[Massachusetts-NFB] Member to Member - Getting to Know Each Other

[sharawinton at gmail.com]

Wonderful!! Nice to learn and know more about you Hai! Great job Bronwen! 

 

 

Shara Winton

President, National federation of the Blind of Massachusetts

 <http://www.nfbma.org/> www.nfbma.org

 <mailto:sharawinton at gmail.com> sharawinton at gmail.com

617-304-0347

 

From: Massachusetts-NFB <massachusetts-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Bronwen Tedesco via Massachusetts-NFB
Sent: Sunday, June 7, 2026 1:04 PM
To: massachusetts-nfb at nfbnet.org
Cc: Bronwen Tedesco <bronwen.tedesco at gmail.com>
Subject: [Massachusetts-NFB] Member to Member - Getting to Know Each Other

 

Welcome to this edition of Member to Member! Today, we will get to know board member and Vice President of the Massachusetts Blind Parents Division, Hai Nguyen Ly.

 

Hai was born in Vietnam and came to the US and was adopted at the age of ten. He grew up in Illinois, living in various cities throughout his childhood. He read a lot of braille as a child and when reflecting on those experiences, he said, “I used to read braille in the trees. I would climb the tree with my book. That was the one way I could get away from my siblings. It was challenging when I would finish a volume and have to climb back down.” He was first aware of his blindness when he was in kindergarten and his teacher asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. When he said an astronaut or a pilot, everyone laughed at him. When he asked what was funny about that, they said they’d never heard of a blind pilot or astronaut and from then on, he realized he wanted to help blind people live the life they want and create ways of doing things using technology. Throughout school, he enjoyed music and played violin, piano, and took jazz lessons. When he was in high school, he did gymnastics and wrestling. After he graduated in 2005, he attended the University of Chicago. He majored in science and mathematics and found it very difficult to access materials. “I spent two thousand dollars on a braille math book. That was definitely an eye opener.” While struggling in college, he took a break and started working for Handy Tech of America working in tech support and sales. He then attended the Louisiana Center for the Blind in 2007. Later on that year, he returned to school, changed his major to psychology, but still struggled to access material, and psychology was not as interesting to him. He then took a job at KNFB, and was still working with Handy Tech. He also briefly lived in Berkeley California, then in 2010  when he got married and his son was born, he relocated to Miami, Florida to be close to his wife Umi's parents. In 2012, he started working for Baker and Taylor, where he remained until 2021. In 2022, he started as a senior lead accessibility consultant at Target, then he was promoted to the lead accessibility consultant May 2026.

 

Hai discovered the NFB when he applied for a scholarship and attended his first National convention. The work the NFB was doing and NFB leaders who mentored him motivated him to remain involved. While he was in school, he was active in the Chicago chapter and has stayed involved since. When asked if he had any advice for anyone who has recently joined the NFB or lost their sight, he said, “Lean into your curiosity. Ask all of the questions even if they seem silly at the time. Advocate for the changes you would want for your past self, your current self, and create space for all of the future leaders by answering all the questions of new and curious members.” 

 

He currently lives with his wife and two kids in Northampton, Massachusetts, a town in Western Massachusetts where he has lived since 2014. In his free time, he enjoys operating ham radio, reading science fiction and fantasy, and playing with various types of technology.

 

It has been great getting to know you, Hai. Stay tuned for our next Member to Member!

 

Hope everyone enjoys the week and the warmer weather!

 

Sincerely,

Bronwen

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