[Nfb-greeley] Fw: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Fwd: [Ct-nfb] Retirement of Dr. Maurer

[Diane]

Just in case y'all didn't know...
Diane

>
> From: "Fredric Schroeder"  <fschroeder at sks.com>
>
> Friends:
>
> Over the weekend, I  participated in a meeting of the board of directors
> of the National  Federation of the Blind. The meeting was held at our
> national headquarters  in Baltimore.
>
>
>
> As you know, Dr. Marc Maurer has been our  national president since
> 1986. He has served as president longer than any  of our previous
> presidents and has guided us through a period of  unprecedented growth
> and change. It was under Dr. Maurer's leadership that  we established
> the Jernigan Institute and all of the programs that have  been so
> successful in demonstrating the truth of our assertion that  given
> proper opportunity and training, blind people can live and work as 
> others.
>
>
>
> In particular we have developed many programs designed  to provide blind
> children and youth with the skills and confidence they  need to compete
> fully in their education and to develop their life  ambitions. We have
> conducted the Youth Slam, Science Academy, and more  recently theBELL
> programs.
>
>
>
> In the area of technology under  Dr. Maurer's leadership we developed
> the KNFB Reader Mobile allowing blind  people to have immediate access
> to print with nothing more than a cell  phone and special software. And
> then there was the Blind Driver Challenge.  There is no question that
> lack of access to reliable transportation remains  a major barrier for
> blind people. Yet, the Blind Driver Challenge showed  that we could
> develop the technology to enable a blind person to drive a  car, not
> simply sit passively in a car that drives  itself.
>
>
>
> These are the expressions of Dr. Maurer's leadership.  Yet at the heart
> of his leadership is his spirit and his belief in every  blind person.
> He has inspired and encouraged us, faced the most difficult  challenges
> with resolution and strength, and he has kept us together, and  never
> let us waiver in our belief in our own right to live normal,  productive
> lives.
>
>
>
> On Saturday afternoon Dr. Maurer told the  board that it is his
> intention to not seek reelection to the presidency  next summer at our
> national convention. He feels the time is right to  transition to the
> next president, the next individual who can lead us for a  quarter century
> or
> more. Dr.
> Maurer is in good health and believes that  it is important that he step
> down from the presidency while he is able to  assist with the transition.
> Dr.
> Maurer told the board that he, Dr. Maurer,  plans to support Mr. Mark
> Riccobono as the next president of the National  Federation of the Blind.
>
>
>
> Mr. Riccobono presently serves as the  Executive Director of the
> Jernigan Institute. He is an accomplished  individual with the strength
> and wisdom to assume the serious  responsibility of leading our
> movement. He has brought to his work the  imagination and competency we
> demand from our president.
>
>
>
> We  are truly fortunate that within the Federation we have individuals
> who are  able and willing to give all they have to furthering our move
> toward true  equality. The demands of the NFB presidency are
> unimaginable. We require  our leader to give all of his time, all of his
> imagination, and all of his  personal reserve of judgment to leading our
> organization. This is what Dr.  Maurer has done for the past 27 and a
> half years, and it is what Mark  Riccobono will do for the time of his
> presidency.
>
>
>
> The  transition brings to an end one chapter in our history and what a
> glorious  chapter it has been. We cannot face the loss of Dr. Maurer's
> leadership  without a sense of sadness; but the transition to a new
> president is not  just the absence of what we had before. The transition
> heralds a new  chapter in our history and with it, new opportunities-the
> chance to take  all that has come before and build something bigger and
> more powerful than  we have ever known.
>
>
>
> Please join me in thanking Dr. Maurer for  his leadership, his
> friendship and his faithful devotion to our cause; and  please join me
> in wishing Mark Riccobono the very best as he seeks to take  the
> foundation that is all that has come before and build upon it the next
> great
> chapter in our  history.
>
>
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