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<DIV>Greetings to all!</DIV>
<DIV>I have pasted the President’s Notebook for week of March 19.</DIV>
<DIV>Please enjoy.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">We
care. We
share. We grow. We make a difference<BR>Joe Ruffalo, President <BR>National
Federation of the Blind of New Jersey <BR>973 743 0075<BR><A
href="mailto:nfbnj1@verizon.net">nfbnj1@verizon.net</A><BR><A
href="http://www.nfbnj.org">www.nfbnj.org</A></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">Raising
Expectations To Live The Life We Want!</DIV>
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style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000"> </DIV>
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#000000">***
</DIV>
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style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000"> </DIV>
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style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri";
FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY:
inline'><B>Subject:</B>
NFB President’s Notebook - week of 03/19/2018</DIV>
<DIV>President’s Notebook</DIV>
<DIV>National Federation of the Blind</DIV>
<DIV>Mark A. Riccobono</DIV>
<DIV>officeofthepresident@nfb.org<mailto:officeofthepresident@nfb.org></DIV>
<DIV>(410) 659-9314</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Dear Fellow Federationists,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Spring is going to arrive this week and with it comes all of the
anticipation of our national convention, our dynamic summer programs, and
the
many innovative things our chapters are taking on. In case you have been
under a
rock, the University of Maryland Baltimore County made history as a number
sixteen seed in the NCAA tournament, knocking off the number one seeded team
from Virginia—not to pick on any particular affiliate. Speaking of an
underdog
achieving great things against seemingly insurmountable odds, this happened
the
same week that we got the Marrakesh Implementation Act to drop in the United
States Senate (S. 2559). Both are examples of hard work, great preparation,
dogged determination, and taking full advantage of opportunities when they
come.
There have been many times when the National Federation of the Blind is
thought
to be the underdog, but this does not bother us. We continue to move forward
despite the critics. It is now time for us to prepare to get Marrakesh
passed in
time to celebrate at our 2018 National Convention.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I want to remind you about the pending deadline for the Jacob Bolotin
Awards. I am certain you have been thinking about the innovative projects,
individuals, and organizations that are out there creating new opportunities
for
the blind. Now is the time to put the ideas in writing so we have plenty of
nominations for our committee to consider next month. The deadline is April
15—note that you can do your Bolotin nominations and still have a couple of
days
to file your taxes since they’re not due until April 17 this year. (But
please
do not wait until the last minute on your nominations or your taxes.) It
would
be great if we could get a nomination from every affiliate. It would make
the
committee’s work really difficult—but since Federationists are used to doing
hard work, do not let that hold you back from sending in all of your
nominations.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I wish to acknowledge the tremendous work of Joy Harris who stepped
down as
president of the National Federation of the Blind of Alabama during the
affiliate convention last weekend. Joy has been a longtime leader and her
accomplishments are well documented in our organization. Joy is now working
on
assisting our new president, Barbara Manuel, in getting up to speed at the
helm
of our Alabama affiliate. Congratulations to Joy and to Barbara. Please
welcome
Barbara to our affiliate leadership list and be prepared to answer the
questions
that each of us have had as new affiliate presidents.</DIV>
<DIV>It is an extremely busy time here at the national office: we just
completed
a weekend of meetings and we are getting ready to host our annual tenBroek
symposium, as well as other related meetings. We are also looking forward to
our
Greater Philadelphia chapter visiting on Saturday. I am hoping to take a
couple
of days off with the family during spring break next week before heading
full
speed into the national convention planning rush. Consequently, there will
not
be a notebook next week.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Critical Actions This Week:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Scholarship deadline:</DIV>
<DIV>The deadline to submit scholarship applications is March 31. Please
ensure
that the students in your state have submitted all their forms by then.
Hopefully all the affiliate presidents will be finished with their
recommendation letters soon after that.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>News:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Marrakesh Treaty Legislation Introduced:</DIV>
<DIV>Senator Charles E. “Chuck” Grassley (R-IA) and Senators Dianne
Feinstein
(D-CA), Bob Corker (R-TN), and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) have introduced the
Marrakesh
Treaty Implementation Act, S. 2559. The entire press release can be found at
<A
href="https://nfb.org/national-federation-blind-applauds-introduction-legislation-implementing-marrakesh-treaty">https://nfb.org/national-federation-blind-applauds-introduction-legislation-implementing-marrakesh-treaty</A>.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Positions Open:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We have three positions open at the National Federation of the Blind
Jernigan Institute: web content coordinator<<A
href="https://nfb.org/web-content-coordinator">https://nfb.org/web-content-coordinator</A>>,
social media and project coordinator<<A
href="https://nfb.org/social_media_coordinator">https://nfb.org/social_media_coordinator</A>>,
and facilities maintenance/custodian<<A
href="https://nfb.org/logisticsassistant">https://nfb.org/logisticsassistant</A>>.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>2017-2018 Nationwide Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest:</DIV>
<DIV>The competition was sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind
of
Illinois in partnership with the National Association to Promote the Use of
Braille (NAPUB), which is an NFB division. Eighty-one students from twelve
states took part in the contest. The list of winners can be found at <A
href="https://nfb.org/blind-students-win-braille-reading-contest">https://nfb.org/blind-students-win-braille-reading-contest</A>.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>National Convention:</DIV>
<DIV>2018 National Convention Exhibit Hall Affiliate and Division
Registration:</DIV>
<DIV>Now is the time to fill out the registration form to reserve your state
affiliate or division’s spot in the 2018 National Convention Exhibit
Hall<<A
href="https://nfb.org/national-convention-exhibitor-application">https://nfb.org/national-convention-exhibitor-application</A>>!
Just select “NFB Affiliate Exhibitor” as your exhibitor type. Last year our
applications exceeded capacity and we had to turn some people away, so
please be
sure to register before the May 31 deadline. Contact Anna Adler at
aadler@nfb.org<mailto:aadler@nfb.org> or (410) 659-9314, extension
2282,
if you have any questions.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Complete information about sponsoring and exhibiting, including the
exhibit
hall dates and times is available online<<A
href="https://nfb.org/sponsor-and-exhibitor-info">https://nfb.org/sponsor-and-exhibitor-info</A>>.
If you know any vendors or service providers who may be interested in
sponsoring
or exhibiting at the national convention, please encourage them to check us
out
and share the convention information with them. Let Anna
know<mailto:aadler@nfb.org> if she should reach out or can help with
follow up. Thank you—we’re looking forward to another great
convention!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Other Important Links:</DIV>
<DIV>- General Convention Info Page: <A
href="https://nfb.org/convention">https://nfb.org/convention</A></DIV>
<DIV>- Exhibitor Application: <A
href="https://nfb.org/national-convention-exhibitor-application">https://nfb.org/national-convention-exhibitor-application</A></DIV>
<DIV>- Sponsor Application: <A
href="https://nfb.org/national-convention-sponsor-application">https://nfb.org/national-convention-sponsor-application</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Dates to Keep in Mind:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> * March 22-23, 2018: Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law
Symposium<<A
href="https://nfb.org/law-symposium">https://nfb.org/law-symposium</A>></DIV>
<DIV> * March 31, 2018: Deadline for scholarship
applications,
www.nfb.org/scholarships<<A
href="http://www.nfb.org/scholarships">http://www.nfb.org/scholarships</A>></DIV>
<DIV> * April 15, 2018: Deadline for 2018 Dr. Jacob
Bolotin
Award competition<<A
href="https://nfb.org/bolotin-award-main">https://nfb.org/bolotin-award-main</A>></DIV>
<DIV> * July 3-8, 2018: National Federation of the Blind
National Convention<<A
href="https://nfb.org/convention">https://nfb.org/convention</A>>,
Orlando,
Florida</DIV>
<DIV> * July 29-August 4, 2018: NFB EQ<<A
href="http://www.blindscience.org/nfbeq">http://www.blindscience.org/nfbeq</A>></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Mark A. Riccobono</DIV>
<DIV>President</DIV>
<DIV>200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230</DIV>
<DIV>(410) 659-9314 |
officeofthepresident@nfb.org<mailto:officeofthepresident@nfb.org></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>[National Federation of the Blind]<<A
href="https://nfb.org/">https://nfb.org/</A>></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
[Facebook] <<A
href="http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind">http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind</A>>
[Twitter] <<A
href="https://twitter.com/NFB_Voice">https://twitter.com/NFB_Voice</A>>
[Youtube] <<A
href="https://www.youtube.com/NationsBlind">https://www.youtube.com/NationsBlind</A>></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and
friends
who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every day we work
together to help blind people live the lives they want.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Disclaimer</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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