[NABS-L] 2020 Election Results

[Roanna Bacchus]

Congratulations to the new board. I wish you the best in your positions. I am so proud of each of you. He will all do a wonderful job representing us.

Sincerely,

Roanna Bacchus

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 18, 2020, at 11:49 PM, Kathryn Webster, National Student President via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Dear NABS Family,
> 
> When I think about an ideal board to drive our national student division forward, I look for balance. Balance can mean a ton of different things. To me, balance means diversity. It means qualifications that, when combined across the nine personalities, creates a space for all leaders to share, grow, and learn together; it means perspectives to fit our needs; it means so much more, but it prioritizes NABS and our national student membership, not the board members driving the work forward. We are a membership-driven organization and thus serve our members every single day of our lives. We need diversity of age, race, gender, talents, backgrounds, life experiences, involvement in NABS, religion, disability, and of as many identities as we can reach. We must be intentional to meet the changing needs of our members. Simultaneously, we need the strongest leaders from all walks of life to guide our state student divisions forward, facilitate leadership and regional seminars, lead our committees, retain members, and build our organization.
> 
> I preface all of this to what happened Wednesday night. In person, our protocol would have been to put forth the five names to our active, registered, and dues-paying members. The name with the least amount of votes the first time by voice would have been dropped. We then would have done the same voting procedure for the four, dropped the lowest; and all the way until we got to the remaining two candidates seeking said position. With over 250 participants on our call and no feasible way of one person reaching a majority in the formal way we typically check, including cross-referencing our registrants, I was comfortable with the motion brought to the floor. This motion asked for the discussion to cease; and the appointment of the final 1-year vacated board position be left to the current president. I allowed for ample time to share concerns and received unanimous support to proceed in this way. I am so sincerely sorry that this process did not resonate with everyone. I understand and I am confident that if we are virtual moving forward, voting will be even more mitigated and intentional.
> 
> To this end, I am thrilled to announce that Shane Wegner has been appointed to the position of board Member 4. They are entering their third year of law school, living in the wonderful city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. They are a leader in the diversity and inclusion space, ready and eager to approach diversity proactively within our national organization. Moreover, Shane has a wealth of knowledge as it relates to accessibility, intersectionality, graduate studies, and so much more. I am confident in their abilities to represent the future of NABS, as I am with the eight other board members. These nine rock star leaders are authentic, intentional, proactive, honest, collaborative, and transparent.
> 
> Shane will be a great addition to the 2020-21 organization calendar year; and would be more than happy to chat with any member interested in conversing. So, cheers to the incoming NABS Board and congratulations!!
> 
> President: Trisha Kulkarni
> 1st Vice President: Kenia Flores
> 2nd Vice President: Justin Salisbury
> Treasurer: Elizabeth Rouse
> Secretary: Mausam Mehta
> Board Members: Nina Marranca, Johna Wright, Robert Parsons, and Shane Wegner
> 
> These leaders will make us so proud! Regardless of my role moving forward, the door is always open. Blind students have the softest place in my heart. I hope we all can put the love, energy, passion, and support behind these incoming leaders. I know I certainly will.
> 
> I love you all,
> Kathryn Webster
> President, National Association of Blind Students
> A proud division of the National Federation of the Blind
> (203) 273-8463
> 
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