[il-talk] December 2014 NFBI committee list

Sat Dec 20 16:35:50 UTC 2014

To: All Members of the National Federation Of The Blind Of Illinois
From: Denise R. Avant
President, National Federation Of The Blind Of illinois
Date: December 20,  2014

This is our most up-to-date committee list. If you wish to be added to or deleted from  a committee, please let me know. Thanks to all of the chair persons and members for your work on our various committees.
Based on our protocols, please take note of the following:
 All committee meetings are open, except for Freedom Link, Chappell-Dennis, and scholarship. Notices of meetings should be e-mailed to our general membership and student listservs.
 Notes should be taken at every meeting.

2014-2015National Federation of the Blind of Illinois Committee Appointments:
updated: December 20, , 2014

COMMITTEES

*Advocacy Committee 
(Advocates with employers, schools, DRS, ICRE-WOOD and other public or private agencies for blind residents of Illinois.)
Chair Leslie Hamric
Members: 	David Meyer, Debbie Stein, Lois Montgomery, Patti Chang, Denise Avant, Charlene Elder, Debbie Pittman, Ronza Othman, Meg Cheatham, Linda Hendle

Bell Committee
This committee will plan for our Bell Program(s)in 2015and figure out how to tie it in with our Parent/TVI seminar in the spring, as well as our Freedom Link program.
Co-chairs: Patti Chang and Debbie Pittman
Members: Lois Montgomery, Jean Rauschenbach, Debbie Stein, Steve Hastalis, Amy Lund, Samantha Voll, Hilda Sandofer, Denise Avant, Cathy Randall, and Janet Leinum

*Braille Literacy Initiative
Chair: Debbie Stein
Members: Robert Gardner, Linda Hendle, 
Debbie Pitman, Bill Reif, Lois Montgomery, Charlene Elder,  Denise Avant and 
Patrick Olson 

*Chappel-Dennis Award Committee
(Responsible for decisions with guidance from NFBI board on aiding and selecting people to attend events.)
(This is our only committee where the membership remains anonymous.)

*Development Committee 
(Prepares and submits grant proposals.  Sends out annual appeal letters.  Handles things like our letter to estates attorneys.)
Chair: Cathy Randall 
Leslie Hamric (annual appeal)
Patti Chang, (Treasurer NFBI)
Grants: Denise Avant, Charlene Elder, Debbie Pitman, Jesse Rogers and Bill Reif 

xxx*Door Prizes
Chair: Marco Giannotti 
Members: Nancy Gardner, Roberta Glickman, Debbie Pittman, Jonathan Brayfield, Don Jordan and Bob Widman 

*Freedom Link 
(Transitions Club Committee)
Co-chairs:  Marco Giannotti and Debbie Stein
Members: Adrienne Falconer, Brianna Lillyman, Bill Reif, Mary Lou Grunwald, Steve Hastalis, Robert Hansen, Nicholas Robertson, Paul Shepherdson, Adana Saric, and Andrew Webb

*Fund Raising and Budget Committee 
(Responsible for all Fund Raising events e.g. Amazon Smile, Certificates, and Octoberfest, etc
 Responsible for putting together an annual budget for presentation to the board.)
Chair: Patti Chang, treasurer
Members: Denise Avant, Cathy Randall, Mary Lou Grunwald, Debbie Stein, Bob Widman, Don Jordan, Dave Meyer, and Sean Zieda

*Guide Dog
Chair: Debbie Pittman 
Members: Edwin Rodriguez, Yusef  Dale, Donna Miles, and Steve Pangeer

xxx*ISVI 
(Deals with the school for the blind and its issues.)
Chair:  Bill Reif
Members: Jonathan Brayfield, Jesse Rogers, Charlene Elder, Cathy Randall, Dave Meyer, and Debbie Stein

*Legislation- State, Committee 
(Responsible for State Legislative action.)
Co-Chairs: Dave Meyer and  Jemal Powell 
Members: Bill Reif, Marco Giannotti, Annette Grove, Bob Gardner, and Charlene Elder

*Legislation-Federal Committee 
(Responsible for Washington Seminar and Federal Legislative Action )
Chair: Annette Grove
Members: Bob Gardner, Debbie Pittman, Jemal Powell
Lois Montgomery, Adrienne Falconer, Charlene Elder, Rose Sloan, Steve Hastalis, Denise Avant, and Glenn Moore 

xxx*Newsletter Braille Examiner Committee 
(Writes and distributes our Newsletter.)
Editor Debbie Stein
Members: David Meyer, Carolyn Nelson, Steve Hastalis, Bill Reif, Brianna Lillyman, Jean Rauschenbach, Glenn Moor, and Leslie Hamric

*Newsline Committee
Chair: David Meyer
Members: Byron Lee, Bob Widman, Bill Reif, Lois Montgomery, and Brian Sumner

xxx*Parents 
(Plans and carries out parents’ seminars and parents’ events at conventions.) 
Chair Debbie Stein 
Members: Nelly Gamino, Cathy Randall, Dave Meyer
Bill Reif, Debbie Pittman, Byron Lee, MaryLou Grunwald, Charlene Elder, Glenn Moore, and Jonathan Brayfield

xxx*Public Relations  Committee 
(Responsible for notifying agencies and getting the word out generally on all NFBI events.  Responsible for getting as much press contact for our events as possible.)
Co-Chairs: Glenn Moore and Jesse Rogers
Members: Charlene Elder, Bob Widman, Venzelma Cotton, Carolyn Nelson, Margaret James, and Hilda Sandiford

xxx*Resolutions Committee 
(Responsible for reviewing and recommending “do pass” or “do not pass” to the convention.)
2014-15Members:
Chair: Patti Chang
Members: Bill Reif, David Meyer, Debbie Pittman, Mary Lou Grunwald, Jesse Rogers, Steve Hastalis, Rose Sloan, and Brianna Lillyman 

xxx*Renewal Committee 
(Responsible to assist all chapters in strengthening present membership and building new members.  Need to coordinate at-large chapter.  
Chair:  Gina Falvo
Members: Jonathan Brayfield, Jesse Rogers, Gary Jones, Bob Gardner,  Leslie Hamric
Linda Hendle, Lois Montgomery, Carolyn Nelson, Pat Olson, Patrick Olson, Bill Reif, Bob Widman, Alma Hinkle, and  Ken Staley

*Sales Committee
(Responsible to research items to sell as fund raisers)
Chair: Mary Lou Grunwald
Members: Debbie Pittman, Marco Giannotti, Adam Kozarewicz, Dan Peters, Sean Ziade

xxx*Scholarship Committee 
(Decides who is awarded scholarships and internships.  Mentors those persons at convention and throughout the year.)
Chair Debbie Stein
Members: Cathy Randall, Adrienne Falconer, Robert Hansen, Jesse Rogers, David Meyer, Nancy 
gardner, and Bill Reif

*Social networking on the web
Co-chairs: Robert Hansen and Ronza Othman
Members: Byron Lee, , Katie Leinum
Brianna Lillyman, Julia Chang, and Glenn Moore

xxx*Special Events Committee 
(Plans and carries out all aspects of our spring seminars and conventions except for press, sends out convention bulletin, and plans face-to-face  board meetings.)
Co-chairs Patti Chang and Denise Avant
Members: Nancy Gardner, Pat Olson, Roberta Reif, Byron Lee, and Robert Gardner 

Transportation Committee
Represent NFBI when dealing with transportation issues with both mainline and paratransit issues
Chair Jemal Powell
Members: Steve Hastalis, Debbie Pittman, Kelly Pierce 

*Webpage Committee 
(Purpose to keep the webpage growing and up to date. This committee will design, and implement the page as well as urge all to get content to the webmaster in a timely fashion.)
Chair:   Byron Lee
Members: Debbie Pittman, Glenn Moore, Patti Chang, and Marco Giannotti

NFB National LIAISON APPOINTMENTS 

Public Relations 
Glenn Moore and Jesse Rogers 

*Science Camp and Youth Slam Coordinator
Debbie Stein

GOVERNMENT ADVISORY PANEL APPOINTMENTS 

*Blind Services Planning Council
NFBI Representatives: Andrew Webb and Charlene Elder

*Library Committee Representative
Robert Hansen

*SRC

Governor’s Task Force on ISVI and ISD and education of the blind and deaf
Patti Chang 
Denise Avant 
Bill Reif

OTHER 
Pace Suburban ADA Advisory Committee 
Jemal Powell

The Illinois Affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind has two listservs for all interested in blindness issues in IL.  IL-Talk is for everyone and IABS-Talk is specific for those interested in student issues.  Sign up by going to www.nfbnet.org <http://www.nfbnet.org/>.
You can also find us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nfbi and on facebook by searching on "National Federation of the Blind of Illinois.”

Denise R. Avant
President, National Federation Of The Blind Of Illinois
Live the life you want