Call to Order
The October 22, 2022, ACB Fall Board of Directors Meeting was called to order at 9:05AM Central Time by President Dan Spoone. Members of the Board and guests participated both in person and virtually.
Roll Call and Introduction of Guests: Denise Colley, ACB Secretary
The following Board members were present: Dan Spoone, Deb Cook Lewis, Ray Campbell, Denise Colley, David Trott, Kim Charlson, Chris Bell, Jeff Bishop, Donna Brown, Gabriel Lopez Kafati, Terry Pacheco, Doug Powell, Rachel Schroeder, Kenneth Semien, Koni Sims and Jeff Thom. Board of Publications Member Penny Reeder was present representing that body.
Staff present: Eric Bridges, ACB Executive Director, Clark Rachfal, ACB Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs, Swatha Nandhakumar, ACB Advocacy and Outreach Specialist, Kelly Gasque, Communications Specialist, Nancy Marks-Becker, Chief Financial Officer, Cindy Hollis, Manager of Membership Engagement and Rick Morin, ACB Media and IT Manager.
Guests: Janet Dickelman, ACB Convention Steering Committee Chair, Paul Edwards, Anthony Carona, Rhonda Trott, Frank Pacheco, Karyn Campbell, Mitch Pomerantz and Michael Garret.
Approval of Agenda: Dan Spoone President
It was moved by Sims and seconded by Brown to approve the meeting agenda. The motion carried.
Review and Approval of the August 31, 2022, and September 13, 2022, meeting minutes: Denise Colley, Secretary
It was moved by Powell and seconded by Sims to approve both sets of minutes. The motion carried.
Mission Moment: Dan Spoone and Eric Bridges
ACB Congratulates the Advocacy Team: Our ACB Advocacy Team successfully worked to introduce the Website and Software Application Accessibility Act bill last week in both the Senate and House of Representatives and will shortly introduce the Communications and Video Accessibility Amendments Acct (CVAAA) in November. ACB gives a tremendous “Thank You” to Clark Rachfal, Swatha Nandhakumar, the ACB Advocacy Steering Committee, the ADP Steering Committee, our disability partners and the countless ACB members that have long advocated for these landmark bills to change the lives of our blind and low vision community.
Convention and Survey Feedback Report: Janet Dickelman, Convention Committee Chair and Rick Morin, Information Technology and ACB Media Manager
(See written report in the ACB Board Dropbox folder for this meeting.)
Statistical data about the conference and Convention was tabulated using the feedback received from those who responded to the survey, as well as from zoom calls held with the Affiliate Presidents, Special Interest Affiliate Circle, and three different Community Calls. 560 individuals responded to the survey and 460 completed it.
Given the feedback received, Janet shared some of the ideas being explored for 2023.
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To allow for time to address any technical issues that may occur at Saturday evening’s opening session, instead of having a general session Sunday morning, hold three hybrid sessions on topics of interest to most attendees, with luncheons and special interest affiliate sessions in the afternoon.
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Hold all clarification and discussion about resolutions and Constitutional Bylaws and Amendments to virtual sessions prior to the start of the hybrid Convention, and hold voting on anything requiring a record vote on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.
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Have one day during the hybrid convention when the exhibit hall opens later and stays open into the evening.
It was moved by Bell and seconded by Kafati to approve the convention report. The motion carried.
Consent Agenda: Dan Spoone
All the staff reports were sent out and put into the Board Dropbox for reading and review prior to this Board Meeting.
It was moved by Trott and seconded by Pacheco to approve the reports and the consent agenda. The motion carried.
Review and Approval of the Code of Conduct Policy Amendments: Deb Cook Lewis, ACB First Vice President, Mitch Pomerantz, Disciplinary Committee Chair, and other ad hoc committee members
The primary goals of the current committee working on the further refining of the Code of Conduct Policy were to get the Policy and Procedures to be one fluid document and include more prescriptive timelines for the process. Several cosmetic and technical revisions were also made based on the feedback they received. One of the significant changes that was made was to retire the term Code of Conduct and replace it with Prohibited Conduct, since what we are really addressing is what we don’t want people to do. The Committee believes that it might be useful to develop an FAQ that would be a living document that could be updated as new questions or information came up. Such clarifications would not change the Policy or Procedures, and would not require adoption or an approval vote.
It was moved by Sims and seconded by Bishop that the Board approve the newly revised Prohibited Conduct Policy and Procedures.
Bishop expressed concern that, since the final report of the incident, and all key findings, conclusions, resolutions, and actions taken, is to be kept in a confidential Human Resource file for one year, the same process should be the policy for any and all recorded documentation. While the Committee felt their intent was that the final record included both written and recorded documentation, if adding a brief statement specifically addressing recorded information needed to be included, this could easily be done and would be considered a friendly amendment. The motion to approve was then passed unanimously.
President’s Report: Dan Spoone
This report consisted of thank you’s to the Voting Task Force 3.0 and the Resolutions Task Force 3.0 for their willingness to continue working on refining these processes, the formation of the ACB Media Support Committee with Rachel Schroeder as its chair, the Mental Health and Wellness Committee with Pam Shaw as its chair, and the Major Individual Gifts Committee. This Committee will be addressing the whole fundraising and revenue development process, focusing on major individual giving. An initial meeting was held on October 16.
ACB Leadership email list updated with current formal ACB Leaders, and monitoring guidelines drafted and communicated: (See Leadership Email List Definition and Guidelines Document in Board folder.)
Those members subscribed to the newly updated list are current presidents of state and special interest affiliates, committee chairs, co-chairs or vice chairs, ACB Board of Directors, Board of Publications, and ACB Enterprises and Services Board, ACB staff, past ACB presidents, the JP Morgan Chase Leadership Fellows for the past three years, the Durward K. McDaniel First Timers for the past three years, and up to three additional members of affiliates who were identified by the affiliate presidents.
It was moved by Campbell and seconded by Trott to approve the ACB Leadership List Monitoring Guidelines. The motion carried with one no vote by Pacheco.
Upcoming Telephonic ACB Board of Directors meetings: The next two telephonic ACB Board of Directors meetings were scheduled for December 5, 2022, to review and approve the revenue side of the 2023 budget, and the budget for the 2023 ACB Conference and Convention. The December 12, 2022 date was identified to review and approve the expense side of the budget, and the overall budget for 2023. Both meetings will begin at 8:00 PM Eastern time.
The next telephonic full ACB Board meeting is scheduled for January 31, 2023, beginning at 8:00 PM Eastern time.
The budget committee will meet on November 16 to develop the revenue side of the proposed 2023 budget, and on November 18, 2022, to develop the expenditure side of the proposed 2023 budget. Both meetings will begin at 9:00 AM Eastern time.
Staff Reports: Eric Bridges, ACB Executive Director and Nancy Marks Becker, Chief Financial Officer
Audio Description Gala: The Audio Description Gala is scheduled for November 29, 2022, at 7:30 PM Eastern. It is being broadcast on our YouTube Channel, Facebook, ACB Media, and on Zoom. Paramount Global is offering Pluto TV as a platform to stream it live and on Demand until the end of 2022.
Comcast NBC Universal donated recording time at Thirty Rock, their NBC headquarters, for us to film all of the hosts and narrator segments.
Along with ACB wanting to promote the art and science that is Audio Description, and our leadership in this area, the event is also a major fund raiser. As of the date of this meeting ACB had raised $92,500.
Audio Description Project Coordinator Position: In early November, ACB will be posting the position announcement for the Audio Description Project Coordinator. Along with other key staff, this person will be working on legislative and regulatory areas dealing with audio description, as well as in the development of relationships with companies in the entertainment industry.
Update on potential move of Alexandria Office: The Alexandria School District is the landlord for our current Office space, and we have been informed that the District is going to be turning the building into a school, so we will need to relocate. However, they have agreed to let us remain there rent free from January through March of next year as a part of the whole negotiation process. Eric is working with a real estate representative for the school district to identify other options. Right now, the target for moving is March 2023. In order to find a location that has better public transportation access than what we currently have, we’ll need to be looking at more centralized areas overall, which means the price per square foot will be significantly higher.
Budget Development Process: Nancy Marks Becker
Steps in the budget approval process include: getting input from Committee Chairs and staff on anticipated needs for the upcoming year, reviewing the first draft by the Executive Director, President and CFO, review by the Budget Committee, and finally, review and approval by the ACB Board.
The Member Site: The Member Site continues to expand with more opportunities for us to provide information to current and potential members, and a way to keep us connected with one another. With more convention attendees able to participate in sessions virtually, the number of those who took Continuing Education Credits increased significantly. This has sparked an interest in being able to offer CEU Credits year-round through our ACB Community events. This is being explored, along with the opportunity for individuals to be able to access the links to the ACB Community Events through the Member Site. Finally, the Member Site could be a great place for members to find out what affiliates they are actually a member of and what the affiliate in their area is doing.
It was moved by Campbell and seconded by Sims to approve the staff reports. The motion carried.
Year-to-date Financials for 2022: David Trott, ACB Treasurer and Nancy Marks Becker
It was moved by Sims and seconded by Schroeder to approve the treasurer’s 2022 YTD report. The motion carried.
Review and Approval of the 2023 Legacy Endowment Drawdown: David Trott and Nancy Marks Becker
When the Legacy Endowment Fund was set up it was determined that each year there can be a drawdown from investment income, the amount of which is determined by the ACB Board at the Fall Board meeting. The Board has the option to approve a drawdown between 3% and 5% of the total fund.
It was moved by Trott and seconded by Campbell to approve a 5% drawdown from the Legacy Fund for 2023. The motion carried.
It was moved by Campbell and seconded by Brown that the ACB Board of Directors publicly congratulates the ACB Community on the celebration of its’ ten thousandth Community Event and pledges to support them and wish them all the luck in the future. The motion carried.
Review and approval for Success Beyond Site for national TVI (teachers of the Visually Impaired) registry: Kim Charlson, Jeff Thom, Clark Rachfal, and Dan Spoone
(See TVI Registry Letter in Board Meeting folder.)
One of the resolutions passed at this year’s Conference and Convention was related to the concerns of our membership with Success Beyond Sight, related to the National Teachers of the Visually Impaired Registry. Part of the Resolution was the recommendation that the Advocacy Steering Committee, along with the Special Education Task Force and staff, be charged with establishing a dialog with Success Beyond Sight and coming back to the Board with their findings and recommendations at the fall ACB Board meeting.
The draft letter provided to the Board for review outlined the concerns expressed by ACB, the actions Success Beyond Sight was willing to take related to those concerns, their inability or unwillingness to consider changing the title of the National Registry for Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments, and our response that ACB reserves its support for the National Registry for Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments in its current form. The letter does indicate that ACB is still willing to sustain our partnership with Success Beyond Sight and engage on other issues and topics of interest and importance to the blindness field. The Advocacy Steering Committee unanimously supported the drafting and sending of this letter, and it was moved by Thom and seconded by Powell that the ACB Board approve the sending of this letter and our recommendations to address our concerns to Success Beyond Sight. A friendly amendment was made and accepted to remove the words “will not or cannot” in the letter and insert the words “have chosen not”. The motion as amended carried.
Board of Publications (BOP) Report: Penny Reeder, BOP Director
The Committee is spending a lot of time on the ACB Voices Blog. People are being encouraged to contribute to the Blog.
The BOP awards have previously only applied to written communication. The BOP is going to take a closer look at this and possibly expand the number of awards or changing the eligibility criteria for existing ones.
They are still holding their quarterly meetings for affiliate newsletter editors and have had some excellent trainings that they are considering turning into podcasts to be put up on the website.
It was moved by Brown and seconded by Campbell to approve the Board of Publications report. The motion carried.
ACB Enterprises and Services Board Report: Michael Garrett, ACBES Board Chair
It was moved by Campbell and seconded by Sims to move out of the ACB Board of Directors meeting and into the ACBES Corporate Membership meeting. The motion carried and the Board moved into the ACBES Corporate Membership Meeting at 3:05 PM Central Time.
The ACB Board returned to the general Board Meeting at 3:20 PM Central Time.
ACB Demographic and Diversity Report: Dan Spoone and Nancy Marks Becker
A resolution was adopted in 2020 for ACB to begin collecting voluntary data on gender identification, race, and ethnicity. These fields were added to our membership database in 2022. About 48.6% have provided information on gender identification.
- Female: 61.3%
- Those who identify as a female: .6%
- Male: 36.5%
- Those who identify as a male: .4%
- Nonbinary: .3%
- Other: .03%
Approximately 32.7% of members responded with the race and ethnicity information.
- Asian: 2.4%
- Black or African American: 7.3%
- Hispanic or Latino: 5.7%
- Middle Eastern or North African: .2%
- Multiracial or multiethnic: 1%
- Native American or Alaskan Native: .6%
- Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: .5%
- Other: 1.1%
- Prefer not to answer: 5.7%
- South Asian: .4%
- Caucasian: 75.3%.
Demographics of the ACB leadership and staff include:
Of the 40 Committee chairs/vice chairs/co-chairs
- Female: 26 (65%)
- Male: 14 (35%)
- White/Caucasian: 35 (87.5%)
- Black or African American: 4 (10%)
- Hispanic or Latino: 1 (2.5%)
ACB Board of Directors
- Female: 7 (47%)
- Male: 9 (53%)
- White/Caucasian: 14 (86%)
- Black/African American: 1 (7%)
- Hispanic/Latino: 1 (7%)
ACB Board of Publications
- Female: 5 (100%)
- Male: 0
- White/Caucasian: 3 (60%)
- Black/African American: 2 (40%)
ACBES Board (6 members)
- Female: 1 (17%)
- Male: 5 (83%)
- White/Caucasian: 4 (67%)
- Black/African American: 2 (33%)
ACB staff (14 employees)
- Female: 10 (72%)
- Male: 4 (28%)
- White/Caucasian: 12 (86%)
- Hispanic/Latino: 1 (7%)
- Southern Asian: 1 (1%)
It was moved by Campbell and seconded by Pacheco to approve the demographic and diversity report. The motion carried.
Discussion on the 2023 DC Leadership Conference: Dan Spoone, Eric Bridges, Clark Rachfal, Kelly Gasque, and entire Board
A couple of options have been discussed. We do have an existing contract in place with the Hilton Hotel on King Street in Old Town Alexandria for the dates of March 11-15, 2023. We also have a unique opportunity this year, in that we passed a resolution to hold an in-person currency rally in Washington DC, near the White House and the Treasury Building, associated with the DC Leadership Conference, in March.
Option 1: Take the current president’s meeting and legislative seminar and compress those into two to two and a half days and make them hybrid events. This would allow for the Board meeting on Friday, the president’s meeting on Saturday, and the legislative seminar on Sunday and possibly Monday morning, leaving Monday afternoon for the in-person rally. Visits with legislators or legislative aides could then be scheduled virtually or in-person at their local offices.
Option 2: Break activities into two separate events. Continue to hold the president’s meeting and legislative seminar remotely, perhaps a weekend earlier, and allow affiliates to continue to do their legislative meetings through the zoom platform and their expanded affiliate outreach. Take the next weekend, when the rally will take place and turn it into a different opportunity for leaders to get together inside ACB. On Friday evening, March 10 a welcome reception could be held for all attendees. On Saturday and Sunday mornings we could then focus on some good interactive leadership building facilitated workshops, and the afternoons could provide some opportunities to explore all the good work we’ve done in DC via accessible tours. Saturday evening there could be a possible audio described play or concert, and on Sunday evening there would be a dine-around networking dinner. The weekend would culminate with the rally on Monday afternoon. This weekend would be entirely an in-person event.
It was moved by Thom and seconded by Brown that we adopt option 2 with the second weekend being strictly an in-person event. The motion carried.
Election of the ACB Board Executive Committee
Officers elected to serve on this year’s Executive Committee are Ray Campbell and David Trott. Members of the Directors elected to serve are Donna Brown and Terry Pacheco.
Executive Session
It was moved by Sims and seconded by Schroeder that the Board move out of the ACB Board of Directors meeting and into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing personnel and legal issues. The motion carried, and the Board moved into Executive Session at 5:17 PM Central Time.
Return to the ACB Board of Directors Meeting
It was moved by Campbell and seconded by Schroeder that the ACB Board move out of Executive session and return to the ACB Board of Directors meeting. The motion carried and the Executive Session was adjourned at 6:00 PM Central Time.
The Board then returned to the ACB Board meeting where President Spoone reported out that legal and personnel matters were discussed, but no action was taken.
It was then moved by Campbell and seconded by Pacheco to adjourn. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 6:03 PM Central Time.
Denise Colley
Secretary
Date submitted: 12/5/2022
Approved: 12/12/2022