Call to Order: Deb Cook Lewis, President
The March 2, 2024, ACB Board of Directors DC Leadership Winter Board Meeting was called to order at 9:00 AM ET by President Deb Cook Lewis. Members of the Board and guests participated both in person and virtually.
Roll Call and Introduction of Guests: Denise Colley, Secretary
At the call of the roll the following Board members were present: Deb Cook Lewis, David Trott, Ray Campbell, Denise Colley, Kim Charlson, Chris Bell, Donna Brown, Gabriel Lopez Kafati, Cecily Laney Nipper, Terry Pacheco, Doug Powell, Rachel Schroeder, Kenneth Semien, Koni Sims, and Jeff Thom. Board of Publications Member Penny Reeder was present representing that body.
Board members absent: Michael Garrett (excused)
Staff present: Dan Spoone, ACB Interim Executive Director; Claire Stanley, ACB Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs; Swatha Nandhakumar, Advocacy & Outreach Specialist; Jo Lynn Bailey-Page, Associate Director of Development; Kolby Garrison, Development Officer; Cindy Hollis, Manager of Membership Engagement; Natalie Couch, Membership Services Administrative Assistant; Nancy Marks-Becker, Chief Financial Officer; Tabitha Kenlon, Audio Description Project Coordinator; and Rick Morin, ACB Media and IT Manager.
Consultants: Larry Gassman, ACB Media Coordinator and Bill Reeder, ACB Resource Development Consultant.
Several guests were also present in-person and virtually.
Review and Approval of Agenda: Deb Cook Lewis
It was moved by Sims and seconded by Powell to adopt the agenda as presented. The motion carried.
Review and Approval of the January 30, 2024 Meeting Minutes: Denise Colley, Secretary
There being no corrections or additions, it was moved by Powell and seconded by Semien to approve the January 30, 2024, telephonic Board meeting minutes. The motion passed with one no vote by Lopez Kafati.
Report on Board Executive Sessions on February 8 and February 15, 2024: Deb Cook Lewis
President Lewis reported out on actions taken at the Executive Board Meetings held on February 8 and February 15, 2024. The entire purpose of the first session was to give the Board an opportunity to meet and speak with the two top candidates for the ACB Executive Director position. Prepared questions were submitted and asked by Board members of each candidate, and then feedback was provided to the Executive Search Committee regarding each candidate. No motions were made, or actions taken at this session.
At the session on February 15, the recommendation of the Executive Search Committee was heard, and a motion was made and passed to accept the recommendation to offer the position to Scott Thornhill.
As a result of some recent events, it was decided that the ACB Board should send letters to both the staff and membership expressing the Board’s support and understanding around the neutrality of staff roles, the nature of conflict and the fact that the Board takes full responsibility for its decisions and asks people to agree to disagree in a respectful manner. A committee was appointed to draft these letters. The committee consisted of Powell, Campbell, Trott, Pacheco, and Lopez Kafati.
The letters were drafted and circulated among the Board. The staff letter received no edits, and it was believed that letter was being unanimously approved. It was then sent to and received by the staff, and the email motion to send that letter will need to be ratified by the Board. The draft letter to the membership has been sent out to the Board for approval, and there have been several edited versions circulated, with the one receiving the most consensus being the version submitted by Charlson.
Campbell moved and Pacheco seconded a motion for ratification of the staff letter as sent out. The motion passed unanimously.
Campbell moved and Sims seconded ratification of the version of the letter to be sent to the membership which was proposed by Kim Charlson. An amendment was then made by Powell and seconded by Bell to instead send the letter that was subsequently sent by Bell. The amendment passed unanimously. The original motion as amended was voted on and passed unanimously.
Mission Moment: Deb Cook Lewis and Dan Spoone
This Mission Moment thanks the executive Search committee: Kim Charlson, Michael Garrett, Jeff Thom, Sayuree Naik, and Nancy Becker for their efforts to recruit and hire our new Executive Director.
The goal was to have the person selected in time to be introduced at the DC Leadership Conference. Dan introduced Scott Thornhill and talked about the many skills and experience he brings to the position of Executive Director. He begins in this new position on March 18, and will be working remotely until he can relocate.
Consent Agenda: It was moved by Brown and seconded by Schroeder to approve the Consent Agenda. The motion carried.
Approval of Application for Affiliation from the Palmetto Council of the Blind: Jennifer Blazer
(See documentation in Board packet.)
In the absence of their president, Cindy Hollis, who has been working with them from the start, spoke about the prep work this group has done to meet all requirements for affiliation as the new Palmetto Council of the Blind.
It was moved by Nipper and seconded by Sims to approve the affiliation of the Palmetto Council of the Blind. The motion carried.
President’s Report: Deb Cook Lewis
The President’s meeting and Legislative Seminar will all be held in both English and Spanish this year. Everything will also be captioned.
The next telephonic ACB Board of Directors Meeting is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at 7:00 PM ET. At that time, we will be needing to approve the Conference and Convention Standing Rules.
The Conference and Convention ACB Board of Directors Meeting is scheduled for Friday, July 5, 2024, at 9:00 AM ET in Jacksonville.
The Fall ACB Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for Friday, November 1st and Saturday, November 2nd, 2024, in Dallas.
Life Member Request: A letter has been received by a life member who wishes to leave the organization for various reasons and is requesting that the amount paid for their life membership be returned. Discussion ensued about whether the organization has ever had a policy about returning dues of any kind, and if a life membership, especially if purchased by an individual, would be considered a contribution. Since there was not unanimous agreement on either side of the issue of returning the money, a motion was requested.
It was moved by Trott and seconded by Campbell that ACB does not refund any membership dues. The motion carried. It was also recommended that this be taken to the Constitution and Bylaws Committee for them to determine if this is something that needs to formally be put in the Bylaws.
It was moved by Campbell and seconded by Sims to approve the presidents report. The motion carried.
Staff Reports: Dan Spoone, ACB Interim Executive Director and Nancy Marks Becker, Chief Financial Officer
Audio Description Report: Tabitha Kenlon
(See report in Consent Agenda)
Advocacy Report: Claire Stanley & Swatha Nandhakumar
(See report in Consent Agenda)
Membership Services Report: Cindy Hollis
(See report in Consent Agenda)
On March 17th ACB Community will turn 4 years old. At the end of February ACB Community held 16,770 events. They had over 15,000 volunteer hours for 2023, which is up nearly 10% over the previous year.
Resource Development Report: Jo Lynn Bailey-Page & Kolby Garrison
(See report in Consent Agenda)
Executive Session: It was moved by Campbell and seconded by Powell to recess out of the Board meeting and move into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing personnel, financial and legal issues. The motion carried. The Board moved into Executive Session at 1:00 PM ET.
It was moved by Powell and seconded by Thom to move out of Executive Session and back into the main Board Meeting. The motion carried. The Board moved out of Executive Session at 2:20 PM.
President Lewis reported out on issues addressed in Executive Session.
The first item dealt with personnel and budget. Dan Spoone was scheduled to continue working with us through the month of April and the last couple of weeks of March would have been a double fill with both him and Scott. Dan has offered to reduce his salary and work for us through the end of the year in a consulting capacity to manage some specific projects that he has been integrally involved with. These include such projects as updating the ADP website and the ACB.org underpinnings taking us to Drupal 10, help with convention planning for this year, and the upcoming ADP Awards Gala. Kim Charlson has agreed to stay on for another few months as Immediate Past President.
It was moved by Powell and seconded by Schroeder that the President, incoming Executive Director, and the outgoing Interim Executive Director will work out a schedule to coordinate activities and help the incoming Executive Director with completion of the projects needing immediate action or to be done or completed by the end of 2024. The motion carried.
The second item discussed was an appeal of a recent decision from our programs and the appeal was resolved. There is a motion that was made related to that decision.
It was moved that a one-time exception shall be granted, in the case of the appeal, that the appellant will be allowed use of their zoom account for future shows. Another incident over the next year will require that the appellant be moved to an ACB account with no exceptions. The motion passed with two no votes by Trott and Sims.
Return to staff reports
ACB Media Report: Rick Morin
(See report in Consent Agenda)
Financial Report: Nancy Marks-Becker
(See reports in Consent Agenda)
Many new members are being added to the Affiliate Membership Management System from all over the United States and from other countries. The staff processing for confirming membership information was moved over to the Minneapolis Office at the beginning of 2024.
The ability to submit scholarship applications closed on February 14. There were 131 individuals who started filling out the application, and 86 who completed and submitted it. This year the amounts ranged from $2500 to $8100.
A new accountant has been hired in the Minneapolis Office who began her position just the previous Monday. This now makes the Minneapolis Office fully staffed.
The Minneapolis Office is preparing for the yearly audit. The auditors will be at the office the week of March 25th for the in-person portion of the audit.
ACB Treasurer’s Report: Nancy Marks-Becker
The preaudit ACB surplus for 2023 was about $22,000. Economic conditions were challenging in 2023, making it difficult to secure some grants as ACB had in the past. Fundraising activities were on budget, and above 2022. Convention profit was less than anticipated, which was in part because corporate sponsorships were softer than in the past. Another reason for the decrease in net profit was that we didn’t meet our hotel room night commitment in 2023. ACB was able to negotiate a reduced attrition rate, so we owed significantly less than the amount in the original contract.
ACB’s investments did considerably better in 2023, with an increase in the value of our investments of about $113,000. This compares to a loss of almost $954,000 in 2022. ACB needed to withdraw funds from the Reserve Account to meet operating needs, from the Endowed Account for the scholarships, and the value of the investments is about $100,000 above 2022.
ACBES Report: Nancy Marks-Becker
ACBES contribution to ACB continues to be strong. The Lubbock Store continues to do well. The Amarillo Store changed managers in November, and the new store manager has a management background and previous thrift store experience. The Amarillo Store’s sales were about $12,000 more in February than they were a year ago at the same time.
It was moved by Bell and seconded by Thom to approve the staff reports. The motion carried.
Convention Report: Janet Dickelman, ACB Convention Committee Chair
Room rates at the Hyatt Hotel in Jacksonville are $99 per night plus tax. There is an additional charge for triple and quadruple occupancy. Tax is 14.64%.
It was moved by Schroeder and seconded by Powell to approve the convention report. The motion carried.
Board of Publications (BOP) Report: Penny Reeder, BOP Chair
Penny talked about the need for more submissions to the ACB Blog and how well Member at the Mic is going.
The BOP is partnering with BRL and LUA to provide training on the NLS e-readers. The HumanWare e-reader training is later in March and the Zoomax eReader training is scheduled for June.
The article about the Candidates Forum will be in the April Braille Forum and the Candidates Forum is June 19.
It was moved by Brown and seconded by Lopez Kafati to approve the BOP report. The motion carried.
2024 Strategic Plan: Deb Cook Lewis and Dan Spoone (See the Strategic Plan document sent out to the Board)
Goal 1: No comments
Goal 2:
- No comments
- Discussed training for collecting demographic data. Collect year of birth to capture age data. Add this field to AMMS.
- Questions about definitions of cross-disability and minority organizations that have populations with blind/low vision constituents and about the kinds of outreach.
- No comments.
- No comments.
- ACB Board will define the who, what, when, where and how of the process of updating ACB and affiliate expectations policy with feedback from all ACB stakeholders through all communication channels.
Goal 3:
A-D. No comments.
- Change viability to feasibility.
F-I. No comments.
Goal 4: No comments.
Goal 5: Several questions but no changes.
Goal 6: No comments.
It was moved by Bell and seconded by Semien to approve the 2024 Strategic Plan as amended. The motion carried.
It was moved by Bell and seconded by Powell that the meeting be adjourned. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 4:35PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Denise Colley
Secretary
Date submitted: 04/16/2024
Date approved: 4/30/2024