Call to Order
The American Council of the Blind (ACB) Board of Directors met both virtually and in-person on Thursday, March 9, 2023, for its DC Leadership Winter Board meeting. President Dan Spoone called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM Eastern Time.
Roll Call and Introduction of Guests: Denise Colley, Secretary
At the call of the roll, 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, Jo Lynn Bailey-Page, Associate Director of Development, Tabitha Kenlon, Audio Description Project Coordinator, Bill Reeder, acting Director of Development, Nancy Marks-Becker, ACB Chief Financial Officer, Cindy Hollis, Manager of Membership Engagement, Kolby Garrison, Development Officer, Kelly Gasque, Manager of Communications, Sharon Lovering, Editor and Rick Morin, ACB Media and IT Manager.
There were also several guests in attendance.
Review and Approval of Agenda: Dan Spoone, President
Following review of the agenda, it was moved by Bell and seconded by Powell to approve the meeting agenda as presented. The motion carried.
Review and Approval of the January 31, 2023 Meeting Minutes: Denise Colley, Secretary
It was moved by Bell and seconded by Campbell to approve the minutes as corrected. The motion carried.
Mission Moment: Dan Spoone
This Mission Moment focused on congratulating Executive Director Eric Bridges on his 15 years of service to our organization. Our ACB family gives a huge “Thank You” to Eric for his contributions to ACB, leading the organizations advocacy efforts for 8 years and overseeing the growth of ACB into a chief influencer in the blindness movement through his strong leadership as ACB Executive Director for the past 7 years. We know that he will continue to be a partner and a colleague as he moves forward in his new position as President and CEO of the American Foundation for the Blind.
President’s Report: Dan Spoone
Virtual President’s meeting and Legislative Seminar: Dan recognized Gabriel Lopez Kafati for his efforts to make portions of the Leadership seminar available in Spanish. Gabriel shared some details about what was involved in putting together and implementing the virtual component of the President’s Meeting and Legislative Seminar in Spanish for our Spanish-speaking individuals participating in the DC Leadership Conference. He thanked the three wonderful interpreters, all of whom are blind and ACB members from different parts of Latin America. Both English and Spanish channels were broadcast on ACB Media and there were zoom links for both. All of those broadcasts will also be made available as podcasts. Partnerships were established with several Spanish organizations. The subcommittee hopes to next begin working on translation of the ACB website in Spanish and having simultaneous interpretation of the Convention. Gabe said he is working with Cindy Hollis to start a monthly Community Call completely in Spanish.
ACB Accessible Currency Rally: Dan reported that BVA and NFB have both been invited to participate in the Accessible Currency Rally. BVA has accepted and the Advocacy Director for NFB has reached out and expressed interest.
Coming out of the conversation and energy around the rally and a formal letter that ACB sent to the administration of the Department of the Treasury/Bureau of Engraving and Printing, informing them about our concerns and the rally, the U.S. Treasury department contacted ACB, requesting a meeting prior to the rally to discuss accessible currency issues.
There will be a virtual ACB Board meeting on Tuesday, April 25 at 8:00 PM Eastern. The next hybrid Board meeting will be on Friday, June 30 at 9:00 AM Central.
The Fall ACB Board meeting will be held in Jacksonville, FL on September 29-30.
It was moved by Powell and seconded by Bell to accept the President’s report. The motion carried.
Staff Reports: Eric Bridges
Executive Director’s Report: Eric began his report with staff updates. The previous week they were very happy to announce the promotion of Kelly Gasque to Manager of Communications. Kolby Garrison has switched roles and is now the new Development Officer for ACB. Rachel Hollatz has been hired as the new Human Resources/Payroll Specialist. There is an accounting position open to replace Lane Waters, who is retiring. Lane has been working in a part-time consultant position, but the plan is to hire a fulltime Accountant.
The lease has been signed for the new office in Alexandria, and the move is scheduled for the last week of April. Lane has been working with a company to do the cabling in the new office space for all of their internet and other cabling needs. They will also be reaching out to moving companies for bids for the move.
Minneapolis Office Report: Nancy Becker
Scholarships: The scholarship application period has closed. There are 104 verified applicants. This is up from 77 applicants last year. In partnership with Cindy and Kelly, a couple of community calls were held for potential applicants who wanted assistance in completing their applications, and several announcements were posted through social media.
AMMS: We are midway through the AMMS process for this year. Members-at-Large who had joined over the past three years were sent a letter with all of the information about how to renew their membership. The deadline for submitting membership updates is March 15. From March 22-31, affiliates will submit their certification reports which will determine how many votes each affiliate receives at the convention.
Development Report: Bill Reeder
(Refer to documents in the Development Folder in the Board drop box).
ACB’s programs are growing faster than our fundraising support. Our programs are very appealing to the donor community. ACB’s Development Team has been established, and we will now be growing a more mature fund-raising infrastructure. It consists of a Four-Part Plan, which can only be built through volunteer participation and leadership. Part 1 is Institutional Readiness. Part 2 is Prospect Development, Support, and creation of the Prospect Pool. Part 3 is the Case for Support. Part 4 is a Donor-centric Solicitation and Stewardship Program. This four-part plan represents the next eighteen months of work.
Jo Lynn Bailey-Page outlined the Foundational Grant requests for the first quarter of 2023 in five program areas: General Operating, the ACB Braille Forum, ACB Media, Health and Wellness Initiative, Community, and Membership.
Advocacy and Governmental Affairs: Clark Rachfal and Swatha Nandhakumar
This year marks the year that the Federal Aviation Administration will be reauthorized by Congress, and ACB has been working with members of Congress to provide feedback and language around equal access to passenger portals, access to airport terminals and gate information, and a way to prioritize disability-related complaints in airline travel. ACB has also been active regarding autonomous vehicles and have been working directly with Cruise and Waymo and other AV Companies.
Senator Duckworth is the lead sponsor on the Exercise and Fitness for All Act and the Websites and Software Applications ACT. Representative Dingle is now a co-sponsor on the Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act. The bill is up to 39 co-sponsors since introduction on March 1. It is bipartisan with three Republican co-sponsors. ACB continues our work with Senator Markey and others toward the introduction of a bill reintroducing the Communications and Video Technology Accessibility Act. This will likely happen by early summer.
It was moved by Campbell and seconded by Bell to accept the staff reports. The motion carried.
The meeting moved into recess at 12:00 PM Eastern Time and moved into executive session at 12:20 PM. The executive session was adjourned at 1:50 PM.
The ACB Board Meeting moved out of recess and was called back to order at 2:20 Eastern time by President Dan Spoone. Because of the need to excuse himself from the executive session, First Vice President Deb Cook Lewis was asked if any motions were made in executive session. She reported that legal, financial and personnel issues were discussed, but no motions were made. The primary topic of discussion was the appointment of an interim Executive Director.
A motion was made by Trott and seconded by Powell that ACB offer the position of Interim Executive Director to our current president, Dan Spoone, effective March 22, 2023. The motion carried.
Following Dan’s acceptance of this offer, a plan will be developed for a process for nationwide recruitment and hiring of a permanent executive director. The interim executive director position will last sixteen to eighteen months based on the plan that will be developed.
Deb reported that four possible options were considered, and this option was the one recommended to the Board by the officers. She said there was lengthy review and discussion around the logistics that would be involved in this option. Upon Dan’s resignation as president, this will move the first vice-president, Deb Cook Lewis, into the position of president until the elections at Convention. The second vice-president, Ray Campbell, will then move into the first vice-president position until elections at convention. The Board recommended, as part of the process that ACB not appoint anyone to fill the position of second vice-president, and that it remains vacant until elections at the convention.
It was moved by Pacheco and seconded by Sims that the ACB Board not appoint an interim second vice president for the period between March 22 and the elections at Convention. The motion carried.
Since Dan cannot fill the role of immediate past president as the paid executive director, the Board made the determination that nothing has really changed as far as the immediate past president position and Kim Charlson will remain in that role.
Financial Narrative for 2022: David Trott, ACB Treasurer
(Refer to the documents in the Financial folder in the Board drop box).
ACB investments are actually up a little. We need to look at our funding streams to identify the decline.
It was moved by Trott and seconded by Sims to authorize our CFO, Nancy Becker to move up to $250,000, as needed, from our Board Reserve Fund to cover operating expenses. The motion carried.
Review and approval of the ACB Media and Affiliate Engagement Policy: Rachel Schroeder, ACB Media Support Chair and Rick Morin, ACB Media Manager
(Refer to the ACB Media and Affiliate Engagement Policy in the Board drop box).
The role of the ACB Media Support Committee is to provide support to ACB Media with guidelines for issues and events. The Policy Guidelines address the process for ACB Media and ACB affiliates to partner for the production and broadcast of affiliate conventions and other major events.
It was moved by Campbell and seconded by Brown to approve the ACB Media and Affiliate Engagement Policy. The motion carried.
Board of Publications (BOP) Report: Penny Reader, BOP Director
The BOP is still promoting their blog, which can be viewed and subscribed to on ACB.org. They recently held a town hall meeting. They will be working with Cindy Hollis and her membership engagement volunteers to reach out to all of those who receive the ACB Braille Forum in hard copy braille or large print to make sure that everyone is happy with the format they are receiving. They also want to be able to capture any format changes anyone wishes to make. Those calls will begin sometime in April.
It was moved by Trott and seconded by Sims to approve the BOP Report. The motion carried.
ACB Enterprises and Services Board Report: Michael Garrett, ACBES Board Chair
The thrift stores contributed almost $500,000 to ACB in 2022. A portion of that stemmed from the Forgiveness of the PPP loan and from funds that will be received from the Employee Retention Credit. Combined net profit from the stores came in above budget for 2022. That was due to having a general manager who oversees the day-to-day operations of the stores. The Lubbock store came in above expectations, which was primarily driven by a substantial increase in customer count and higher per visit spending. The Amarillo store had a challenging year. This was due to fewer shoppers in the store. However, in December, Tina Watley, a former manager of the Amarillo store returned, and we are already seeing an increase in revenues.
It was moved by Bell and seconded by Powell to accept the ACBES Board report. The motion carried.
Review and approval of Board recommendation for 2023 Convention standing rules: Patrick Sheehan, Voting Task Force Chair, Jeff Thom, Voting Task Force Vice Chair and Ray Campbell, Resolutions Task Force
(Refer to Standing Rules Recommendations document in the Board drop box).
Our parliamentary debate for convention this year will primarily be virtual, before the convention, whether it is resolutions or constitutional and bylaw amendments. The goal this year is to help the president have a little more structure and ability to manage the debate process.
It was moved by Campbell and seconded by Sims to approve the recommendation for the Standing Rules for the 2023 ACB Conference and Convention. The motion carried.
Convention Report: Janet Dickelman, ACB Convention Committee Chair
In-person only sessions will be recorded and will be podcasted. June 22-24 will be days for zoom only sessions. During the in-person convention there will be two hybrid rooms per session time slot each day. People can also hold zoom only sessions during the in-person convention, if they choose to do so, and they can be supported with ACB zoom resources.
The Hyatt in Jacksonville, Florida will be the location for the fall 2023 Board meeting September 29-30, and the room rates are $99 per night. Jacksonville convention dates are July 5-12, 2024. Dallas convention dates are July 4-11, 2025, also at the Hyatt Hotel.
This year, convention registration opens on May 18th and will run through June 16th. The cutoff date to get the convention hotel rate is June 8.
Over the last two years with changing roles, key positions were dropped from the Convention Committee. A recommendation is being made to restore and backfill roles for those positions that were originally part of the Committee. The Convention Committee members receive airfare and hotel room coverage to attend the Convention and the fall Board meeting. The increased cost would be about $1,600 per person per trip or a total of approximately $6,400. Depending on their role on the Committee, they might not need to come to the Fall Board meeting.
It was moved by Lewis and seconded by Powell to authorize the increase in the 2023 budget for the two additional positions for the Convention Committee. The motion carried.
2023 Strategic Plan: First quarter update
The Strategic Plan First Quarter was reviewed, and it appears to be on target with most of our first quarter objectives being completed.
It was moved by Campbell and seconded by Sims to approve the update for our Strategic Plan for 2023. The motion carried.
Committee Updates: The meeting ended with officers and Board members reporting on the activities for the committees they are liaisons with.
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:50 PM Eastern time.
Denise Colley
Secretary
Date submitted: 4/5/2023
Approved: 4/25/2023