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--></style></head><body lang="EN-US" link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">From Anil Lewis, Executive Director of Blindness Initiatives for the NFB:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">“Our Blind Users Innovating and Leading Design (BUILD) program was developed to reduce the number of entities benefiting from the talent and lived experiences of our members without allowing our active participation in the development and implementation of their tools and strategies, often without compensation to our members. Our Research Advisory Council (RAC) and our BUILD program have made it possible for us to ensure that the NFB has an active role in the research and development of products and services being design for blind people. Moreover, in the past, our participation in these projects has gone uncompensated. Individuals that participate in our BUILD projects are usually compensated for their time with gift cards and in some instances $50-$100 for an hour or two of their time. Moreover, a few of our BUILD participants have obtained employment through their participation in the program. Of course, there will always be those instances where we hope that our members will be willing to participate in those projects deemed appropriately important and extremely worthwhile without compensation. Let me extend my extreme appreciation for those that are willing to dedicate their time and talent to support this initiative.“</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">I think this answers the questions people on this list had about the BUILD program.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Dick Davis, Chair <br>NFB Employment Committee</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div></body></html>