[Mn-at-large] Fwd: NFB President’s Notebook - week of 01/ 02/2018

Wed Jan 3 01:17:43 UTC 2018

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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,
>
>Although it is cold outside, I can distinctly 
>feel the bright shining sun coming through the 
>front windows of the National Federation of the 
>Blind Jernigan Institute as I write to you 
>today. It is something like twelve degrees 
>outside, which is warmer than in other parts of 
>the country. Yet the warm sun contributes to the 
>hope and opportunity that I feel as we begin the new year of our movement.
>
>We plan to tackle a number of big things this 
>year. Your help in that effort is essential to 
>our success. Communication is always critical in 
>our work. I encourage you to continue to use 
>this notebook as a guide in focusing on the top 
>national issues of the week. I also invite you 
>to share your ideas for what I can do to more 
>effectively help you manage your work as leaders of our organization.
>
>This year we are planning to undertake some new 
>program development, spark a new fundraising 
>initiative, and begin designing and remodeling 
>the next-generation space at our national 
>headquarters. All of this will be in addition to 
>the work we are doing every day to raise 
>expectations and build a stronger organization. 
>Later this week I will make our January 
>Presidential Release where I will discuss some 
>of the priorities for this year from my 
>perspective. At our gathering at the end of the 
>month, I anticipate learning about what is 
>happening at the local level and how to help you 
>transform your dreams into reality.
>
>Best wishes for a prosperous 2018 in the Federation Family.
>
>
>
>Critical Actions This Week:
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>
>
>Alert:
>If you learn of any instances of previous NFB 
>scholarship applicants being called and asked 
>for personal information by an individual 
>claiming to be the President of the Federation, 
>please report them to me with all relevant 
>information that you have about the situation.
>
>
>
>News:
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>
>Ban of Blind People on Mt. Everest:
>A number of Federation members have reached out 
>regarding reports circulating in the news about 
>the ban on blind people climbing Mt. Everest. 
>This notebook is going out prior to our official 
>statement on this matter, but you can be 
>confident that we will be speaking out against 
>this arbitrary application of low expectations. 
>You will be able to read our official statement later today or early tomorrow.
>
>Braille Certification Training Program:
>We are pleased to inform you that the National 
>Federation of the Blind has been awarded the 
>contract from the Library of Congress, National 
>Library Service for the Blind and Physically 
>Handicapped, to conduct the courses leading to 
>Library of Congress certification in Braille 
>transcribing and proofreading. Our previous 
>contract expired in July 2017, and we 
>regrettably had to put our work on hold until 
>the new contract was awarded. We have been 
>actively participating in the competitive bid 
>process for the past six months, and we are 
>pleased to have been chosen to administer the 
>program once again. We would greatly appreciate 
>your patience while we work as quickly as 
>possible through the backlog that has 
>accumulated. For more information about the 
>program, please visit: 
><https://nfb.org/braille-certification>https://nfb.org/braille-certification.
>
>Tours of the NFB Jernigan Institute:
>We have decided not to offer formal tours of our 
>national headquarters during Washington Seminar 
>this year. Demand for tours has not been 
>significant during the past few years probably 
>due to many more people visiting our national 
>office for other meetings. We are likely to 
>offer tours during the 2019 seminar.
>
>
>
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>Dates to Keep in Mind:
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>
>
>    * January 29, 2018: Great Gathering-In
>    * January 28-February 1, 2018: 
> <https://nfb.org/washington-seminar>Washington Seminar
>    * March 31, 2018: Deadline for scholarship 
> applications, <http://www.nfb.org/scholarships>www.nfb.org/scholarships
>    * March 22-23, 2018: 
> <https://nfb.org/law-symposium>Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium
>    * April 15, 2018: Deadline for 
> <https://nfb.org/bolotin-award-main>2018 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award competition
>    * July 3-8, 2018: 
> <https://nfb.org/convention>National Federation 
> of the Blind National Convention, Orlando, Florida
>
>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.
>
>
>Mark A. Riccobono
>President
>200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
>(410) 659-9314 | 
><mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
>
>
><https://nfb.org/>
>National Federation of the Blind
>
>
> 
><http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind>
>Facebook
>     <https://twitter.com/NFB_Voice>
>Twitter
>     <https://www.youtube.com/NationsBlind>
>Youtube
>
>
>The National Federation of the Blind is a 
>community of members and friends who believe in 
>the hopes and dreams of the nationâ€™s blind. 
>Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.
>
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