[Nfbwv-talk] President Riccobono's Notebook for May 23, 2016

Tue May 24 20:04:53 UTC 2016

May 23, 2016
President's Notebook
National Federation of the Blind
Mark A. Riccobono
officeofthepresident at nfb.org<mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>
(410) 659-9314

Dear Fellow Federationists,

I was thinking about our brand promise and I wanted to again bring it to your attention. "Together with love, hope, and determination, we transform dreams into reality." This expression brings so much to mind about who we are and what we do. I encourage you to reflect on it and work to make every action we take in the Federation consistent with this promise. For that matter, in selecting which things we will not do or which things will be lower priority, the promise should be considered.

Since I last sent out the notebook, the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia brought seventy members to the Jernigan Institute for a weekend of learning and teaching. I encourage more of our affiliates to find innovative ways to develop membership and grow the organization, and to call on me to be a part of innovative gatherings like the one our Virginia affiliate crafted with me earlier this month.

Last week I had the opportunity to travel the Midwest visiting the work of the Federation. I attended the BLAST conference put on by our National Association of Blind Merchants. Our division is growing and the conference has become the premier place for innovating opportunities for blind entrepreneurs-not only in Randolph Sheppard but in all business ventures. From BLAST I visited our training center in Minnesota. The team at BLIND, Incorporated continues to raise the standard for training and is expanding the reach of the Federation every day. While in Minnesota I had the pleasure of participating in our NFB STEM2U program at the Science Museum of Minnesota. We are coming to the end of our three-year project to impact science museums. Here is a little national convention agenda preview-we will be hearing more about our impact through our NFB STEM2U and NFBEQ programs at our convention in July. It is not every day that I have the opportunity to be present in the places where Federation activities are taking place. I am grateful to all of the Federationists who are taking actions, right now, that I am not aware of to help build our organization. It was great to be on hand to witness many of those actions happening last week.

Please note the deadlines coming up and please do your part to help get the word out.

Let's go build the Federation!

Critical Actions This Week:

Exhibit Hall Deadline:
The exhibit hall deadline for the 2016 National Convention was Friday, May 20. If your affiliate is planning to exhibit at convention, and you have not done so already, please fill out the online exhibitor form<https://nfb.org/national-convention-exhibitor-application> before noon tomorrow (Tuesday, May 24). If you have any questions, contact Stephanie Eller at seller at nfb.org<mailto:seller at nfb.org> or (410) 659-9314, extension 2423.

Preregistration Deadlines:
Also, a reminder that the deadline to preregister for both the National Federation of the Blind 2016 National Convention and the WBU/ICEVI General Assembly is May 31, 2016.

News:

Tom Ridge TIME Act Op-Ed:
Today The Hill published an op-ed by former Governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Ridge, in which he discusses the need to phase out subminimum wages for people with disabilities and his support of the Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment (TIME) Act (H.R. 188, S. 2001). To read this piece, please visit https://nfb.org/time-act-real-employment-people-disabilities.  We have also posted it on the NFB website at https://nfb.org/time-act-real-employment-people-disabilities. Please share it far and wide, especially with members of Congress who have not yet co-sponsored this legislation.

International Council on English Braille (ICEB) 6th General Assembly:
We are hosting the ICEB 6th General Assembly this week at the Jernigan Institute. Various options to live stream the proceedings are available at http://www.iceb.org/live.html.

Article on Blind Parenting:
A recent article on blind parenting can be found at http://www.cecildaily.com/news/state_news/article_9bb922f3-03b3-5165-9275-477b577e4196.html. The article describes the recent Maryland legislation and the fact that in cases assessing parents' ability to care for their children, judges and claimants will need to follow new procedures before introducing a person's disability in court. Originally written for blindness, the bill was later amended to include all disabilities, physical or mental, and covers only private cases that don't involve public agencies, such as custody or visitation, as well as adoption or guardianship cases. Support available from the NFB is also detailed in the article.

Video:
This week's video, Aleeha Dudley's story of strength and acceptance in the Federation, can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFlP_Aq6Ttw.

Affiliates:

Send Us Your Web Access Stories:
As part of the public comment process related to the recent Supplemental Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued by the Department of Justice, we are gathering comments regarding state and local government website accessibility, which is guaranteed under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). At your June meeting, we need you to gather stories from chapter members about their experience (good or bad) using state and local government websites. This information should be collected and emailed to Kyle Walls at kwalls at nfb.org<mailto:kwalls at nfb.org>.

State and local government websites offer opportunities for consumers to handle matters such as voter registration, property tax issues, school closings and class registration, food stamps, library services, and community bulletin boards, just to name a few examples. Chapter presidents are asked to designate a person responsible for assuring that stories are emailed to Kyle during the month of June. Along with member's stories, we need a working email address in order to follow-up as necessary. Stories will be entered as public comments and shared on www.regulations.gov<http://www.regulations.gov>.

Dates to Keep in Mind:

*        May 21-26: International Council on English Braille 6th General Assembly

*        May 23-August 26: NFB BELL Academy held at forty-six sites throughout the nation. More information at https://nfb.org/bell-academy.

*        June 7: NFB EQ teacher application deadline, https://nfb.org/nfb-eq-teacher-application

*        June 19-25: NFB EQ (first iteration)

*        June 30-July 5: National Federation of the Blind Convention, Rosen Shingle Creek, Orlando, Florida

*        July 31-August 6: NFB EQ (second iteration)

*        August 2-6: NFB EQ teacher cohort

*        August 18-25: WBU and ICEVI General Assembly, Rosen Centre, Orlando, Florida, www.wbu-icevi2016.org<http://www.wbu-icevi2016.org>

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
National Federation of the Blind
200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
Phone: (410) 659-9314
Fax: (410) 659-5129
Email: officeofthepresident at nfb.org<mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>
Twitter: @Riccobono and @NFB_Voice
Web: www.nfb.org<http://www.nfb.org/>

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