[Fabs] FABS September 2025 Meeting Minutes

[Yassir Bohorquez]

Hello Students,

As discussed during the Annual Business meeting, the September meeting
minutes were not motioned due to needed corrections.

Here in this email are the minutes for the month of September.

Note to the new secretary:
For all meeting minutes, you must do the following.
1. Create the minutes.
2. Get the president's approval of the newly created minutes.
3. Send the minutes via email or read them during the meeting.
4. Get a motion and a second for the minutes at a regular business meeting.
5. Finally, once the minutes have been approved by the membership, send the
minutes to minutes at nfbflorida.org. This last step is very important for
archiving records.
Final note to the secretary: you will have to implement the steps above for
the September minutes.

Best,
Jose, Former Vice President
Florida Association of Blind Students - National Federation of the Blind of
Florida

The minutes are below:

FABS Monthly Meeting Minutes

September 21, 2025

6:05 PM Role callOfficers

   -

   Z’Leah Liburd, President
   -

   Jose Bohorquez, Vice President
   -

   Elijah Grant, Secretary
   -

   Natalie Williams, Treasurer
   -

   Meliora Hatcher, Board Member 1 – not present
   -

   Niklas Ham, Board Member 2
   -

   Romario Blake, Board Member 3
   -

   A majority of the board was present, establishing a quorum.

Participants

The participants were not recorded by the secretary.

6:06 PM NFB Pledge and Belief Statement

Elijah recited the NFB pledge, Z’Leah recited the NFB belief statement.

6:07 PM Agenda Review

The agenda was reviewed.

6:08 PM Treasurer’s Report

Starting Period: 08/01/2025

Starting Balance: $1280.40
Money Spent: $45

   -

   $20 pledge to the affiliate
   -

   $25 exhibit hall table at state convention

Deposits: $0

No funds were received.

Ending Period: 08/31/2025

Ending Balance: $1235.40

Jose motioned to accept the treasurer’s report as read; Romario seconded;
all were in favor. The motion passes.

6:10 PM Secretary’s Report

The reports for August and September were sent on September 16th by email.

Jose motioned to accept the July minutes as emailed; Niklas seconded; all
were in favor. The motion passes.

Jose motioned to accept the September minutes as emailed; Natalie seconded;
all were in favor. The motion passes.

6:16 PM Committee ReportsFundraising

   -

   The committee decided to extend the City Pop fundraiser till October 6th.
   -

   Nothing to report regarding the Opus Coffee fundraiser.
   -

   The committee decided to do a guess that tune fundraiser allowing
   attendees to choose from listening to a song, or hearing read lyrics.

Membership

   -

   Membership is planning a social for next Sunday. Email will be sent
   tomorrow.


6:26 PM State Convention UpdatesFABS Business Meeting

   -

   The meeting will occur on Saturday October 4 from 2:00 PM – 3:50 PM.
   -

   Location: Capital 2 room: Located across from Crystal A.
   -

   Elections, new constitution, and yoga are some of the topics.
   -

   Positions up for election: vice president, secretary, and board member 1.
   -

   Board positions are now two year terms per our new constitution.

State Convention Updates

   -

   Hotel Location: Hilton Altamonte Springs 350 Northlake Blvd, Altamonte
   Springs, FL 32701
   -

   Convention online registration is now closed. You can still register
   on-sight for $30.00.
   -

   Banquet registration is now closed.
   -

   Hotel booking closed on the 19th of September. The only way to get a
   room now is to either pay the hotel rate or room with someone.
   -

   Transportation guide, restaurant guide, digital hotel restaurant menus,
   hotel map description, and convention agenda are all available; check the
   NFBF-L mailing list or mailing list archives


6:35 PM Assistive Technology Presentation – Ryan Mann and Romario BlakeRyan
Mann

   -

   Discussed the various training services he provides at the Conklin Davis
   Center.
   -

   Training services includes:
   -

      IOS VoiceOver training
      -

      MacOS VoiceOver training
      -

      Jaws for Windows
      -

      NVDA for Windows
      -

      Refreshable braille note takers and tablets
      -

   Mann also touched on several helpful tips and tricks for Jaws.
   -

   Tips for Jaws include:
   -

      Insert+F1 goes to help mode.
      -

      Use FS Companion to get Jaws help through AI.
      -

      Use Facing View to help ensure that you are centered on the frame
      before video meetings. Insert+spacebar, f, then o.

Romario Blake

   -

   Blake discussed the various products that Florida Vision Technology
   sells.
   -

   Products sold include:
   -

      Refreshable braille displays
      -

      Braille tablets
      -

      Standard and portable magnifiers
      -

      Other useful assistive tech
      -

   In addition, Blake demoed the Braille Sense 6, the latest cutting-edge
   braille tablet currently on the market.
   -

   Some features of the Sensed that were demoed include:
   -

      File Manager: Used to access folders and files on the device.
      -

      Organizer: Useful for creating calendar events and reminder and
      offers syncing across Google Calendar.
      -

      Media Center: Allows users to play media files, listen to FM radio,
      and access online radio services.
      -

      Word Processor: Allows users to create and edit documents.
      -

   Blake also demoed the new Victor Reader Stream, which allows users to
   listen to audio books and other audio content.
   -

   The newest feature highlighted was the ability to now read
   user-generated text documents.


6:59 PM Adjournment

Romario motioned to adjourn the meeting; Elijah seconded; all were in
favor. The meeting ended at 6:59 PM.

Pledge

I pledge to participate actively in the effort of the National Federation
of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind;
to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its
constitution.

Belief Statement

We know that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or our
future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low
expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. Our
collective power, determination, and diversity achieve the aspirations of
all blind people.