[Mn-at-large] NFB President's Notebook - week of 05/23/2016

Tue May 24 14:25:54 UTC 2016

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>President's Notebook
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>National Federation of the Blind
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>Mark A. Riccobono
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><mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
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>(410) 659-9314
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>Dear Fellow Federationists,
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>Dear Fellow Federationists,
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>I was thinking about our brand promise and I 
>wanted to again bring it to your attention. 
>â€œTogether with love, hope, and determination, 
>we transform dreams into reality.â€ This 
>expression brings so much to mind about who we 
>are and what we do. I encourage you to reflect 
>on it and work to make every action we take in 
>the Federation consistent with this promise. For 
>that matter, in selecting which things we will 
>not do or which things will be lower priority, 
>the promise should be considered.
>
>Since I last sent out the notebook, the National 
>Federation of the Blind of Virginia brought 
>seventy members to the Jernigan Institute for a 
>weekend of learning and teaching. I encourage 
>more of our affiliates to find innovative ways 
>to develop membership and grow the organization, 
>and to call on me to be a part of innovative 
>gatherings like the one our Virginia affiliate 
>crafted with me earlier this month.
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>Last week I had the opportunity to travel the 
>Midwest visiting the work of the Federation. I 
>attended the BLAST conference put on by our 
>National Association of Blind Merchants. Our 
>division is growing and the conference has 
>become the premier place for innovating 
>opportunities for blind entrepreneurs—not only 
>in Randolph Sheppaard but in all business 
>ventures. From BLAST I visited our training 
>center in Minnesota. The team at BLIND, 
>Incorporated continues to raise the standard for 
>training and is expanding the reach of the 
>Federation every day. While in Minnesota I had 
>the pleasure of participating in our NFB STEM2U 
>program at the Science Museum of Minnesota. We 
>are coming to the end of our three-year project 
>to impact science museums. Here is a little 
>national convention agenda preview—we will be 
>hearing more about our impacct through our NFB 
>STEM2U and NFBEQ programs at our convention in 
>July. It is not every day that I have the 
>opportunity to be present in the places where 
>Federation activities are taking place. I am 
>grateful to all of the Federationists who are 
>taking actions, right now, that I am not aware 
>of to help build our organization. It was great 
>to be on hand to witness many of those actions happening last week.
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>Please note the deadlines coming up and please 
>do your part to help get the word out.
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>Letâ€™s go build the Federation!
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>Critical Actions This Week:
>Exhibit Hall Deadline:
>The exhibit hall deadline for the 2016 National 
>Convention was Friday, May 20. If your affiliate 
>is planning to exhibit at convention, and you 
>have not done so already, please fill out the 
><https://nfb.org/national-convention-exhibitor-application>online 
>exhibitor form before noon tomorrow (Tuesday, 
>May 24). If you have any questions, contact 
>Stephanie Eller at 
><mailto:seller at nfb.org>seller at nfb.org or (410) 659-9314, extension 2423.
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>Preregistration Deadlines:
>Also, a reminder that the deadline to 
>preregister for both the National Federation of 
>the Blind 2016 National Convention and the 
>WBU/ICEVI General Assembly is May 31, 2016.
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>News:
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>Tom Ridge TIME Act Op-Ed:
>Today The Hill published an op-ed by former 
>Governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Ridge, in which he 
>discusses the need to phase out subminimum wages 
>for people with disabilities and his support of 
>the Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful 
>Employment (TIME) Act (H.R. 188, S. 2001). To 
>read this piece, please visit 
><https://nfb.org/time-act-real-employment-people-disabilities>https://nfb.org/time-act-real-employment-people-disabilities. 
>We have also posted it on the NFB website at 
><https://nfb.org/time-act-real-employment-people-disabilities>https://nfb.org/time-act-real-employment-people-disabilities. 
>Please share it far and wide, especially with 
>members of Congress who have not yet co-sponsored this legislation.
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>International Council on English Braille (ICEB) 6th General Assembly:
>We are hosting the ICEB 6th General Assembly 
>this week at the Jernigan Institute. Various 
>options to live stream the proceedings are 
>available at <http://www.iceb.org/live.html>http://www.iceb.org/live.html.
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>Article on Blind Parenting:
>A recent article on blind parenting can be found 
>at 
><http://www.cecildaily.com/news/state_news/article_9bb922f3-03b3-5165-9275-477b577e4196.html>http://www.cecildaily.com/news/state_news/article_9bb922f3-03b3-5165-9275-477b577e4196.html. 
>The article describes the recent Maryland 
>legislation and the fact that in cases assessing 
>parentsâ€™ ability to care for their children, 
>judges and claimants will need to follow new 
>procedures before introducing a personâ€™s 
>disability in court. Originally written for 
>blindness, the bill was later amended to include 
>all disabilities, physical or mental, and covers 
>only private cases that donâ€™t involve public 
>agencies, such as custody or visitation, as well 
>as adoption or guardianship cases. Support 
>available from the NFB is also detailed in the article.
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>Video:
>This week's video, Aleeha Dudley's story of 
>strength and acceptance in the Federation, can 
>be found at 
><https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFlP_Aq6Ttw>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFlP_Aq6Ttw. 
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>Affiliates:
>Send Us Your Web Access Stories:
>As part of the public comment process related to 
>the recent Supplemental Advanced Notice of 
>Proposed Rulemaking issued by the Department of 
>Justice, we are gathering comments regarding 
>state and local government website 
>accessibility, which is guaranteed under Title 
>II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 
>At your June meeting, we need you to gather 
>stories from chapter members about their 
>experience (good or bad) using state and local 
>government websites. This information should be 
>collected and emailed to Kyle Walls at <mailto:kwalls at nfb.org>kwalls at nfb.org.
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>State and local government websites offer 
>opportunities for consumers to handle matters 
>such as voter registration, property tax issues, 
>school closings and class registration, food 
>stamps, library services, and community bulletin 
>boards, just to name a few examples. Chapter 
>presidents are asked to designate a person 
>responsible for assuring that stories are 
>emailed to Kyle during the month of June. Along 
>with member's stories, we need a working email 
>address in order to follow-up as necessary. 
>Stories will be entered as public comments and 
>shared on <http://www.regulations.gov>www.regulations.gov.
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>Dates to Keep in Mind:
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>Â·        May 21-26: International Council on 
>English Braille 6th General Assembly
>Â·        May 23-August 26: NFB BELL Academy 
>held at forty-six sites throughout the nation. 
>More information at 
><https://nfb.org/bell-academy>https://nfb.org/bell-academy.
>Â·        June 7: NFB EQ teacher application 
>deadline, 
><https://nfb.org/nfb-eq-teacher-application>https://nfb.org/nfb-eq-teacher-application 
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>Â·        June 19-25: NFB EQ (first iteration)
>Â·        June 30-July 5: National Federation of 
>the Blind Convention, Rosen Shingle Creek, Orlando, Florida
>Â·        July 31-August 6: NFB EQ (second iteration)
>Â·        August 2-6: NFB EQ teacher cohort
>Â·        August 18-25: WBU and ICEVI General 
>Assembly, Rosen Centre, Orlando, Florida, 
><http://www.wbu-icevi2016.org>www.wbu-icevi2016.org
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>The National Federation of the Blind knows that 
>blindness is not the characteristic that defines 
>you or your future. Every day we raise the 
>expectations of blind people, because low 
>expectations create obstacles between blind 
>people and our dreams. You can live the life you 
>want; blindness is not what holds you back.
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>Mark A. Riccobono, President
>National Federation of the Blind
>200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
>Baltimore, Maryland 21230
>Phone: (410) 659-9314
>Fax: (410) 659-5129
>Email: <mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
>Twitter: @Riccobono and @NFB_Voice
>Web: <http://www.nfb.org/>www.nfb.org
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