[Ohio-talk] FW: The Blind Working In Securities: Big News From Colleagues In My Firm

Fri Mar 23 15:57:12 UTC 2018

JW, Thanks for sharing. It is good to know that we don't always have
to kick the door down to gain entrance.

Have a great weekend! CF

On 3/22/18, Smith, JW via Ohio-Talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Some of you may have seen this post on other Lists but I asked Kane if I
> could share it as it is the kind of news that I believe gives us all hope
> that at least some, try and get it and are willing to put actions with
> words!
>
> Read on below!
>
> jw
>
> Dr. jw Smith
> School of Communication Studies
> Scripps College of Communication
> Ohio University
> Schoonover Center, Rm. 401
> Athens, OH 45701
> smithj at ohio.edu
> T: 740-593-4838
>
> If you see someone today without a smile, why don't you give them one of
> yours?
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>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kane Brolin <kbrolin65 at gmail.com>
> Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2018 10:10 AM
> To: NFB Employment Committee Private E-mail List
> <employment-committee at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: NFB of Michiana Mailing List <nfbofmichiana at googlegroups.com>; NFB of
> Indiana Mailing List <nfb-indiana at yahoogroups.com>; NFB of Michigan Internet
> Mailing List <NFBMI-Talk at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: The Blind Working In Securities: Big News From Colleagues In My
> Firm
>
> Greetings.
>
> I find the following rather remarkable--and it involves the place where I
> make my living.  So I decided to share this.
>
> As some of you know, I am connected professionally with a broker/dealer in
> the securities and financial planning business whose name is the
> Commonwealth Financial Network.  Back in 2015 while attending our National
> Conference in Washington, DC, I found out that one of my Massachusetts-based
> colleagues is on the board of directors of the Perkins School for the Blind.
>  So I have kept in touch with this guy periodically ever since.  Late last
> year, Scott wrote to me and said he is attempting to prepare a young, blind
> man to be an understudy in his own business.  Were there materials in
> Braille or another accessible format that this man could use to study for
> required licensing exams?  I said that, based on my own experience, nothing
> of this kind exists, because I always had to rely on human reader/recorders
> both to do the studying and to take these exams.  At the same time, though,
> I pointed to one or two possible resources and offered that I would do
> anything I could to help improve industry-wide accommodations in this area,
> but that I would need some help from folks on the inside to get it done.
>
> Last night, I received the note from my friend which at the top of the
> message string I reproduce below.  The man named Wayne Bloom whom he
> references in this message is a co-founder of Commonwealth, and he currently
> serves as CEO.  And Mr. Bloom personally has gotten behind this initiative,
> which apparently will result in Kaplan creating study materials for some of
> these Financial Industry Regulatory Authority exams in Braille.
>
> The remarkable thing is, Commonwealth serves 1,900 advisors and perhaps
> millions of individual clients nationwide.  I am not exactly a prominent
> player in this company's affairs, nor am I a particularly high producer or
> located in a highly populated part of the country.  I am practically the
> only presence Commonwealth has in Indiana, outside of maybe Indianapolis.
> But this company has not only given me an opportunity to represent them as a
> blind person; they are stepping out, doing research into accessibility, and
> standing up for a truly diverse workforce and making it easier for the blind
> to work in the securities industry as a whole even when it does not produce
> immediate revenue for them.
>
> Yes, I have suggested Commonwealth applies to take part corporately in this
> summer's NFB Job Fair, a part of National Convention in Orlando the first
> week of July.
>
> -________________________________
> From: Scott Schutte
> Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2018 5:01 PM
> To: Kane Brolin <kane.k.brolin at brolinwealth.com>
> Cc: Christina De Sario <CDeSario at COMMONWEALTH.COM>; Wayne Bloom
> <waynebloom at commonwealth.com>
> Subject: RE: Study Materials request
>
> Kane:
>
> I hope you are well.
>
> Well, I think we may have made history today for the blind and visually
> impaired individuals. I'm cc'ing Christina in the Commonwealth Licensing
> Department and Wayne Bloom as they played a role.
>
> I was able to develop a contact at Kaplan, who is working on turning their
> financial study material, such as the Series 6 & 7 study guides into
> braille. I believe they will be utilizing the Braille Press in Boston to
> produce the materials in the future. They are also working with testing
> centers to help make the process easier and more accommodative when taking
> the tests for Blind and V.I. As you mentioned in the email below the hurdles
> should be minimized soon. In fact, I ordered a Series 6 book for my teenaged
> son today! He's expressed interest in our field. I've also spoken with Wayne
> Bloom, who said, barring any FINRA rules or hurdles, would be willing to
> sponsor him in the Series 6 exam, assuming he's an employee with me.
> So, I believe this is the first ever financial exam study material in
> braille and hopefully the testing center will be easier for him than in the
> past.
>
> Also, Kate Creagh (the head of HR at Commonwealth) attended a ½ day workshop
> with me in Boston last year to understand the accommodative technology for
> future employees who are blind and visually impaired.
> She was blown away by all the new technology and resources available to
> blind and V.I. folks in the financial industry. I'm continuing to work with
> Perkin's School for the Blind and our board helped find jobs for 24 blind
> college students last year. I'm hoping that with the new study material and
> easier exam work flow, will make it easier to employ more blind and VI folks
> in the financial industry in the very near future.
>
> I just wanted to let you know as we spoke about this a few years ago at the
> Commonwealth National Conference. I look forward to catching up with you in
> TX this year.
>
> Regards,
>
> Scott
>
>
> G. Scott Schutte, AIF®
> Wealth Management Director
> [scott sig]
>
> Newton | Hingham
>
> 2344 Washington Street 2nd Floor
> Newton Lower Falls, MA  02462
> P: (617) 581.6100 F: (617) 231.0664
>
> Website<http://www.lightshipwealth.com/> |
> Map<https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lightship+Wealth+Strategies,+Inc./@42.3252441,-71.2594708,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x89e383c6e887fe17:0xd636147d5e805935!8m2!3d42.3252441!4d-71.2572821>
> | Email<mailto:scott at lightshipwealth.com> |
> Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/LightshipWealthStrategies/?rf=1465094737142305>
> | LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-schutte-72a3a046>
>
> [cid:image002.png at 01D3C12C.0F4E0710]
>
> Securities and advisory services offered through Commonwealth Financial
> Network®, member FINRA/SIPC, a Registered Investment Adviser.
> Fixed insurance products and services offered through CES Insurance Agency
>
> -________________________________
> From: Kane Brolin
> Sent: Tuesday, March 6, 2018 2:50 PM
> To: Scott Schutte
> <scott at lightshipwealth.com<mailto:scott at lightshipwealth.com>>
> Cc: Christina De Sario
> <CDeSario at COMMONWEALTH.COM<mailto:CDeSario at COMMONWEALTH.COM>>
> Subject: RE: Study Materials request
>
> Scott and Christina:
>
> Thank you so much for reaching out.  I sometimes feel rather isolated from
> other folks at CFN between National Conferences; but of course, Scott, I
> remember you and your work with the Perkins School.  Kudos to you for hiring
> and doing everything you can to support an employee in your practice who
> lives with visual impairment.
>
> Scott, I think I know of a way to solve the problem of inaccessible Series
> testing, but so far no one has listened to me or followed up with me.
> Perhaps you through your unique points of contact there in the East could
> help out in this respect.  Unfortunately, I have no ready answer for you
> relative to any plug-and-play solution already in existence to make FINRA
> Series study materials accessible.  I have voiced concerns about this in the
> past, but have received no answer from anybody on that.  I did just today
> reach out to a lady named Monica Victorino at Wells Fargo.  Monica has
> participated actively on behalf of her company to help recruit blind
> employees, and I am somewhat familiar with her through the side work I do as
> a member of the Employment Committee in the National Federation of the
> Blind.  So far she has not responded in any way, but I just sent my
> introductory query to her about an hour ago.
>
> My own experience with the Series 7 and Series 66 came clear back in the
> year 2000.  There were 0 accessible study materials, even in audible form,
> available in Y2K when I had to pass those exams.  I had to work with fellow
> employees at American Express Financial Advisors who were preparing at the
> same time and who would read practice questions to me orally from the study
> CDs.  My mother-in-law tape-recorded much of the material in the book we
> used as source material.  And the exam itself, I took with the aid of a
> human reader/recorder who was hired by Prometric to perform those
> functions.
> This is still how securities exams are administered, and it was even how I
> had to take the CFP Board exam back in 2005.
>
> Just so you know, this issue has been on my mind for years, and I think I
> know of a company that has the wherewithal to produce accessible exam and
> exam prep material for this industry, if FINRA
> were forward-looking enough to contract with them to do this.   I sent
> a message to Derek Anderson, who at least then served as our director of
> compliance at Commonwealth, back in 2016.  In early July, I attended the
> 2016 National Convention of the National Federation of the
> Blind<https://nfb.org/>
>    in Orlando, Florida.  While there, I spoke with a gentleman who
> represents a textbook publishing company known as
> VitalSource<https://get.vitalsource.com/accessibility>.  What sets this
> company apart is that they cut deals with specific publishers to produce
> educational materials that are in formats accessible to those persons who
> have print disabilities.  Among other things, VitalSource has an application
> called Bookshelf<https://support.vitalsource.com/hc/en-us>, which makes this
> content usable on a variety of different platforms, including Android and
> iOs.
>
>
>
> When speaking with that individual at Convention, I flashed back to my own
> predicament back in 2000 when I was studying for Series 7 and Series 66
> licenses, recalling what a struggle it was as a totally blind person not
> having any access to either the exams themselves or the study materials
> related to them, except with the help of a hired human reader.  I asked
> Derek for a contact I could make at FINRA to open the doors of communication
> about this, since it was and still is my goal to open up opportunity for
> more persons who have print disabilities to work in financial services, and
> I contend that making FINRA-approved textbooks, practice examinations, and
> real licensing examinations accessible to us would be quite helpful in this
> regard.
> He never responded to my query, so I still know no one at FINRA to whom I
> could refer a VitalSource account rep.
>
>
>
> So, Scott and Christina,  if you or any colleagues in our Compliance area at
> Waltham or San Diego could deliver any guidance to help me make appropriate
> contacts, I would greatly appreciate that.  I would take the ball and run
> with it.
>
>
>
> Let's keep talking about this.
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
> -Kane
>
> ________________________________
> Kane Brolin, CFP® ChSNC® MBA | Registered Representative CERTIFIED FINANCIAL
> PLANNER(tm) Practitioner CHARTERED SPECIAL NEEDS CONSULTANT(tm)
> 113 Lincolnway West, Ste. 100
> Mishawaka,  IN  46544
> 574-254-7180 | 574-400-0964 (fax)
>
> Kane.K.Brolin at brolinwealth.com<mailto:Kane.K.Brolin at brolinwealth.com>
> www.brolinwealth.com<http://www.brolinwealth.com/>
>
> Securities and Advisory Services offered through Commonwealth Financial
> Network, Member FINRA/SIPC, a Registered Investment Advisor.
>
> Fixed Insurance products and services offered by Brolin Wealth Management or
> CES Insurance Agency.
>
> Trade instructions cannot be accepted via email or voicemail, as these
> transactions will not be accepted or executed. If you have a request that
> requires immediate service/attention please contact the Commonwealth Trade
> Desk at 800.251.0080 x9991
>
> This e-mail and any attachments are intended only for the addressee.
> If you are not the intended recipient, please permanently delete this
> message immediately and do not use, copy, distribute or forward any part of
> this message, as it may contain proprietary, confidential, or privileged
> information. Also, please let me know of the error by return e-mail. Thank
> you.
>
> -________________________________
> From: Christina De Sario [mailto:CDeSario at COMMONWEALTH.COM]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2018 11:10 AM
> To: Kane Brolin
> <kane.k.brolin at brolinwealth.com<mailto:kane.k.brolin at brolinwealth.com>>
> Subject: Study Materials request
>
> Hi Kane,
>
> I hope this email finds you well!
>
> I was speaking with one of our advisors Scott Schutte who says he's spoken
> with you at conferences and requested that I reach out to you.
> He let me know that he has an employee who is studying to take his S6 who is
> vision impaired and reads Braille, and he was wondering if you would have
> any advice as to where he would be able to get study materials. I've reached
> out to some of our vendors and I'm still waiting to hear back, but I thought
> I should reach out to you as well.
>
> If you have any recommendations or advice for Scott, his email is
> scott at lightshipwealth.com<mailto:scott at lightshipwealth.com> and his office
> phone number is 617-581-6100. I would also like to know if you've got any
> ideas, in case a similar situation were to arise in the future.
>
> Thank you for your help!
>
> Best,
>
> Christina De Sario
> Licensing Specialist
> 800.251.0080 x7255 | 781.398.9953 fax |
> CDeSario at commonwealth.com<mailto:CDeSario at commonwealth.com>
>
> Commonwealth Financial Network®
> 29 Sawyer Road, Waltham, MA 02453-3483 |
> www.commonwealth.com<http://www.commonwealth.com/>
>
> This e-mail and any attachments are intended only for the addressee.
> If you are not the intended recipient, please permanently delete this
> message immediately and do not use, copy, distribute or forward any part of
> this message, as it may contain proprietary, confidential, or privileged
> information. Also, please let me know of the error by return e-mail. Thank
> you.
>
> Commonwealth Financial Network® does not provide legal or tax advice.
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-- 
Wishing You All the Best,

Cheryl E. Fields

A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human
life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will
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