[Massachusetts-NFB] September Cambridge Chapter Minutes

[Cullen Gallagher]

Hi everyone,
The minutes from our September Cambridge Chapter meeting are below.
Thanks,
Cullen
Cambridge Chapter Minutes, September 14, 2026

The September 14, 2026 meeting of the Cambridge Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Massachusetts was held as a hybrid meeting at Cambridge Citywide Senior Center and Zoom. The meeting was called to order at 6:07 PM.
In Attendance:

Shirley Dorris, President
Sengil Inkiala, Vice President
Cullen Gallagher, Secretary
Mika Pyyhkala, Treasurer
Jen Bose, Board Member
Shara Winton, Affiliate President
Shannon Donahue
Jeff Wilson
Rick Camann
Wesley Taylor
Angey Manerson
Shondelle Williamson
Lindell Cooks
Joshua Nowak
Kobena Bonney
ElizabethAnn Johnson
Rashad Saadieh
Deepa Goraya 
Adam Roberge
Kristina Constant
Stephen Yerardi
John Oliveira
Ken Valentine
Brian Langlois
William O’Donnell
Jamal Mazrui
Laurie Mattioli
David Ticchi
Al Sten-Clanton
Brenda Elliott
Pat Quinn 
Sriram Ganesh
Allen Larkin
Leicia Chan
NFB Pledge

Jen led the NFB Pledge.
Secretary’s Report

Kobena moved acceptance of the August minutes; the motion was seconded by John and passed unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report

Mika presented the Treasurer’s Report. Donations for the David Ticchi Walk were coming in, and the Cambridge Chapter checking account balance was $3,477.22. According to the most recent weekly report from Scott Hurley at Cambridge Savings Bank, $4,635 had been received for the walk.
Members were also informed that Zelle payments should now be sent to nfbmapayments at gmail.com.
Cullen moved acceptance of the Treasurer’s Report; the motion was seconded by Al and passed, with Rashad voting in opposition.
Affiliate President’s Report

Shara provided several affiliate updates.
Members were encouraged to order the new NFB of Massachusetts shirts in time for October activities. The back of the shirts read, “Who are we? NFB. Ask me,” with “National Federation of the Blind” on the front. The shirts were available in sizes extra small through 5X, with multiple shirt styles, and ball caps were now available.
Who Are We NFB Bonfire Store <https://www.bonfire.com/who-are-we-nfb/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=thanks_page_share_modal&utm_campaign=who-are-we-nfb&utm_content=default&utm_id=97757_v0_s00_e0_tv2_a1demoo4b98r67>
Shara reminded members about the Instacart fundraiser and encouraged everyone to share it broadly. She also highlighted upcoming October activities, including the David Ticchi Walk on October 4 and the Wicked Good Chapter’s event at the Topsfield Fair on October 7.
The 2027 State Convention was confirmed for February 26–28 at the Peabody Marriott. Members interested in submitting resolutions should contact Al. Anyone interested in presenting at the convention or suggesting potential corporate sponsors was asked to contact Shara. The affiliate was particularly interested in sponsorships that could help offset major convention expenses and make the event more affordable for members.
David Ticchi Walk

The David Ticchi Walk was scheduled for Sunday, October 4 at Fresh Pond in Cambridge from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Shirley would send an email seeking volunteers for the welcome table and refreshments. Kristina volunteered to help at the table and to bring baked goods.
Shirley highlighted that the walk was one of the largest fundraisers for both the Cambridge Chapter and the affiliate. Funds raised would be used to assist members with National Convention and Washington Seminar attendance, as well as scholarships. David strongly encouraged members to continue seeking sponsors from family, friends, workplaces, doctors, businesses, and others in their communities.
The sponsorship letter would be sent out again to help members with fundraising.
Members were also reminded to bring water bottles to fill up at the walk.
Lumin Presentation

Pat Quinn and Sriram Ganesh joined the meeting to present Lumin. Sriram, Lumin’s founder, described his experience with progressive central vision loss and how increasing difficulty using computers and phones led him to explore simpler ways of accessing everyday digital tasks.
Lumin was created to make email, calendars, and other computer tasks easier to use through a conversational interface. The iPhone app was designed with a simple interface centered around talking to the assistant and managing connected accounts. The presenters demonstrated how users could ask about and work with email using voice. Lumin had launched at the 2026 NFB National Convention and had grown to nearly 1,000 users.
The service was free during early access, and users who joined during early access would retain free access. 
Presenter contact information:
pat at luminade.ai and sriram at luminade.ai
Lumin Website <https://www.trylumin.ai/>
Lumin App Store Link <https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lumin-talk-to-your-email/id6762822189?pt=3F75XJUXL3&ct=hero_e&mt=8>
Affiliate Email List Meeting and Discussion

Shirley announced that a separate Zoom meeting would be held to discuss concerns regarding the affiliate email list. The meeting was rescheduled for Thursday, October 1 to allow Shara to be present. The meeting would be held at 7:00 PM using the Cambridge Chapter Zoom information. Members were encouraged to approach the discussion respectfully and constructively.
Gene Kim had agreed at the previous month's meeting to develop proposed guidelines. Shirley would follow up on this prior to the October 1 meeting. 
Jamal proposed that the affiliate maintain two separate email lists: an announcement-only list for official information and an open discussion list for community conversation. Mika seconded Jamal’s motion, which passed with Cullen voting in opposition.
Although the proposal was initially discussed as a possible way to avoid an additional meeting, members agreed to keep the October 1 meeting so that concerns and ideas could be discussed more fully. Shirley would send the chapter’s recommendation to the affiliate board and provide an update at the October 1 meeting.
Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 7:41 PM.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/massachusetts-nfb_nfbnet.org/attachments/20260916/33ca61e8/attachment.htm>