by Ralph Sanders
The board of directors of the American Council of the Blind has hired Melanie Brunson to serve as the executive director of the ACB. She is the fourth person to head up the Washington office, and the first blind woman to serve as the senior executive staff member of the ACB, or any other national blindness advocacy organization. Prior to her permanent appointment in March of this year, she had served as the acting executive director since the resignation of Charlie Crawford in the fall of 2003. The only other two individuals to hold this post since the founding of the ACB more than four decades ago were Durward K. McDaniel and Oral O. Miller.
In announcing her appointment, President Chris Gray said, “I am extremely pleased to announce formally the appointment of Melanie Brunson as executive director of the American Council of the Blind. Melanie is a veteran member of ACB’s professional staff and has served in various managerial capacities since she joined the staff in August 1998. She has worked directly with two presidents and two past executive directors of the organization, which provides her with important background to the many different approaches and points of view within our organization. As an attorney, Melanie is able to quickly and accurately advise the ACB board of directors on a wide variety of legal issues or potential for such issues before critical decisions within the organization are made. Finally, the ACB board has been extremely pleased and impressed with Melanie’s work during her months of service to us in the dual capacities of acting executive director and governmental affairs and advocacy director.
“For those who have not had the pleasure of meeting or working first-hand with Melanie, perhaps I should mention two additional things about her you might wish to know or even be wondering. Like most of us who are members of ACB, Melanie is blind. Also, she is a guide dog user and braille reader. I mention these things by way of saying that, by example and empathetically, Melanie can represent very well the interests of ACB and demonstrate by example the best and most noteworthy values of ACB: responsibility; dignity; and professionalism.
“It is exciting to contemplate the many things ACB can accomplish with the appointment of this key leadership position within our organization. Please join the entire ACB board of directors and me in welcoming Melanie Brunson to her new position.”
Melanie joined the ACB professional staff in August of 1998 as director of governmental affairs and advocacy, where she has served with distinction, leading the ACB to victory in many legislative challenges.
Prior to coming to ACB, she lived and worked in California. She practiced law there for 14 years, most of which was spent in private practice. From April of 1996 to December of 1997, she was employed as a client assistance program advocate, assisting individuals with disabilities with legal issues related to their matriculation of the state’s vocational rehabilitation system. From January to July of 1998, she was employed by the Western Law Center for Disability Rights in Los Angeles.
She obtained her bachelor of arts degree in political science from Whittier College, and her juris doctorate from Whittier College School of Law. She maintains her membership in the California Bar.