[NFBV-Announce] Minutes from the January 15, 2024 NFBV Board of Directors meeting

Sun May 5 00:51:26 UTC 2024

>From Sandy Halverson

National Federation of the Blind of Virginia

Board of Directors Meeting

January 15, 2024

Our board meeting was called to order by President Soforenko at 1 p.m. Of
the 40 attendees, 18 were first-timers and most of our chapters and
divisions were represented by a delegate or alternate; we met  in the VRCBVI
gymnasium with all board members present except our recording secretary,
Christine Grassman.

MINUTES AND TREASURER'S REPORTS: After approving the minutes from our 2023
state convention Business meeting, Mark Roane gave our treasurer's report
which covered the period from September 30, 2023 through December 31, 2023
reflecting a general checking account ending balance of $113,598.64; his
report was adopted unanimously.

NATIONAL CONVENTION AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR FIRST-TIMERS: Tracy
announced our 2024 national convention will take place at the Rosen Centre
in Orlando, Florida from July 3-8. Mary Durbin, who chairs our McDonald
Fellowship Committee and serves as the liaison with our NFBV Jernigan Fund
recipients, will send an announcement soon about the application process for
those sources of financial assistance.

NATIONAL FUNDS: Our chapters and divisions are asked to make annual
contributions to our Jernigan, tenBroek, SUN and White Cane funds and
presidents will be asked to provide that information at our next state board
meeting. Donations may also be made to defray costs of NFB camp.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY: Our conflict of interest policy was next
discussed in the context of compensation to Project RISE and Silver BELLs
staff, some of whom serve on our affiliate board as officers or delegates.
The commitment to these projects is such that staff should not be expected
to volunteer their time but are not compensated for other responsibilities
as members of the board of directors and this policy was affirmed by our
voting delegates. 

ACCOMMODATIONS FOR HEARING-IMPAIRED UPON REQUEST: The NFBV currently owns
assistive listening equipment for hearing impaired or deaf-blind individuals
and it is possible we may need to either upgrade that equipment or purchase
something else. If our chapters are asked to provide interpreting services
for a deaf-blind participant, the chapter should attempt to provide that
service and contact President Soforenko if the cost is too prohibitive for
the chapter treasury; Braille and large print agendas are provided for our
blind members and those blind persons with other disabilities need to be
accommodated as well upon request. Sign language interpreting services
should be requested at least two weeks prior to the event.

GREATER WILLIAMSBURG CHAPTER CONSTITUTION CHANGE: A delegate vote approved
our Greater Williamsburg Chapter Constitution to define a quorum for
meetings as 50% of the membership plus one. 

RICHMOND SEMINAR: Tracy next stated that Bonnie O'Day, our very capable
legislative lead who has worked tirelessly behind the scenes to promote our
priorities by meeting with bill patrons prior to our in-person meetings, was
not able to be with us. Her mother is quite ill and Bonnie is in Minnesota.
After each of the fact sheets was read, discussed and questions answered,
team assignments were reviewed. Team leaders were encouraged to meet with
their groups to plan for meeting with our delegates and senators the
following day. There are 54 new members of the Virginia General Assembly and
all delegates and senators need to understand our 2024 legislative
priorities. HB1355, Delegate Tran's bill, deals with state and local
government website inaccessibility and HB516 introduced by Delegate Hope
will require pharmacies to provide accessible prescription labels upon
request. Many examples were shared demonstrating the need for this
legislation. 

NFBV SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM: Our scholarship committee chair, Jimmy Morris,
urged us to recruit students to apply for our scholarship. The application
will be live by mid-May, 2024.

NFBV MILEAGE RATE: When conducting NFBV business, hiring a driver is often
necessary and we have been paying 67 cents per mile. The consensus was that
every year, we match the GSA annual mileage rate.

WASHINGTON SEMINAR: Tracy provided information about the upcoming Washington
seminar mock meetings and gave the date for our members to request financial
assistance to attend our in-person meetings.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY BUILDING: Mark Roane provided a very detailed description
of the newly constructed General Assembly Building where we will find our 40
Senators and 100 delegates.

RICHMOND SEMINAR REIMBURSEMENT PROCEDURES: Our treasurer recommended getting
electronic hotel and transportation receipts since those costs are covered
by our affiliate. A completed request for reimbursement form needs to
accompany the receipts.

PROGRAM REPORTS: Brief Silver BELLs and Stem 2-U reports were given. Three
Project RISE students will be participating in our Richmond Seminar and
other youth activities were described. Anyone with summer internship or job
shadowing ideas should contact Joe Orozco, our program coordinator.

COMMITTEE REPORTS: Teisha Gillespie is now chairing our communications
committee formerly chaired by Jacki Bruce. Jacki is now chairing our
membership committee. John Halverson was recognized and commended for his
work in this area and will be assisting Jacki and her committee. Jacki
reported she and her committee will be talking with chapter and division
presidents about what they need for chapter building, member recruitment and
retention. John is updating our national membership portal information. An
interactive membership event is being planned for our next board meeting.
Brief reports were provided indicating plans for seniors, students, chapter
time-sensitive activities, DEI and fundraising.

PUBLIC OUTREACH: Uricka Harrison and Chris Walker will be working with
chapters to strengthen community involvement.

STATE CONVENTION OPERATIONS: Stewart Prost, operations and logistics
committee Deputy Chair, stated our next state convention will be from
October 31 to November 3, 2024. Hotel rate at the Renaissance-Portsmouth
Hotel is $94 per night. 

There being no further business, our meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Sandy Halverson

Acting Recording Secretary

Peace,

Jacki Bruce

Corresponding Secretary NFBV

mailto:jackibruce6 at gmail.com

tel:(757)291-1789

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STRONGER TOGETHER!

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