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Christopher Carroll

An Investment in the Future

Devoted to swimming each morning in the ocean – and to his black lab, Buoso Donati – Carroll has added his name to those who are devoted to restoring sight around the world through their estate planning.

SEE International would like to thank Christopher Carroll, a Montecito investment advisor, for including SEE in his estate planning. After earning his undergraduate degree from the London University and a Master’s in Finance from the University of Southern California, Christopher joined the Santa Barbara community in 1975. A native of Stratford-upon-Avon, Christopher brought not only savvy business acumen to Santa Barbara—he also came with an immense passion for cricket, which he credits with enriching his life immensely. “My cricket skills surely opened up the world, but my world view expanded substantially when I met fellow neighbor Dr. Harry Brown [SEE’s founder],” says Christopher. “I’ll never forget those early conversations we had.”

Dr Brown remembers those conversations well. They talked for hours about the year following his ophthalmology residency. Dr Brown wanted to learn more about international ophthalmology, so he put together a closely detailed itinerary allowing him to do eye surgeries at many different international hospitals and took his entire family on a year-long voyage around the world. “I’ll never forget watching the red-eye flight come into Kabul with the copilot holding up a white box that a missionary eye surgeon would rush back to our hospital. The white box held donated eyes carried from a prestigious London eye hospital to Heathrow by a Lions Club volunteer. With these precious donations, we were able to perform corneal transplants, restoring as many patients’ sight as we could.” Christopher understood very quickly how important and exceptional these collaborations are in countries like Afghanistan, Namibia, and India—nations where there is a great need and a devastating shortage of skilled surgeons and special medical supplies. He decided to join Dr Brown in doing something about it by giving to SEE International, an organization that makes possible complex collaborations to restore sight around the world.

By thinking through his charitable priorities in financial planning, Christopher has increased the power his estate will have in driving forward the causes that mean the most to him: the arts and the right to sight. Christopher is a noted leader and philanthropist in the arts and generously supports these organizations in the Santa Barbara community. Yet, he chose to include SEE International in his estate planning as well. “It is my wish,” explained Christopher, “that this gift will encourage others to do something similar. The compounding of contributions will provide enough support for SEE International to give the gift of sight year after year. We all take so much for granted.” Christopher shaped his giving as a deferred charitable gift through a trust. Christopher’s foresight and generosity will allow SEE International to continue its work—to restore sight and transform thousands of lives—for years to come.