[NFBC-SFV] NFB

[Robert Stigile]

Hello All,
I am writing, to let you know of some issues that have arisen in the last week within the Organization.
Some of you may have seen Utube and facebook posts detailing acts of Sexual Assault on people who attended NFB Run Training centers and or who attended an NFB sanctioned Seminar over the years.
The NFB has been aware of some issues, which is why in 2018, President Riccobono created a committee to work on and create the Code of Conduct.
Although this was a good start, it has not worked the way it should have, and many issues are still taking place today.
After seeing many of the posts, President Riccobono sent out a letter on Friday, acknowledging that something had taken place, but many members, including myself, wrote to President Riccobono stating that the letter was not a reasonable response.
On Monday Evening, December 14th, many of the Chapter President's in California, got together, as we typically have a monthly call to discuss issues, or talk about philosophy, and we discussed this issue at great length.
We decided that there needs to be a lot of changes and if we want to see that change, we have to be part of it.
Two of the things we thought about amongst many, were that President Riccobono should write an open letter to the members apologizing for what has taken place.
We also feel that a new online process for submitting code of conduct violations is in order.
We are still writing our letter, and making changes, but while we are doing this, President Riccobono has written that letter to the members, and I am going to forward it to the list.
I do not know all of the details of what has gone on, and I probably do not have all of the answers, but I know that in order to see change we must work together to create the Organization we feel the NFB should be.
 if you have questions, feel free to contact me and I will do my best to provide you with the information you are seeking.


Sincerely,

Robert Stigile, Second Vice-president
national Federation of the Blind of California
President San Fernando Valley Chapter
C: 818-381-9568
email: rstigile at gmail.com
The National Federation of the Blind is a Community of Members and Friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the Nations Blind.
Every day we work together to help Blind people live the lives we want.