[NFBA-Phoenix] July 15, 2023 NFB of AZ Phoenix Chapter Business Meeting Minutes

[Rachel Kuntz]

NFB of AZ Phoenix Chapter Business Meeting Minutes
Sat., July 15, 2023 9:30 AM
Location-Virtual zoom

Minutes
Call to Order-Jordan Moon, President
Roll Call: 18 members and 3 guests in attendance
Attendees participated in the Pledge of Allegiance, NFB Pledge, and the NFB One-Minute Message. A moment of silence was taken, and prayers were offered  by participants.

Chapter Reports
Presidential Report Jordan remarked that our chapter is reaching its goals in fundraising and in membership building. He conveyed his pride in the work we did at national convention and are doing locally. He asked that we continue to keep up the momentum.
Secretary's Report Rachel Kuntz, Secretary, - Business Meeting Minutes, June 2023.
Donna Silba moved to accept the June 2023 minutes as read. Sharonda Goode seconded. The motion carried.
Joe Goode updated the record to reflect that the Technology Committee meeting is held on the second Monday of each Month.
Treasurer's Report - Donna Silba, Treasurer, July 2023
Sharonda moved to accept the July 2023 Treasurer's Report as read. Mike Smith seconded. The motion carried.
Jordan noted that the chapter email has been acting strangely. He will resend the reimbursement request for $75 for BELL lunch payable to Saavi.
Donna mentioned that No one requested assistance to go to national convention, so she did not create a separate line item for that in the report.

National and Affiliate Reports
Presidential Release -no release preconvention
Legislative Reports National/affiliate
Jordan noted that at national convention, American Foundation for the Blind said that they no longer support sub-minimum wage exemptions. As a policy, the NFB remains committed to holding ride share services accountable to end discrimination against dog guides and blind passengers. During convention, President Mark A. Riccobono spoke about the story of his firsthand experience wile with a group including a dog guide user. He recorded the discrimination as it unfolded and sent it to Uber. They are currently investigating. Riccobono noted that progress has been made on the lawsuit with the Los Angeles County Community College discrimination case. They have been awarded damages, but the fight continues. NFB refused to except a payment to stop the case from moving forward.
President Donald Porterfield stated that we are at our core a grassroots organization fighting for the rights of blind people. He said that he appreciated Mark's statement that just because people are given a chance to appear on stage does not mean that the NFB endorses their views. Even if we don't agree on all issues, we are always open to helping other organizations recognize the philosophy of the NFB. Porterfield also noted that AFB had not yet signed the policy statement to have a commitment to having blind representation in their corporate leadership and on their board. The recent outcome of the Joe Rosko case is important because it has vast implications for those who have jobs with the government. All of the cases discussed during convention were years in the making, yet we held strong to our beliefs. Porterfield reminded us to continue to reach out to congress. He said that our state list serv should be working now. He mentioned that the national presidential report and banquet speech  were positive. Riccobono coined the phrase vision industrial complex. Vision centered agencies making decisions for us without including us. Porterfield urged everyone to listen to the Banquet address.
Mike remarked that President Porterfield represented AZ well in running the Resolutions Committee.
Donald praised President Moon for his eloquence in voting down a resolution. Porterfield felt that once a resolution passes out of the committee that it is up to the convention body to vote it up or down. Porterfield noted that just because a resolution is voted down does not mean that we believe the opposite of the resolution.

2023 Resolutions overview
16 resolutions were introduced to the floor and fifteen passed.
There seemed to be no overall theme to the resolutions.
Porterfield said that a few that stood out were about Artificial Intelligence, and access to live broadcasts at things like sporting events and access to real time voting information from CNN's coverage of US Congress.
He mentioned that when asking Chatbot about blindness, it promotes negative stereotypes thus does not reflect the truth about blindness.
Porterfield said that by design resolutions are forward looking and intended to evoke change. He recommended when writing a resolution, do complete research to back up facts and cite the research when submitting it. Resolutions are one large run on sentence with multiple clauses that ends with a forward-looking solution. Formatting it into this long sentence can be fixed by the committee. The resolution clause is the forward-looking solution to the whereas clauses. If they are approved as policy at the national level we can use them in AZ without passing them at our state convention.
Jordan suggested that we work with him when writing a resolution to be considered at state convention, but this must be completed and sent to the Affiliate President soon.

Committee Reports
Membership Committee -New Member Welcome -Vicki Farley and Monica Nunez, Co-Chairs
Betty Love suggested that we invite the west valley chapter to our meetings.
Monica discussed the progress that we have made in gaining members and invited the guests in attendance who want to become a member to tell us about themselves.
Rachel moved to accept new member, Macaulay Beasley to the chapter. Mike seconded. The motion carried.
Sharonda moved to accept new member, Kimberly Fetterman to the chapter. Joe Goode seconded. The motion carried.
Vicki noted that the committee will hold a meeting on Monday July 17 at 6 PM to finalize the membership roster ahead of convention deadlines.
Fundraising Committee -Betty Love, Chair
Betty reported that we will be selling the popcorn at state convention and will also have online ordering after convention for 30 days. She mentioned to be prepared to volunteer and to sell popcorn.
The committee will meet on Wednesday, July 19 at 7 PM.
Outreach Committee: Rachel, Chair-
Rachel reported that she appreciated the hard work of our chapter at national convention. Everyone showed up and made the success of our affiliate table possible. Betty can sell ice to Eskimos.
Social Committee: Joy Harris, Chair-not present
Technology Committee-Joe Goode, Chair
Joe reported that the committee has decided to hold a tech seminar at state convention about Mastodon and web accessibility. The committee will meet Monday, July 17 at 7PM.
Jordan and the tech committee will devise a plan to have the History of the White Cane presentation available publicly in time for BEAM.

State Division and committee Reports
Sharonda announced that she is working on the affiliate newsletter.
Betty volunteered to be a chapter liaison for the newsletter and Beasley is willing to serve as a backup.
Ashleigh Moon, President of Parents of Blind Children and Chair of the Affiliate Education Committee reported that we are invited to volunteer at STEM 2U and attend an IEP advocate presentation.
STEM volunteers must pass a background check. Contact her immediately if interested.
The IEP advocate program on Saturday, August 19 from 9 to 3 PM is free, registration is required, held at Saavi Phoenix, and will be an introduction to advocacy with training to come later. Online registration is open now.
She asks that we help buy spreading the word about these programs to anyone with blind children or who just want to learn or volunteer.

New Business
Dan o-Rourke NFB fundraiser/pit stop near Flagstaff.
Jordan said that Dan will be riding his bicycle through Flagstaff AZ on August 3 and 4.
Porterfield further noted that Dan should arrive on the third and  would be available for an event during the late morning or early afternoon of the fourth. Porterfield is planning a two-hour event that will highlight braille and literacy. This might include things like creating Braille name cards, teaching the Braille alphabet . The national office is working to create a local media list and he encouraged us to let him know of media or business contacts we might have in the area. He would like as many people to go as possible and to communicate with Jordan if interested.
State Convention: August 24 to 27 at Hyatt Phoenix Downtown
Porterfield wants people to request chapter support first then email him with requests for assistance with rooms at state convention. Expect to have a roommate and to volunteer during convention.
Jordan announced that we are part of the Host Committee along with the student division.
Responsibilities include:

  *   Staffing the Hospitality Suite with snacks and volunteers. Typically, the merchants donate snacks, but we also need to plan on donations.
  *   Providing dinner on Friday night. It is usually a $5 dinner like pizza.
  *   Holding a social event on Friday night. Several people have mentioned a talent show.
  *   Creating the center pieces for the banquet tables.
Mike Smith, has been asked to chair the host committee.
Mike S. announced that the committee will hold its first weekly meeting Thursday, July 20 at 7 PM. He will write up details about the committee's work to send out to the membership. Rachel will forward to members.
Porterfield requests ideas for seminars to him as soon as possible.
Jordan mentioned that Scott Tokunaga is investigating holding a White Cane Walk like the one at national convention.
Jordan mentioned that we did not use any of the $400 the chapter set aside to help people going to national convention.
Donna moved that we set aside $500 to assist people with attending state convention at the discretion of President Moon. Sharonda seconded. The motion carried.
Jordan set August 10 as the deadline to request chapter assistance.
Affiliate quarterly board meeting Saturday, August 12.
Blind Equality Achievement Month- Rachel reported that planning will begin soon and will include opportunities to volunteer and to educate along with giving a presentation to Blind Veterans with the VA.
The chapter holiday party will be held on Saturday December 9. The social committee plays the leading role in coordinating it. Lori Kirsop volunteer to help Joy by calling local restaurants to find options for the party that can hold as many as 50 people.

Philosophy Discussion
National Convention Recap: take aways and learning experiences.
Monica said that she got a lot out of convention and enjoyed the AI sessions, The mock trial, and Banquet speech.
Beasley  enjoyed the White Cane Walk. he liked working with parents and appreciates that Scott wants to bring it to AZ. We could show them how to find a door handle and how we stay in a line. This way they can take it home to work with their kids.
Kim loved the cane walk. This was her second convention and she felt more comfortable. She wants to create a mentoring program for first timers. She said that almost every day she ate lunch with someone she did not know. She remarked on the passion that Jordan had when speaking in opposition to the resolution was great.
Jenny Kasl enjoyed the Rehab Conference guest speaker who spoke on generational differences. She also liked The Monarch Braille Display by Human ware  and NFB. This device displays a tactical graphic that can zoom in and out.
Lori said that it was wonderful to hear the sessions virtually and she enjoyed the Veterans segment. She screamed from her living room with AZ.
Porterfield enjoyed the AZ Caucus the best since it is the first time at convention we get together as a group and our energy is infectious. He mentioned that our energy got going when Sharonda rolled out the first cheer.
Mike S. tuned in virtually. His favorite moment came when the president talked about AFB. Mike compared it to the Marvel movies, Captain America. He remarked that when Dr. . Mark Mauer asked the tough question to the head of AFB he wanted to jump out of his seat.
Porterfield appreciated the way that President Riccobono set the stage for the AFB speech and Dr. Mauer finished it. That scenario reflects that despite any past disagreements we will be respectful and will invite people that we don't agree with.
Betty thanked Donald for helping her to get a scholarship. She enjoyed going to the arts and mental health sessions, selling blankets, and going around the market. She said the talent show was fabulous. She appreciated Monica as a mentor.
Announcements
Ashleigh congratulated Sharonda as the Talent Show winner. This is Sharonda's third win.
Attendees celebrated the birthdays of Jordan, Brian Dulude, and Beasley  .
Monica moved to adjourn. Jenny seconded. The motion carried.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfba-phoenix_nfbnet.org/attachments/20230804/f0e91947/attachment.html>