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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'>National Federation of the Blind of Ohio<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'>A Message From The Membership Committee<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Dear Ohio Members and Friends,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>As we move closer to the State of Ohio Convention, I am trusting that all of the Ohio Affiliate members will be in attendance. Membership should be very important not only to a few, but all. Therefore, Membership must be at the forefront of how we move together as a collective force. We are a family and sometimes we may not agree, certainly we should be able to work together for the common good.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Everyone is needed to do the work of the federation. We can not sustain with only a few standing tall ready for battle. Opinions, decisions and personalities are what makes this affiliate strong and stable. If we were all alike, the world would be boring. So, let’s get packed, let’s call friends and members who say they’re not attending to let them know that our arms are wide, and our backs are strong with dedication to raise expectations for everyone who is blind or blind like. There is room for you and you! <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>You do not have to be perfect, just present. Leaders are not born, but formed and everyone can play a part as a mentor, leader, teacher and scholar. Below, I have attached a chapter from the book “Building The Lives We Want”, that talks about the ways in which members grow in the federation. We all matter, and I hope this inspires everyone to travel to the most happenings in Ohio on November 17, 2023 to Columbus.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>We have had a great year in Ohio. So, let’s celebrate at the convention!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h2>CHAPTER FOURTEEN: LOVE, HOPE, AND DETERMINATION: DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP <o:p></o:p></h2><p class=MsoNormal>by Sharon Maneki and Corbb O'Connor<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>Dr. Jernigan thought of me as both an adult and a responsible colleague. Others had told me I was an adult; he was the first person I had ever met who seemed thoroughly to believe it. He made it absolutely clear that every person at the seminar was expected to carry part of the load—even scared, college-kid me!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal align=right style='text-align:right'>—Mary Ellen Gabias, 1999<sup>1</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The National Federation of the Blind has not only survived, but has flourished for seventy-five years. Its success is due in large measure to its ability to develop effective leaders. Leadership development has been one of the organization's highest priorities since its inception. Because the Federation is neither a social club nor a trade association, our leaders must drive our movement toward the full integration of the blind into society. As society evolves, our dynamic movement adjusts; as we eliminate one barrier to full integration, others appear and must be assaulted. Effective leadership is crucial, because if the Federation fails to achieve its goals, the lives of blind persons will be diminished. Over the past seventy-five years, our organization has grown from a few dozen members to several thousand, connected through a series of formal and informal mentoring relationships.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In a conversation with Sharon Maneki, immediate past NFB president Dr. Marc Maurer described two basic approaches to developing leadership. The first approach is to observe someone who is already a leader and persuade that individual to devote his or her talents to the Federation. The second approach is to find people with untapped potential and teach them to become leaders. The Federation makes full use of both of these approaches.<sup>2</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Dr. Donald Capps came to the Federation by the first approach. Dr. Capps was a successful insurance executive with proven leadership ability when his brother invited him to speak to a group of blind people. Within a year, Capps was the president of that group. He helped bring the group into the Federation, and he soon became president of the South Carolina affiliate. Dr. Capps has the longest record of service as a member of the national board of directors, and he is renowned for his accomplishments in organizing chapters throughout the country.<sup>3</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Dr. Marc Maurer came to the organization by way of the second approach. He was not yet a leader when he joined the Federation as a student at the Iowa Commission for the Blind. Through mentoring from Dr. Kenneth Jernigan as well as experiences organizing events and chapters, Dr. Maurer became an outstanding leader in the organization, and he is its longest-serving national president.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Federation members and leaders share the bonds of a common cause. People at every level of the organization have experienced the pain of discrimination and exclusion, the thrill of new challenges, and the joy of accomplishment. We sustain one another with mutual respect and love. We offer the hope of a better life for blind people, and we have the determination to reach our goals. Love, hope, and determination keep the organization on course to develop effective leadership.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h3>The Continual Search for Leaders<o:p></o:p></h3><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Our movement has always simultaneously searched for members and leaders. In the early days, we looked in schools for the blind, sheltered workshops, and social clubs for blind adults. As more and more blind children were channeled into regular public schools in the 1950s and 1960s, the population of blind youth was no longer concentrated in schools for the blind. While blind people had more opportunities to enter mainstream society, they were increasingly isolated from one another. Broader outreach strategies were required to find blind adults and young people scattered in cities and towns from Maine to Arizona.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Dr. Jacobus tenBroek was an educator and a theorist. He devoted most of his efforts to developing a set of guiding principles and a structure to bring blind people together. Dr. Jernigan emphasized forming a community, and he used a personal approach. He started the practice of visiting people in their homes to introduce them to the Federation. He showed people not only what the NFB could do for them, but also what they could do for the NFB. When he became president, Dr. Jernigan built upon this approach. He formed organizing teams to search the country for members and leaders.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Diane McGeorge of Colorado joined the organization in the 1970s after she witnessed a powerful show of solidarity. “I knew about the NFB long before I became active in it,” she recalled. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>My husband, Ray, was very involved, but I tended to concentrate on raising the children. The turning point for me was the Judy Miller case.<sup>4</sup> Judy Miller, an experienced teacher, wanted to teach in the Denver school system. The Denver school board refused to give her the opportunity to teach because she could not meet the local vision requirement. I understood that this was discrimination. I had faced discrimination myself when I was not permitted to take my guide dog into various locations. Ray had faith that Dr. Jernigan would help us, and he did. I was impressed by the blind teachers who put their personal lives on hold to come from across the country to help Judy by demonstrating their capabilities. The Denver school board settled the case the day before the trial was schedule to start. This incident convinced me that the NFB had the power to improve lives, and I wanted to be part of this movement.<sup>5</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>After a year of futile discussion, Judy Miller and the NFB brought suit against the Denver school board on June 28, 1973. The case was finally settled on April 21, 1975. It was a landmark victory in the federal court that struck down an enormous barrier of employment discrimination. It is easy to understand why Diane McGeorge was impressed with the determination of the NFB. Years later she said, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>When Dr. Jernigan called me and said that he wanted me to be part of an organizing team, I jumped at the chance. I now recognized that the NFB changed people's lives. I enjoyed meeting other blind people, listening to their stories, and bringing them hope. Dr. Jernigan called me every day and said, “did you find the state president yet?” The work was both very challenging and very rewarding. Dr. Jernigan gave me the confidence to find that state president, and in turn, I gave that state president the encouragement and tools to build up the state affiliate.<sup>6</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The members of the organizing teams gained valuable firsthand experience in identifying and cultivating leadership. Ever Lee Hairston offers the following perspective on how an organizing team found her in the 1980s.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>Jacqueline Billey was working on membership development in New Jersey. When she called me, I knew nothing about the NFB. She asked my ideas about a meeting place, and I was glad to help. I liked Jackie very much, but the first meeting did not excite me. Jackie was a persuasive woman, and she kept inviting me to the national convention. I was a single parent raising my son. I had recently started a new job. I made other excuses and kept putting her off. Jackie was a determined woman and she persisted. I finally agreed to go for three or four days.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>At the convention Jackie took me under her wing and made those few days a memorable experience. I was overwhelmed. I also recognized what I was missing because of my lack of blindness skills. In the registration line, when I was asked whether I wanted a print or a Braille agenda, I understood that I was illiterate. I could no longer read print and did not know how to read Braille. I wanted what the blind people around me had.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>When I came back from that convention in 1987, I immediately started a local chapter of the NFB in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. I had leadership ability and experience before I joined the NFB. What the Federation gave me was hope and a cause. I acquired blindness skills at the Louisiana Center for the Blind. I became determined, and still am, to give back the love and hope that I received to other blind people.<sup>7</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Caption: Jason Ewell addresses a group of NFB Corps volunteers seated around a table.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Students have always played an important role in the NFB. Dr. Jernigan made sure that students were part of organizing teams. He wanted to harness their energy and enthusiasm and to broaden their experience. When he became president, Dr. Maurer followed this practice as well, establishing the NFB Corps. As NFB Corps members, students and recent college graduates traveled the country, seeking out blind people and building new NFB chapters.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In 2003 Jennifer Kennedy, today a nationally certified orientation and mobility instructor in Virginia, spent six weeks working with NFB Corps outside Frederick, Maryland. As a recent graduate of the Louisiana Center for the Blind, she put her new skills to the test. “I remember the copious amounts of hardcopy Braille, looking at the <i>Braille Monitor</i> and <i>Future Reflections</i> [mailing] lists. We were just calling people and trying to meet other blind people.” <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>At one point, one of Kennedy's team members, Sandy Halverson, got frustrated with the tomes of data that weren't in a manageable format. With a slate and stylus she copied all of the names and phone numbers onto individual index cards. “At times, it was discouraging,” Kennedy said. “People would hang up on you, they'd say they had a previous run-in with a consumer organization that they didn't like, or the contact info would just be wrong. Without a strong level of dedication to the organization, we wouldn't have been successful.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>However, the end result was worth the effort. As Kennedy said, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>A year later, in 2004, I was working the Independence Market [at national convention] when I saw some of the guys that I had recruited to join. Actually, one of them was a guy who we invited to go to karaoke with us, just to show that we're an organization for all kinds of people! I was excited that at least the chapter [we started] was still in existence a year later and had brought new people to the national convention. Hiring a driver from this town in the middle of nowhere to come to [convention in] Louisville was exciting to me. I saw other people believe in something that I believed in so early in my life and appreciated that they wanted to see what was happening nationally.<sup>8</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Caption: Surrounded by members of her delegation, Lydia Usero holds the charter of the NFB of Puerto Rico at the 1992 NFB Convention.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The NFB grew to fifty-two affiliates when the NFB of Puerto Rico received its charter of affiliation in 1992. Although the organization no longer adds affiliates, it continues to grow by strengthening those that exist. The Seventy-five Days of Action in 2015 is the most recent example of our ongoing search for members and leaders. In many ways, this organizing effort was similar to the system that Dr. Jernigan began in the 1950s. With the idea of creating seventy-five new chapters nationwide in honor of the organization's anniversary, members made personal contacts with blind people and visited them in their homes. This organizing effort had the advantage of advances in communication such as social media, which were used to encourage simultaneous organizing in all fifty-two affiliates. As Jeannie Massay, one of the co-chairs of the Seventy-five Days of Action Committee, explained, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>We empowered individuals in every affiliate to go out and spread the word about our positive philosophy of blindness. People who did not think of themselves as leaders found that they could help to organize a new local chapter or strengthen an existing chapter. By empowering individuals and by focusing on building membership, we were able to strengthen and rejuvenate the organization.<sup>9</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Tracy Soforenko, who serves as the second vice president of the NFB of Virginia, shared Jeannie Massay's ideology. Early in his presidency of the Potomac Chapter, he wanted every person to have a job, no matter how small. “I would find that some people would take a job and do great things, and others would, well, not do so well,” he said. “But then I got to thinking: if a fundraiser didn't happen or wasn't perfect, it didn't matter. We were teaching blind people that they could do stuff and that their work mattered. Slowly people got better, our events improved, and we became a stronger chapter.”<sup>10</sup> The work itself was secondary; the mentoring was primary.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>As proof of that idea, Mr. Soforenko encouraged a member to take on a big role, one in which he knew that she would excel and grow. “This young individual felt as if she'd never been given a leadership role in an organization of our size, and we asked her to serve as our treasurer, responsible for administering our $5,000-plus annual budget,” he said. “Our chapter provided some coaching along the way about how to handle different situations, and within just a few months, she was giving us advice about how to better manage and account for our funds.”<sup>11</sup> The search for leaders and members of the Federation will continue. More blind people will be empowered, developing a stronger pool of leaders.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h3>Developing Leaders Through Mentoring Relationships<o:p></o:p></h3><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Developing strong mentoring relationships between teachers and students has been central to the NFB since its inception. Dr. Newel Perry convinced his student, Jacobus tenBroek, to form the NFB in 1940. Perry and tenBroek worked closely together for many years. Because of their presence and activity, Federation leadership was initially centered in California. Later, when Kenneth Jernigan became president, the center of NFB leadership shifted to Iowa.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Through the early decades of the movement, talented leaders emerged infrequently. They were swiftly brought into the circle of leadership, where everyone knew and worked closely with everyone else. In the 1970s, local chapters proliferated, and membership throughout the country grew rapidly. This unprecedented growth created a need for more leaders. Dr. Jernigan determined that leadership training had to change to meet the rising demands.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In 1973 President Jernigan organized the first NFB Leadership Training Seminar. These seminars were destined to become a permanent fixture in the movement. By 1990 representatives from every state had participated. Leadership was no longer clustered in one state. Because of these seminars, the NFB developed a truly national leadership base.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Caption: Dr. Marc Maurer conducts a meeting of the Timid Seminar in 1991.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The intensity of the seminar experience helped the participants form strong bonds of friendship and camaraderie. In <i>Walking Alone and Marching Together,</i> the history written for the fiftieth anniversary of the NFB, Dr. Floyd Matson described the mechanics of the leadership training seminars as follows: <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>The seminarians lived and learned and worked together for four active days, at close quarters with one another and with the national president (first Kenneth Jernigan and later Marc Maurer). They came to know the institutional workings of the national headquarters; they learned the history of the movement from the people who made it; they mastered the structure of the basic laws governing work with the blind, and they reasoned through (and talked and argued through) the handling of hundreds of problematic situations drawn from actual experience which were posed to them by the president. These contingencies gave the new leaders an opportunity to ponder issues of administration, of policy-making, of finance, and of the routine daily tasks of keeping a movement composed mainly of volunteers working happily along toward its goals.<sup>12</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Dr. Fredric Schroeder, who served for many years as the Federation's first vice president and attended over thirty leadership seminars, said the goal was to connect the national president to members around the country. As Schroeder explained, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>Rather than seeing the national office and the president as having this wide range of responsibilities for managing the organization, these were times to realize that we're a people's movement. A big goal was getting to know Dr. Maurer beyond his formal role as president. People needed to be comfortable to pick up the phone to call the national president to say, “Here's an issue that we're dealing with,” or “Here's info that I think would be helpful to you.” We're not only colleagues engaged in a common cause, but we're friends who care about one another. We want the abstract philosophy of the Federation to be successful, and our lives are the embodiment of that. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Dr. Schroeder continued, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>By extension, participants came to an understanding that, as we assume leadership positions, our actions become actions that represent the Federation at the local, state, or national board levels. In other words, when we as individuals articulate a position on any topic related to blindness, people in leadership are speaking for the whole organization. We can't say, “The Federation believes X and I believe Y.” It can't work that way. If I am part of the central administration, I can do my best to influence our positions through the democratic process, but once a course is determined, we need to support it and make it work. We can't be part of the central leadership, then divorce ourselves when we feel like it.<sup>13</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Leadership training seminars had a strong effect on individual participants. In the January/February 1999 edition of the <i>Braille Monitor,</i> in an article entitled “Words from Colleagues Old and New,” Mary Ellen Gabias shared recollections of her leadership training seminar experience. She remembered the experience vividly, though it had occurred twenty-six years earlier. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>We started before eight in the morning and finished at ten in the evening. Dr. Jernigan showed me a thick stack of index cards with items he meant to cover. From time to time during the three days of the seminar he would walk over to my chair and show me how many items we had completed and how much was still left to do. There was more to do than we could possibly get done. That's the way it always is in the Federation. We worked hard, laughed a lot, and cried sometimes.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>The experience changed the way I thought about myself. I began to understand that Dr. Jernigan could not carry the load alone. He could write and speak about blindness better than anyone else; his thinking was innovative; his courage was beyond question; but he also needed my help. He had shown me what the Federation meant to blind people. He had given the deepest and best part of himself to the movement. He had ceased to be an intimidating stranger and become a trusted friend.<sup>14</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>A second example of developing leaders through mentoring relationships began with the expansion of the NFB National Scholarship Program in 1984. The National Scholarship program began in 1965 with the Howard Brown Rickard Scholarship, awarded to a blind student studying law or science. Over the years, the scholarship program grew with the addition of the Melva T. Owen Scholarship, and in the early 1980s two Hermione Grant Calhoun Scholarships. In 1983 the NFB awarded four scholarships at the convention banquet. The board of directors greatly expanded the National Scholarship program in 1984. At the convention banquet, twenty scholarships were awarded to blind students.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In 1984 President Kenneth Jernigan appointed a committee not only to select the scholarship recipients, but also to mentor them and encourage them to join and fully participate in the movement. This practice continues to the present day. A testament to the effectiveness of the National Scholarship program as a leadership training tool is the number of national board members who got their start in the Federation as scholarship winners. Current board members who won NFB National Scholarships include Pam Allen, James Brown, Patti Gregory-Chang, and Jeannie Massay.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>With the Scholarship Class of 1984 began the practice of assisting the finalists to attend the national convention. (Finalists are not declared winners until they actually receive their awards at the convention banquet.) The Federation continued to increase both the number of scholarships and the amount of each grant. In 1985, the number of scholarships rose to twenty-five. In 1989 the NFB offered twenty-six scholarships. In 2000 the number of scholarships was expanded to thirty, the number awarded in 2015. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Caption: The NFB National Scholarship Class of 2012 gathers in the convention ballroom.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>During the convention each scholarship finalist meets with a different mentor each day. These mentors, who are members of the National Scholarship Committee, have the opportunity to explain the workings of our organization and connect students with valuable resources. As Ron Gardner of Utah puts it, the committee brings up the next generation of leaders “by meeting people where they are.” A former president of our Utah affiliate who served as a member of the scholarship committee for many years, Gardner said the mentoring can never start with judgment. It must begin with mutual respect and motivation.<sup>15</sup><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In many cases, positive mentoring relationships keep scholarship winners involved in the organization even after they cash their checks. Corbb O'Connor recalled, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>I grew up calling myself “visually impaired,” so throughout my first convention as a scholarship winner in 2006, I didn't see how I could fit in with all these blind people. On the last day of that convention, I asked Jim Marks, my mentor, how somebody who still saw a little could call himself “blind.” He told me that most people in the convention hall could see something, even if it was just light, yet blindness doesn't have to mean utter darkness. He asked me, “How will we ever change what it means to be blind in this country if we're all afraid to use the word?” From that day onward, I have considered myself “blind” and a proud member of our movement. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><h3>Experience Is the Best Teacher<o:p></o:p></h3><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>To be effective, leaders must have experience. Allen Harris, a longtime leader in many states who served on the national board of directors and as national treasurer, offered the following perspective. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>If you want to help someone develop into a leader, you must trust him enough to give him experience. You must also undue any damage if things don't work out. It is challenging to find the right balance. Leadership in the NFB must be earned. It is not an entitlement. Standing for election keeps NFB leaders grounded in the knowledge that we must produce results to stay in office. However, we must not leave elections to chance. We must provide experience to help leaders get ready for a given position. Since we live in an imperfect world, leaders sometimes have to step in and learn the job as they go. Since we care about each other and are dedicated to the movement, we always find ways to help that new leader out. Recognizing talent and allowing it to blossom is an essential ingredient in our success <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>