[Nfbwv-talk] Fwd: Changes to the Code of Conduct

Thu Apr 25 19:12:36 UTC 2019

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: President, National Federation of the Blind <
OfficeOfThePresident at nfb.org>
Date: Thu, Apr 25, 2019 at 3:09 PM
Subject: Changes to the Code of Conduct
To: State Presidents <StatePresidents at nfb.org>
CC: Hairston, Ever Lee <ever.hairston at gmail.com>, Gashel, Jim <
jgashel0923 at gmail.com>, President, National Federation of the Blind <
OfficeOfThePresident at nfb.org>

On April 12, 2019, the Board of Directors of the National Federation of the
Blind adopted changes to the organization’s Code of Conduct that impact the
practices in local affiliates. You will recall that when the board
originally adopted the Code of Conduct in January 2018, each affiliate was
asked to adopt and confirm an affiliate version of the code. In reviewing
the implementation of this policy during the past eighteen months, the
board recognized that affiliate versions of the code were duplicative and
established procedures that may be less effective for our organization. The
April 2019 revisions are intended to create clarity, consistency, and
greater accountability in our Code of Conduct and investigations of
potential violations. With this memo I am asking you to be aware of the
following points and provide leadership to your affiliate in ensuring that
our organizational code of conduct is lived up to at the state and local
level.

   1. Please review the revised Code of Conduct, attached. Note that the
   most significant changes are to clarify that the policy extends to all
   members and leaders of the organization and that the national organization
   has responsibility for conducting investigations of code of conduct
   violations. This version of the policy also requires leaders of the
   Federation at all levels to disclose conflicts of interest to the national
   board for review.
   2. You should continue to find ways to make members aware of our Code of
   Conduct and advise them of the procedures for filing grievances under the
   code. Note that the online version of the code provides a link to our
   online form, and extension 2475 at our national office can be used for
   verbal submissions. Please keep in mind that if you receive knowledge of a
   potential violation of the code of conduct, as a leader of the
   organization, you are expected to report those incidents to the national
   organization. You should ensure that your affiliate website links
to our national
   Code of Conduct
   <https://nfb.org/about-us/history-and-governance/code-conduct>.
   3. The national board will be implementing training for leaders of the
   organization to ensure that we have a qualified pool of individuals to
   conduct investigations of alleged code of conduct violations. If you are
   interested in participating in such a training, please stay tuned for
   training opportunities. In addition we will be increasing our training
   opportunities on topics related to the code of conduct, such as sexual
   harassment and diversity and inclusion.
   4. Our current procedures for investigating alleged code of conduct
   violations are being reviewed by both internal experts as well as a
   third-party consultant. We are currently using these procedures for active
   investigations, but we wanted our experts to review the procedures to
   ensure we did not neglect any best practices. When our procedures are
   ready, our intention is to make them publicly available so that everyone
   knows what to expect in active investigations.
   5. This policy does not eliminate the responsibilities of state
   affiliate boards or chapter boards to manage the affairs of the local
   organization and to ensure that proper organizational procedures are
   followed. This includes taking appropriate actions to address issues within
   the affiliate. For example, if an affiliate board becomes aware of a local
   chapter member who has taken funds from a local chapter, they need not
   initiate a formal investigation by the national organization in order to
   take action against the member. However, the affiliate president should
   coordinate with the national president in order to ensure that local
   actions are properly documented and that members are advised of their
   appeal rights. We will be providing further training on these topics in the
   future. In the meantime, if you are in doubt, give me a call.

We appreciate your giving attention to assisting with the implementation of
our Code of Conduct. It is critical that we have leaders who exemplify the
values that are embodied in our code. There is more that we need to do to
effectively implement training and to create awareness of the expectations
in our code. However, your leadership gives me confidence that we will
continue to raise expectations across our organization.

Mark A. Riccobono, President

200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
<https://maps.google.com/?q=200+East+Wells+Street,+Baltimore,+MD+21230&entry=gmail&source=g>

(410) 659-9314 | officeofthepresident at nfb.org

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

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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.

-- 
Sheri Koch, President
National Federation of the Blind of West Virginia
304-993-5103
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