by Scott Thornhill
Greetings, ACB family!
As I approach my six-month mark as executive director of the American Council of the Blind, it is important for me to reach out and share about various events and initiatives. It was such an honor to meet and spend time with many of you during our Jacksonville convention, and there have been many positive comments about this year’s gathering. Simply from a numbers standpoint, we had 200 more in-person attendees compared to last year, and our exhibit hall was filled to capacity. In addition to the convention success, our overall membership number is up, and we are right at 20,000 Community platform presentations since it began in 2020.
Entering the fall season, our focus turns to the Audio Description Gala, which will be broadcast on November 14th. We also look forward as a staff to working with our affiliates and the committees so diligently carrying out the programs of ACB. Noting the committees, it was especially rewarding for me to spend some time in Jacksonville with our scholarship recipients and other awardees; what an amazing group of individuals who we are looking to for great leadership over the coming years and a tremendous effort by multiple responsible committees to bring us such deserving winners. After listening to many of you, the three primary areas I keep hearing about are: accessibility, employment, and healthcare. My focus is to keep these areas in mind as we adhere to the ACB mission and core values. My hope is that we can all work together to make a positive impact on these crucial components of life, which affect blind and visually impaired individuals disproportionately. All three of these pieces — accessibility, employment and healthcare — intersect and ultimately touch every element of who we are in one way or another.
I look forward to continuing to meet many more of you as I attend state affiliate conventions over the coming months. The American Council of the Blind is a strong organization, and we will grow even stronger as we all seek to find the good in each other.