[NFBofSC] FW: NFB President’s Notebook - Week of 01/08/2024

Mon Jan 8 21:12:50 UTC 2024

Please see below for useful information.

My Best,

Marty

From: President, National Federation of the Blind <OfficeOfThePresident at nfb.org>
Sent: Monday, January 8, 2024 3:58 PM
To: State Presidents <StatePresidents at nfb.org>; NFB-Division-Leaders at nfbnet.org; NCB Staff <NCBStaff at nfb.org>
Subject: NFB President’s Notebook - Week of 01/08/2024

President’s Notebook
National Federation of the Blind
Mark A. Riccobono
officeofthepresident at nfb.org<mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>
410-659-9314

Dear Federation Community,

Happy New Year to each of you. I hope this message finds you swinging into the new year with joy and good health. As you heard on last Thursday’s Presidential Release Live, we have not wasted any time in 2024 to start making progress in the organized blind movement. I am anticipating the opportunity to be with most of you in person for our retreat and Washington Seminar. We have a lot to do and I always gain great insight from being with all of you. I wish you well in the lead up to our annual hill appointments. Keep up the great work.

For those of you with spring conventions, I am working on national representative appointments, so stay tuned.

Critical Actions:
Membership:
As expected, on December 31, 2023, all current members were changed to a status of grace. The membership coordinators in all chapters and divisions should now be using the Membership Management module to update all members who have paid dues to a status of current for 2024. On January 31, 2024, everyone still in grace will be changed to a status of expired.

All members that are new to a chapter or division need to continue to be entered using the new member form. The form has been back in use for a couple of weeks, and we appreciate everyone’s patience while it was offline for a while. We have heard the feedback from many of you and will continue with ongoing improvements to the form.

Washington Seminar:
2024 Washington Seminar Trainings:
With the 2024 Washington Seminar fast approaching, we are continuing our training schedule this week with two training sessions. The first session will be on Tuesday, January 9, at 8:00 p.m., eastern, and will be our first mock meeting training. The Zoom information for that is:

https://nfb-org.zoom.us/j/94283491749

Meeting ID: 942 8349 1749

Our second training this week will be on Thursday, January 11, at 8:00 p.m., eastern, and will focus on training Washington Seminar Portal users in the features of the portal so that they will know how to effectively enter meeting and rating information. The Zoom information for Thursday night’s meeting is:

https://nfb-org.zoom.us/j/99012312045

Meeting ID: 990 1231 2045

2024 Washington Seminar Fact Sheets:
The fact sheets for our three legislative priorities are available on the Washington Seminar page<https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/washington-seminar> of our website. They are now available in four formats: HTML, Word, BRF, and audio files. We recommend that you review these fact sheets to ensure that you are well-prepared to advocate for our issues when you meet with your members of Congress.

News:
January Presidential Release Chapter Version:
The National Federation of the Blind Presidential Release #534<https://nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/presidential-releases> is available. Please note that the February Presidential Release will not be live. Please encourage members to attend the Washington Seminar Great Gathering-In<https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/washington-seminar> on Monday, January 29, 2024, at 5:00 p.m., eastern. The February Presidential Release recording will be made available by February 2, 2024.

Member Profile:
We are hearing good things from the members that are accessing their member profile. All members with unique email addresses should have an account. The login is the member’s email address that we have connected to their membership. If someone hasn't logged in yet, they can go to nfb.org and select Members. Their username is the email address associated with their membership. Select Change Password to set it. If anyone has questions, they should send an email to membership at nfb.org<mailto:membership at nfb.org>.

2023 Donation Tax Summaries:
Thank you to everyone who supported the Federation in 2023. Annual PAC summaries will be sent out later this month. If you also made a general donation and would like that total added to your letter, or if you have any questions, please contact outreach at nfb.org<mailto:outreach at nfb.org>.

Do You Know Someone Who Uses Our Advocacy Toolkits?:
We are seeking to identify someone who is using one of our advocacy toolkits listed below. If you know of someone who has used one of our toolkits, please contact Patti Chang at pchang at nfb.org<mailto:pchang at nfb.org> or 410-659-9314, extension 2422. Our current toolkits are:
·         Blind Parent’s Essential Guide to Effective Communication from Public and Private Schools<https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/advocacy-resources/blind-parents-essential-guide-effective-communication>
·         Higher Education Accessibility Online Resource Center<https://nfb.org/programs-services/center-excellence-nonvisual-access/higher-education-accessibility-online-resource>
·         Self-Advocacy in Higher Education Toolkit Version 2.0<https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/advocacy-resources/self-advocacy-higher-education-toolkit>
·         Self-Advocacy in Employment Toolkit<https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/advocacy-resources/self-advocacy-employment-toolkit>
·         Herramientas de autodefensa en el empleo<https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/advocacy-resources/self-advocacy-employment-toolkit/herramientas-de>
·         High-Stakes Testing Self-Advocacy Toolkit<https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/advocacy-resources/high-stakes-testing-self-advocacy-toolkit>

Catch Up on Content:
Highlights, news, and stories are available in the most recent Braille Monitor, Future Reflections, Nation’s Blind Podcast, and Voice of the Nation’s Blind Blog. The following are National Federation of the Blind publications for you to access and share with Federationists. These articles and episodes are great to share on affiliate and division social media to create discussions on various topics.

  *   January Braille Monitor<https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm24/bm2401/bm2401tc.htm>
  *   Future Reflections, Fall 2023<https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/fr/fr42/4/fr4204tc.htm>
  *   Nation’s Blind Podcast<https://nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/nations-blind-podcast> episode, “AI and the Blind”
  *   Blog articles, Reflecting on the Power of Collective Action<https://nfb.org/blog/reflecting-power-collective-action> and All Braille Readers Are Leaders: A Blind Parent’s Journey<https://nfb.org/blog/all-braille-readers-are-leaders-blind-parents-journey>

Dates to Keep in Mind:
(all times eastern)

  *   Monday, January 29, 2024: Great Gathering-In
  *   Tuesday, January 30, 2024: Congressional Reception (Washington Seminar)
  *   January 29-February 1, 2024: Washington Seminar<https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/washington-seminar>
  *   April 15, 2024: Deadline for Bolotin Award<https://nfb.org/programs-services/scholarships-and-awards/dr-jacob-bolotin-awards/application-information> nominations
  *   July 3-8, 2024: National Convention; Orlando, Florida

Introduction to the Organized Blind Movement

  *   Wednesday, February 7, 8:00 p.m.
  *   Wednesday, May 8, 8:00 p.m.
  *   Wednesday, August 7, 8:00 p.m.
  *   Wednesday, November 6, 8:00 p.m.

Chapter Presidents Calls

  *   Thursday, March 14, and Sunday, March 17, at 8:00 p.m.
  *   Thursday, June 13, and Sunday, June 16, at 8:00 p.m.
  *   Thursday, September 12, and Sunday, September 15, at 8:00 p.m.
  *   Thursday, December 19, and Sunday, December 22, at 8:00 p.m.

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.

Mark A. Riccobono, President
200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
410-659-9314 | Officeofthepresident at nfb.org<mailto:Officeofthepresident at nfb.org>
Mastodon: @President at nfb.social
Pronouns: he, him, his

[National Federation of the Blind]<https://nfb.org/>

                         [Facebook] <http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind>     [Twitter] <https://twitter.com/NFB_Voice>     [Youtube] <https://www.youtube.com/NationsBlind>

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.

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