Elaine is Head of Professional Services and International Development for the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO).  She qualified as a dispensing optician and first registered with the General Optical Council in 1985. She became a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers in 2000, a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry in 2009 and a Fellow of the European Academy of Optometry and Optics in 2018. 

She is an Executive Board member of the European Council of Optometry and Optics, and is secretary of their Public Affairs and Economic Committee. She is a Trustee of the Board for the European Academy of Optometry and Optics.

Elaine is also the Director of Development for the International Opticians Association whose role is “to enhance and develop the optical profession around the world”

A francophile, Elaine sits on the Scientific Committee of the Silmo Academy in France and is a member of  the Vision Jury for the prestigious Silmo d’OR awards.

She is currently undertaking a Masters degree in Dementia Studies having had personal and professional experience of the condition. 

She is a fluent French speaker and has delivered presentations in Mandarin