Brothers, Bradford and Bryan Manning, are social entrepreneurs on a mission to cure blindness. At the age of 7, they were both diagnosed with an eye disease that destroys central vision over time. To fight back, they left their former careers in finance to propel a small charitable clothing company, Two Blind Brothers, into one of the fastest growing charitable brands in the country with endorsements from Ellen DeGeneres, Ashton Kutcher, Richard Branson, NBC Nightly News, and many others. Brothers, Bradford and Bryan Manning, are social entrepreneurs on a mission to cure blindness. At the age of 7, they were both diagnosed with an eye disease that destroys central vision over time. To fight back, they left their former careers in finance to propel a small charitable clothing company, Two Blind Brothers, into one of the fastest growing charitable brands in the country with endorsements from Ellen DeGeneres, Ashton Kutcher, Richard Branson, NBC Nightly News, and many others.
Their leadership on topics such as "purpose-driven" work, family, overcoming disability, and launching a social enterprise has also attracted the attention of major corporations and conferences. Some of these partners include AT&T, TEDx, Sotheby's, Foundation Fighting Blindness, and the Life Is Beautiful Festival.
Their luxury clothing project is focused on quality, comfort, and "sense of touch". The brothers hired an organization of 70% blind and visually-impaired workers to produce the clothing in Dallas, Texas. Two Blind Brothers donates 100% of its profits to researchers and the Foundation Fighting Blindness to find cures for blindness. The funds from Two Blind Brothers are driving life-changing treatments that are already being used in patients such as the “Voretigene Neparvovec” treatment, a gene therapy developed by Spark Therapeutics.
The brothers are evangelists for charitable and social enterprises. They empower others through advice and consultation on branding, story-telling, corporate responsibility, and sustainable fashion. They use social media to host weekly shows to promote these ideas and to connect the visually-impaired community. In their first year, their weekly shows and videos have received over 10 million views.
Bradford and Bryan are originally from Charlottesville, Virginia and currently both live together in New York City. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx