New international talent at the helm of IOA

July 26, 2025 Staff reporters

New Zealand dispensing optician and dispensing advocate Donald Crichton is stepping down as president of the International Opticians’ Association (IOA). Helen Whitaker from Canada is the new president, while Asenso Prince from Ghana takes on the role of vice president.

 

After two years as president and five years as vice president, it was time to hand over the reins, Crichton said. “I'm very excited to hand over to such awesome people. Helen has great energy and is very enthusiastic and entrepreneurial. She was also the recipient of the International Optician of the Year award in 2021. Asenso is a past president of the Opticians Association of Ghana and achieved his optical qualification through the Association of British Dispensing Opticians.”

 

Currently national operations manager with EssilorLuxottica New Zealand, Crichton is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers and has an extensive history with dispensing in New Zealand where he has served as president of the New Zealand Association of Dispensing Opticians and dispensing technician teacher at the School of Optometry and Vision Science at the University of Auckland.