[Massachusetts-NFB] At-Large Chapter Meeting Minutes

[Liz Lesperance]

Good Evening,

Attached and pasted below please find the minutes from the at-large
chapter's May meeting which was held yesterday evening. We elected a new
slate of officers and I am privileged to lead this chapter as our newly
elected President. Congratulations to all of our new board members!

Please don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions about
the at-large chapter or suggestions for future meetings.

Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 10th at 7:00PM. Please note
that we have decided to move the meeting 30 minutes later as 7:00 works
better for most of us.

Wishing you a wonderful evening!

Kind Regards,
Liz

**********

*National Federation of the Blind of MA At-Large Chapter*

*May 2025 Meeting Minutes*



The NFB of MA at-large chapter met on Tuesday, May 13th. The meeting began
at 6:32PM. Those in attendance included:

Allen Larkin

Brian Langlois

Cullen Gallagher

ElizabethAnn Johnson

Kristina Constant

Kyra Sweeney

Liz Lesperance

Ren Lovegood

Sandy Burgess

Shannon Canton

Shara Winton

Shirley Doris

We kicked off the meeting by sharing our favorite ice cream flavors as our
icebreaker activity.

Cullen recited the NFB Pledge.

Everyone had a chance to read the April meeting minutes. Ren putforth a
motion to accept the April meeting minutes. Shirley seconded the motion.
The April meeting minutes were approved unanimously.

In lieu of a treasury report we discussed the idea of opening a bank
account for our chapter. Sandy and Debbie spoke with Kobena about the
process which involved having two chapter  board members meet at the bank
in person which is difficult as we are geographically dispersed. The
process also included securing particular documents pertaining to our
affiliates 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. It was ultimately decided that, at
this time, our chapter does not raise enough annual funds to justify
opening our own bank account. Instead, we will continue to hold any funds
raised in the affiliate account and our chapter treasurer will keep track
of our current balance.

Shara went over her affiliate president’s report which included the
following highlights:

-the national convention is just a few months away. It will take place from
July 8th through the 13th in New Orleans. Shara confirmed which members in
attendance plan on coming to the convention. On Wednesday, May 14th there
will be a meeting in the evening to discuss whether or not our affiliate
will have a table in the exhibit hall.

-any individuals who receive a stipend from our affiliate to attend the
national convention are expected to attend all general sessions, to attend
the banquet, and to work a shift at our affiliate table if we decide to
have one.

-special congratulations to Ren who is receiving a Kenneth Jernigan
scholarship

-the Cambridge chapter walk will take place on Skunday, Oct. 5th

-on Tuesday June 17th the MFA will offer a tactile tour of their exhibit
“Witnessing Humanity- the Art of John Wilson”. Shara would like to make
this an outing for all who can attend. The tour begins at 1:30 and will
last about 90 minutes. Shara suggested having a late lunch/early dinner
after the tour. To sign up for the tour, please email

access at mfa.org

-the next affiliate board meeting will be held in the evening of June 17th

Next, Kyra shared with us that on Wednesday, June 4th the NFB of MA will
hold a day at the state house where we will meet in person with legislators
in support of our legislative priorities. In particular, we will be seeking
support for H.1852/S.1164, a bill to protect disabled parents’ rights in
the juvenile and family court, as well as drawing attention to state public
accommodations which need amendments to better protect the rights of guide
dog users discriminated by rideshare companies. We plan to be at the state
house from 9:00am to 4:00pm. If you are interested in joining please email
Kyra at

Kyra.sweeney94 at gmail.com and CC Shara.

Liz added that per Shara’s recent email Senator Edward’s office is seeking
written testimony in support of the parents’ rights bill mentioned above.
The written testimony must be submitted by June 21st and can be emailed to

Christianna.Golden at masenate.gov as well as Grace.Giordina at masenate.gov

We then held our chapter elections. Our newly elected slate of officers is
as follows:

Chapter President - Liz Lesperance

Chapter Vice President - Sandy Burgess

Chapter Secretary – Cullen Gallagher

Chapter Treasurer - Allen Larkin

Chapter Board Member – Kristina Constant

Please note, Allen is still our chapter liaison for the affiliate board

Cullen played for us the May presidential release recap. The highlights
include:

-the time is now to egister for the national convention. Rooms are still
available at the Mariott which is the main hotel as well as at the Sheraton
which is the overflow hotel.

-now is also the time to get resolutions into the Resolutions Committee
prior to the national convention. Resolutions are due by June 8th and
should be emailed to resolutions at nfb.org

-the Give $25 campaign is back. All are encouraged to donate or spread the
word about the meaningful work performed by the NFB. The first 100 people
who donate $100 or more wil receive a pair of After Shokz headphones.
Everyone who enters has the chance to win a free trip to the 2026 national
convention in Austin, TX or accept a cash prize. An anonymous doner is
matching the first $25,000 in donations.

Shara shared that on Sunday, June 1st the Honeygrow Restaurant in Peabody
will hold a fundraiser for the NFB of MA. Shara will be sharing a code that
patrons should use when dining at the restaurant or placing an order
through doordash. Twenty percent of all sales placed using the code will go
to the NFB of MA. This restaurant also has a location closer to Boston and
Shara will follow up with this location as well.

Liz discussed our affiliate’s current lawsuit against the Massachusetts
Dept. of Agriculture. This lawsuit stemmed from a local horse ranch
discriminating against a blind person who was interested in doing a guided
trail ride. With the assistance of Al Elia at Disability Law United it was
discovered that this is a systemic issue across the state, therefore, the
affiliate board has agreed to take on this issue. The lawsuit was filed
approximately three weeks ago.

We discussed what date and time would be best for our monthly meetings. It
was ultimately decided that the second Tuesday at 7:00PM works best for
most. The meeting time was voted on and approved unanimously.

Liz discussed plans for future meetings and mentioned having speakers with
special interests join the meeting along with various leaders from the NFB
and other blindness communities.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, June 10th at 7:00PM via zoom. Cullen will
come up with the icebreaker and Kristina will recite the NFB pledge. The
meeting adjourned at  7:46 PM.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/massachusetts-nfb_nfbnet.org/attachments/20250514/7011d7cc/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: May 2025 At-Large Chapter Meeting Minutes.docx
Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
Size: 20179 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/massachusetts-nfb_nfbnet.org/attachments/20250514/7011d7cc/attachment.docx>