The Optical Women’s Association’s Pleiades Award

​A marketing professional experienced in consumer products and retailing, Carene Kunkler spent nearly a decade of her career as the vice president of product supply at LensCrafters, an innovative eyeglass retailer in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was responsible for buying, merchandising, and products for 600 LensCrafters stores in the US and Canada. In 2003, Carene Kunkler received the Pleiades Award from the Optical Women’s Association (OWA).

The OWA is a non-profit organization established in 1997 that seeks to enhance and promote the leadership roles of women in the optical industry. Every year, the OWA recognizes professionals who have demonstrated a passion for promoting women's leadership in the industry. During the annual Champagne Breakfast and Star Awards Ceremony in New York City, awardees in three different categories receive recognition. One of these awards is the Pleiades Award.

The OWA’s Pleiades Award is given to professionals who support the advancement of women’s leadership in the optical industry. The award derives its name from a cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus called The Pleiades. Another name for The Pleiades is “The Seven Sisters,” which alludes to the seven brightest stars in the cluster. Like The Pleiades, the women who receive the OWA’s Pleiades Award have helped create an organization that is bigger and brighter than all their individual efforts combined.

Carene Kunkler

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