d'Allant
Former Executive Director, Social Edge

Global X recently ran into Caroline Casey, the founding CEO of The Aisling Foundation in Ireland (“aisling” is Gaelic for dream and vision).

Caroline is an Ashoka Fellow and a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. She was recently named an Eisenhower Fellow –which explains why she was in the U.S. for two months to meet other social entrepreneurs and expand her network (including an exclusive meeting with Global X!)

Global X was mesmerized as Caroline told her personal story and how she was dealing with her own disability. Even though she is legally blind and can only see up to one meter, she managed to achieve, at age 34, the three dreams she had when she was a teenager: she was an elephant handler, she now works for herself, and she drove a race car at 185 km/h. As she puts it, "you don’t need eyes to have a vision!"

Global X loved what she said about disability: "It’s not about you!" Or about life: "We are all frightened, we all have obstacles, but we all have wonderful moments when we are heroes. We all have potential… It’s all about facing the demons and taking the risks."