by Penny Reeder
The March meeting of the ACB Board of Directors was a hybrid event, with all but treasurer Michael Garrett, who was excused, and immediate past president Kim Charlson, who participated via Zoom, being present in the meeting room. Many staff and in-person attendees were also present at the Sheraton Pentagon City Hotel in Arlington, Va. The meeting is available as two podcasts:
March 2nd Board meeting part 1,
https://pnc.st/s/acb-business/a54f0454/20240302-board-of-directors-meeting-morning
March 2nd Board Meeting part 2,
https://pnc.st/s/acb-business/68ba0fb5/20240302-board-of-directors-meeting-afternoon
President Deb Lewis called the meeting to order shortly after 9 a.m. Following roll call, the meeting agenda was read aloud and adopted. Minutes from the board’s January 30 telephonic meeting were approved with one “no” vote.
Deb reported on two recent executive sessions. On February 8, board members interviewed two applicants for the position of ACB executive director and shared their feedback with the search committee; on February 15, the board heard the search committee’s recommendation, and voted unanimously to accept that recommendation.
At that meeting, the board discussed a letter from the ACB staff, expressing their collective distress as a result of hostile calls and other communications from ACB members reacting to the board’s decisions of Jan. 30th. The board voted to send two letters, one to the staff and one to all ACB members, stressing their appreciation of and support for the staff, and taking full responsibility for their decisions. A committee was charged with drafting the letters. Deb explained that the staff letter had been sent but still needed board ratification; the letter to ACB members was still under discussion.
Following these explanations, the board voted unanimously to ratify the decision to send the letter drafted by the committee to the staff. The board then voted unanimously to approve an amended version of a letter to members, and to distribute it to members. (The approved letter was distributed on March 26 to ACB members online, and is included in this issue of the Forum.)
The March Mission Moment celebrated the executive director search committee’s efficiency and success in recruiting and hiring a well-qualified, permanent ACB executive director. Deb thanked the search committee members, then formally introduced Scott Thornhill, ACB’s new executive director.
Scott said, “It’s an honor to be here and a part of this organization. I’ve been a member, but to be a part of ACB in a larger role is great. Other organizations are doing great work, and I will not disparage any other organization, but I think ACB is uniquely positioned to bring together a lot of different groups and a lot of different viewpoints, and move some things that haven’t been able to be accomplished in the past, forward, for people who are blind and visually impaired.”
The board approved staff reports, then moved on to approve the Palmetto Council of the Blind’s application for affiliation. The newly certified group, representing people who are blind and low vision who reside in South Carolina, is ACB’s 66th affiliate.
On another matter, Deb stated that a member recently requested a full refund of the donation they had made to purchase their life membership. When members choose to leave ACB, we do not refund membership dues, whether annual or lifetime. She asked the board to vote to affirm their understanding of and agreement with this policy.
Director of Membership Engagement Cindy Hollis said that she had conferred with CFO Nancy Marks-Becker, and both agreed that donations are not refundable. A motion from first vice president David Trott to affirm a policy of never refunding membership dues was adopted unanimously.
Audio Description Project (ADP) Coordinator Tabitha Kenlon expressed appreciation to all the staff members and contractors whose work makes the project so successful, especially Carl Richardson and Kim Charlson. She highlighted several notable ADP achievements, including making the third annual Audio Description Gala not only completely accessible to English-language viewers, but to Spanish speakers as well. ADP founder Joel Snyder continues to volunteer his time on many committees and manages the Audio Description Institute. She complimented the most recent teams of ACB volunteers who assisted the University of Hawaii and the National Park Service in refining written descriptions of national park venues under the UniDescription Project. She reminded members that the deadline for submitting nominations for this year’s ADP awards was April 21. Plans are already underway for the ADP Conference, which will be streamed in June during the virtual portion of the ACB convention.
Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs Claire Stanley and Advocacy and Outreach Specialist Swatha Nandhakumar encouraged anyone concerned about an advocacy issue to contact them for help and advice. Claire briefly reviewed the 2024 legislative imperatives, and Swatha updated the board on several projects related to ACB’s ongoing advocacy initiatives, including a recent pledge from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) to make the $10 bill tactually accessible in 2026, the $50 bill in 2028, and the $20 bill in 2030. ACB continues to work with manufacturers of self-driving vehicles, with legislators and federal agencies, with several metropolitan jurisdictions that are slowly approving their use on city streets, and with the California Council of the Blind (CCB), to assure that autonomous vehicles will be accessible and safe for people who are blind and low vision. The advocacy department continues to dialogue with Uber and Lyft, and with the U.S. Department of Justice, in collaboration with Guide Dog Users, Inc. (GDUI) regarding ride-share drivers who refuse to serve guide and service dog users.
Cindy said that the scheduling portal she and Membership Services Administrative Assistant Natalie Couch created has been hugely successful. ACB is working with the Force for Good collaborative project, and Rick Morin and ACB Media will now be collaborating with Force for Good to develop a scheduling package.
Associate Director of Development Jo Lynn Bailey-Page told the board that the department expected the fund-raising steering committee to be re-activated by the end of March. Work to create a resource packet to distribute in conjunction with the planned giving program is also nearly completed.
The resource development team is expanding their goal of making instructional materials associated with fund-raising activities accessible to resource development professionals who are blind or visually impaired. The team works with ACB’s industry partners to advise them regarding improving accessibility of data sheets, grant application materials, and financial reports, including resource development professionals. The team is also creating and testing an accessible fund-raising training curriculum.
Development Officer Kolby Garrison reported on the status of several individual giving programs, including ACB-STRONG; the MMS program; the ACB Brenda Dillon Memorial Walk; and the holiday and summer auctions. The 2024 summer auction is scheduled for Saturday, June 22. This year’s walk theme is “Walking into a Bright Future.”
After lunch, the board held an executive session. Deb noted that Dan Spoone would be expected to resign from his staff position and rejoin ACB’s board as immediate past president shortly after Scott Thornhill assumes his responsibilities as executive director. Instead, Dan has offered to work for ACB in a consulting role until the end of the year. The board unanimously voted in favor of accepting and implementing the proposal.
A second item discussed and resolved during executive session involved approving a one-time exception to an ACB Community Support Committee’s ruling that would have prevented a program host from using their personal Zoom account to stream future programs.
Rick Morin opened his report on ACB Media and issues associated with information technology. He thanked Larry Gassman for making “95 percent of what happens operationally on ACB Media happen.”
Rick expressed confidence in the ACB Media Support Committee’s ability to handle upcoming policy-related decisions regarding what ACB Community content is appropriate for rebroadcast, what needs to be pre-recorded and what should be streamed live, which channels should be assigned to which kinds of content, and how to schedule everything.
ACB Media has retired the ACB Café, which used to reside on Channel 4. Now, Channel 4 will be the entertainment channel.
Rick asked Gabriel Lopez-Kafati to share any updates regarding progress toward creating Spanish language programming for the ACB Community. Gabe said they plan to start off with a bimonthly program, and that they’re working to have a few months of content ready before the launch.
Chief Financial Officer Nancy Marks-Becker told the board that she is delighted to see new members coming in from every part of the country, and other countries as well. The annual membership certification process shifted to the Minneapolis office in January.
Nancy said that, of the 131 individuals who began completing the scholarship online application forms, only 86 submitted completed applications by the deadline date of February 14. This year, scholarship awards range between $2,500 and $8,000. Nancy then read the treasurer’s report.
Janet Dickelman presented a brief convention update. Rates for single and double guest rooms at the Hyatt in Jacksonville are $99 per night. The hotel charges $109 for king guest rooms, and an additional $25 per night for each additional person in a room, totaling a maximum of four. Taxes are 14.64 percent.
Janet said that she and a trusted consultant are beginning to look at city and hotel possibilities for 2026 and beyond. Hotel rates are expected to increase significantly after 2025.
BOP chair Penny Reeder said, “We have heard from many of you who were not happy with the discord shared on the ACB-Conversation e-mail discussion list over the last four weeks or so. … I want to remind all of us that ACB is a membership-driven organization, and we believe in freedom of speech. We believe that people should be kinder than they have been recently, and we believe that people should be respectful.”
She stated that the BOP’s internal discussions regarding the list and how it should be administered are ongoing. A three-person team currently reads every message and addresses inappropriate messages when necessary.
Nancy and Dan led the board’s discussion of the 2024 Strategic Plan. While Nancy read the plan aloud, Dan described each defined milestone, and board members evaluated each listed goal or product, in terms of required resources, measurability, and achievability within specified time limits. Some milestones have already been achieved, such as hiring a new executive director. Planning for others is well under way. Training related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) would happen during the Leadership Conference, as well as training in conflict resolution. ACB Media is participating in the Force for Good project, which will facilitate development of an up-to-date scheduling platform. That platform is expected to be up and running by the end of the third quarter. The board approved the plan as amended.
The meeting adjourned around 5 p.m.