[MN-at-Large] Fwd: NFB President’s Notebook - week of 09/ 17/2019

Tue Sep 17 23:30:21 UTC 2019

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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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>The impact of the National Federation of the 
>Blind is felt in many aspects of society. Our 
>dynamic network of local advocates coordinated 
>through our national board helps us be in all of 
>the right places. Below you will find some items 
>related to improving our coordination. As always, your ideas are welcome.
>
>Yesterday I was back in Las Vegas to follow up 
>on some museum accessibility work that came out 
>of presentations at our national convention. 
>With the skilled work of our affiliate president 
>in Nevada, Terri Rupp, we were able to meet with 
>individuals representing over a dozen museums in 
>the state of Nevada. We also had an opportunity 
>to talk to Nevada's governor, Steve Sisolak, 
>about museum accessibility, including websites. 
>We expect some interesting partnerships to 
>emerge because of these meetings. Our hope is 
>that Nevada may set an example for what other 
>state governments can do to promote equal access in cultural institutions.
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>We are now in National Hispanic Heritage Month; 
>I encourage you to use this as an opportunity to 
>engage potential new members in our organization 
>by doing outreach to Latinx individuals. I would 
>ask you to share content regarding our members 
>that we can promote in social media during the 
>next month. If you need some ideas about 
>outreach, I recommend that you reach out to Rosy 
>Carranza and Shawn Callaway who lead our Committee on Diversity and Inclusion.
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>Critical Actions This Week:
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>Chapter President Listserv:
>Our Membership Committee has brought to my 
>attention that not all of our chapter presidents 
>are included on the chapter president listserv, 
>that it includes many who are not currently 
>chapter presidents, and that overall it needs a 
>good cleaning up. In order to streamline 
>communication with our chapter presidents and 
>facilitate more chapter development, it is 
>necessary to edit and purge the chapter 
>president list. I will be sending a message to 
>the listserv requesting that everyone who is not 
>currently a chapter president and who wants to 
>remain on the listserv email me by September 27 
>letting me know why they feel it necessary to 
>remain on the list. If I do not hear from 
>someone, I will assume that they do not want to 
>be on the list. Current chapter presidents will 
>not need to take action at this time.
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>After September 30, 2019, only those who are 
>currently a chapter president and those who have 
>communicated with me regarding the list will be included in the listserv.
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>News:
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>Presidential Release:
>The September Presidential Release can be found 
>at 
><https://nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/presidential-releases>https://nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/presidential-releases.
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>New-Member-Form Links:
>Please be aware that two links to the new-member 
>form have been mistakenly circulated. You should 
>ensure that all chapter and affiliate leaders 
>use the correct link: 
><https://www.nfb.org/civicrm/newmember/form/>https://www.nfb.org/civicrm/newmember/form/. 
>If you have questions about the new-member form 
>or continue to experience technical difficulties 
>submitting new members, please send an email to 
><mailto:membership at nfb.org>membership at nfb.org or 
>call 410-659-9314, extension 2509.
>
>Legislative Alerts:
>We are now in the second week of our three-week 
>Congressional support blitz. Last week, we 
>gained two cosponsors, Congresswoman DeGette of 
>Colorado and Congresswoman Shalala of Florida, 
>for the Access Technology Affordability Act in 
>the House. While this is good, letâ€™s try to do 
>even better this week when we call our senators 
>and representatives about the Transformation to 
>Competitive Employment Act (H.R. 873/S. 260). As 
>a reminder, this legislation would phase out 
>Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act 
>over a six-year period, at which point the 
>provision would officially be sunset. You can 
>contact your member of Congress by calling the 
>Capitol Switchboard and asking for the office in 
>question. The number is 202-224-3121. If you 
>email your representative or senators, please 
>copy John Pare at 
><mailto:jpare at nfb.org>jpare at nfb.org. Remember, 
>your calls and emails make a difference.
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>Early Childhood Initiatives:
>As blind children are settling into the 
>back-to-school routine, the 
><https://nfb.org/programs-services/early-childhood-initiatives>National 
>Federation of the Blind early childhood 
>initiatives are great resources for them and 
>their families, providing guidance on literacy 
>and independent travel. At no cost, families 
>with young blind children up to eight years old 
>can sign up for the Braille Reading Pals Club, 
>which provides Braille books and other fun 
>Braille activities, and our Early Explorers 
>Initiative, which encourages independent travel 
>and exploration. Share the programs and 
><https://nfb.org/programs-services/early-childhood-initiatives/early-childhood-application>early 
>childhood application today!
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>Dates to Keep in Mind:
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>    * September 18, 2019: Open-House Gathering; 
> email <mailto:membership at nfb.org>membership at nfb.org to sign up
>    * September 24, 2019: Accessibility Boutique 
> on Website Accessibility Basics; email 
> <mailto:KZimnik at nfb.org>KZimnik at nfb.org to sign up
>    * February 10, 2020: Great Gathering-In; Washington Seminar begins
>    * March 26-27, 2020: Jacobus tenBroek Law Symposium, Baltimore, Maryland
>    * June 30-July 5, 2020: NFB National Convention, Houston, Texas
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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
>200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
>(410) 659-9314 | 
><mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
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>
><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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