Call to Order -- Deb Cook Lewis, President
The March 15, 2025, ACB mid-year Leadership Conference Board of Directors Meeting was called to order at 9:00 AM Eastern Time 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 members were present: President Deb Cook Lewis, First Vice President David Trott, Second Vice President Ray Campbell, Secretary Denise Colley, Treasurer Michael Garrett, Immediate Past President Kim Charlson
Directors: Chris Bell, Donna Brown, Gabriel Lopez Kafati, Peter Heide, Cecily Laney Nipper, Terry Pacheco, Kenneth Semien, Koni Sims, and Jeff Thom. Board of Publications Member Katie Frederick was present representing that body.
Members absent: Rachel Schroeder (excused).
Staff present: Scott Thornhill, ACB Executive Director; Claire Stanley, ACB Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs; Jo Lynn Bailey-Page, Associate Director of Development; Kolby Garrison, Accessibility and Training Services Coordinator; Nancy Marks-Becker, Chief Financial Officer; Cindy Hollis, Manager of Membership Engagement; Michael Babcock, Membership Services Administrative Assistant; Dan Spoone, Director of Operations; Rick Morin, ACB Media and IT Manager; Sharon Lovering, ACB Braille Forum Editor; and Hannah Park, Communications Coordinator.
Consultants: Mike Johnson, External Communications; Kaila Ventura, ACB Intern.
Parliamentarian: Julie Palm
Several guests were also present in-person and virtually.
Review and Approval of Agenda -- Deb Cook Lewis
It was moved by Nipper and seconded by Sims to adopt the agenda as presented. The motion carried.
Review and Approval of Minutes -- February 10, 2025 - Denise Colley, Secretary
There being no corrections/additions, it was moved by Bell and seconded by Campbell to approve the minutes. The motion carried.
President’s Report -- Deb Cook Lewis
ACB Board of Directors Virtual Meeting: The next virtual Board meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 19, 2025, at 7:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time.
Convention Board of Directors Meeting: The convention ACB Board of Directors Meeting is scheduled for Friday, July 4, 2025, at 9:00 AM Central Daylight Time.
Fall Board of Directors meeting: The Fall ACB Board of Directors Meeting is scheduled for Friday, October 31st and Saturday, November 1st, 2025, at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Central Daylight Time.
There will probably be another virtual Board meeting scheduled in August or September, but the date is yet to be determined.
Leadership Email List Guidelines: Deb has submitted a revised email protocol for the Leadership List for Board approval.
The Constant Contact List will be used to send out Dots and Dashes, the Board Meeting agendas, convention general session information, and anything else that needs to go out to the entire ACB membership. Our ACB Announce List is where you will receive advocacy updates and major announcements from the organization and nonmembers can subscribe to this list. These lists are one-way lists and information only.
The ACB Conversation list is a two-way conversation list. All affiliates are now being asked to publicize information about all of their calls, if they are holding them on ACB Community, primarily on the ACB Community List. They can still announce their events on the ACB Leadership List, but events can only be announced one time. Affiliate events can also be announced in Dots and Dashes. It is appropriate to forward information that is advocacy related and received from other reliable sources to both the Conversation and Leadership Lists. However, whenever information is sent to more than one email list, messages must be sent to each list individually. This is due more to how messages go out and come in through our List Management software and the rules about the Lists themselves.
The Leadership List is made up of ACB past presidents, the Board of Directors, Board of Publications, committee chairs and vice chairs, key staff, and three members from each affiliate designated by that affiliate’s president. It also includes the DKM First Timers and JP-Morgan Chase recipients for the past two years. The goal is to tighten all the List communication so that everyone receives the email they need, but not multiple times from multiple lists. We also want to make sure that everyone is given the opportunity to get their messages out to the largest number of people.
It was moved by Campbell and seconded by Brown that a sentence be added to the Revised email protocol for the Leadership List document stating that affiliate leaders on the Leadership List are responsible to share relevant information wherever it is appropriate. The motion carried.
It was moved by Nipper and seconded by Thom to approve the Leadership Email List Guidelines as amended. The motion carried.
Convention Rollcall of Affiliates: The Affiliate Roll Call is a Constitutional requirement following the reading of the Convention Standing Rules and the first reading of the Credentials report. The second reading of the Credentials report follows the Affiliate roll call before any record votes. Since any record votes on Resolutions or Constitution and Bylaws are done during the virtual portion of convention, the roll call must be done during that same time. This is because the roll call verifies which affiliates are present to participate in a record vote. The proposal is to move the Affiliate roll call to Monday, the actual opening night of the hybrid portion of the convention, which would be June 23. This proposal has been taken to the Convention Steering Committee, Convention Program Committee, the Constitution and Bylaws Committee and the Voting Taskforce, and they have all reviewed it. At the time of the roll call, affiliates wishing to make ACB contributions and/or special announcements will make that known. A list of those affiliates will be created, and that list will be called specifically for that purpose during what would have been roll call on the opening night of the hybrid portion of convention, July 5.
Google Workspace Emails Project: The Google Workspace Emails are now up and functioning. It is for providing feedback to the Board; not for dialogue. The address is [email protected] and this email address will be published in all relevant places. Data will be provided to the Board regarding mail received and different data about the mail. Specific comments or feedback that the Board might want to consider can be forwarded. Different Board members will moderate the list at different times.
Braille Forum Raffle: We are discontinuing the ACB Braille Forum raffle. Research was done regarding which states allow gaming permits, the costs of these permits and potential impact on receiving approval for charitable state registrations.
Submission deadline for resolutions and Constitution and Bylaw amendments: Deb reminded everyone that the deadline for submitting resolutions or Constitution and Bylaw amendments is April 23. Resolutions can be sent to Gabe Griffith, Resolutions Committee Chair or to [email protected]. Constitutional Amendments can be sent to John McCann, Constitution and Bylaws Committee chair. The public deliberation on those will begin in early May.
Update on Prohibited Conduct Workgroup -- David Trott
The committee had its first meeting and assignments have been given out. A timeline for completion of assignments was established and plan to have an update and possible report for action at the May Board meeting.
Program Reports
ACB Executive Director’s Report: Scott Thornhill
Scott reported that we are in a good position financially, but his personal goal is that by 2027, we will be able to present to the Board a balanced budget.
The Accessibility and Training Services Program has been implemented. There is a very high demand for individualized accessibility training both from our membership and outside the organization.
A couple of adjustments to the Advisory Board and he hopes to begin having some zoom meetings soon.
Scott reported on two legal-related issues that are not considered to be private information. The first is Labcorp, which is now Labcorp vs. Davis because Labcorp is seeking relief from the US Supreme Court. The lower courts had found in our favor, along with the others involved, and Labcorp has continued to appeal. Written arguments are due in March with the oral arguments to be held in April. In the Quest Diagnostics case, the Appeals Court upheld the Lower Court’s decision, which was also in our favor. Now it goes back to the Lower Court to determine how it will be worked out.
Advocacy Report -- Claire Stanley
Along with the three digital in-touch imperatives the Advocacy Steering Committee has put together a fourth handout to take to the Hill that emphasizes some of the priorities in existing bills, departments and programs that serve and are important to our population. Issues included are such things as the Older Americans Who Are Blind Program and the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA.
There were some resources put on the Announce List about the Texas vs. Becerra Lawsuit, on how to reach out to your Attorneys General if your state is involved. Information is available on the ACB website advocacy page.
Jeff Thom provided an update regarding the increased accessibility of home testing program which has not gone away. The program is under contract with the National Institutes of Health and they are contracting with various companies who can work toward making more accessible home tests kits. They have developed a best practices document and are working with the World Health Organization to promote its inclusion in a more long-term basis. One policy change is that they are now giving out names of companies that have these projects and are working on a host of things in the accessibility space such as making their websites accessible, having audio-described information on how to use their tests, box design, and a lot of innovations for people with low income and those with dexterity issues. When the program ends we will have the ability to contact these companies to thank them and educate and advocate back and forth.
Membership Services Report: Cindy Hollis
ACB lost one state and two special interest affiliates, a new affiliate was chartered in South Carolina, and two other organizations are working on affiliation.
Michael Babcock was introduced as the new hire for the Membership Services Administrative Assistant.
Resource Development Report: Dan Spoone & Jo Lynn Bailey-Page
ACB has a diverse revenue portfolio where we receive revenue from our thrift stores, a thousand individuals who donate to this organization, corporations that sponsor events with ACB, and earned income. This is a revenue base that is not dependent on the federal government. Planned Giving will be holding seminars.
The Resource Development Team has developed a new approach towards sponsorships where staff meet regularly to review current and potential sponsors. Staff are assigned to build those relationships. Reports were provided to the board.
Communications – Michael Johnson
ACB uses social media as a tool to raise awareness of our work, to advocate for key issues, to communicate news and information and to engage with our community of both organizations and individuals. We’re active on all the social media platforms and use analytics from Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Analytics were provided to the board.
The main portion of the ACB Board Meeting went into recess at 12:15PM for lunch and the Board moved into Executive Session.
The Board adjourned out of Executive Session at 2:51 PM EDT and the main portion of the ACB Board meeting moved out of recess and was called back to order by the president at 2:54 PM EDT.
Report Out from Executive Session: Deb Cook Lewis
Deb reported out the activities of the Executive Session. The Executive Director updated the Board on several legal issues, activities and actions that ACB is involved with. The Board also received a request from our Executive Director to be able to telework and this request would not add any additional expense to ACB. It was moved by Thom and seconded by Heide to permit our Executive Director, Scott Thornhill, to telework for a one-year trial period subject to developing, in conjunction with the president, a management plan for ensuring the Alexandria Office is operating efficiently. This management plan should be submitted to the Board for approval at the May 19, 2025 Board meeting. The motion passed with one no vote by Bell.
Accessibility & Training Services – Kolby Garrison
Kolby highlighted the items from her staff report and said there are many opportunities based on the overwhelming response she has received to the program launch. We are learning how to approach both the opportunities and challenges while adhering to our mission.
ACB Media Report - Rick Morin
Old Time radio is very popular and has become stronger since we partnered with Yesterday USA.
We are in the final step of migrating the ACB Media infrastructure from Azure to Amazon Web Services. Once this is completed then we will be replacing it with a new scheduling platform. This will result in savings to ACB.
ACB Media Affiliate Public Service Announcement Policy:
This policy creates opportunities for affiliates and committees to be able to have public service announcements about events played on ACB Media.
It was moved by Campbell and seconded by Thom to adopt the proposed ACB Media Affiliate Public Service Announcement Policy. The motion carried.
CFO Report -- Nancy Marks-Becker
We are in the first part of membership certification and those managing membership records are doing a great job of adding and updating membership information. We are continuing to work on merging the AMMS site into the members.acb.org site.
With the dissolving of the ACB Veterans affiliate, the remaining funds from ACB veterans were donated to ACB.
Following the Board's request for information regarding the necessity of being bonded, we reached out to our insurance agent for clarification and this is another term used to refer to coverage for employee theft which we have coverage in place.
Financial Reports - Michael Garrett, ACB Treasurer
ACB Financial Report
The treasurer’s report was included with the board reports. We are currently in good standing from a financial perspective and our money managers are doing a good job. We need to remain watchful over the market and how our funds are performing in these uncertain times. Questions regarding the 2024 financial statement were answered.
ACB Enterprises and Services Financial Report: The ACBES contribution to ACB in 2024 was significant. The new manager in the Amarillo store has significantly increased the net income of ACBES.
Board of Publications (BOP) Report: Katie Frederick, BOP Director
The Candidates Forum will take place on June 11, 2025, and information about the process for candidates and the Forum is in the April ACB Braille Forum. The deadline for the three BOP Excellence in Writing awards is April 1.
The BOP has been working for several months through the process of reviewing and revising the guidelines for the ACB Conversation List which were included in the meeting packet.
The Katie said they did realize they forgot to include guidelines about advertising and promotion on the list were not on the policy proposal before sending this out to the Board, but these will need to be included once it is determined where they best fit.
Amendment to Awards Policy: Koni Sims, ACB Awards Committee Co-Chair
The Affiliate Outreach Award is given to a chapter of an affiliate for a new outreach program with a measurable outcome. However, a lot of our affiliates don’t have chapters, and in a lot of our larger affiliates the chapters are larger than our smaller affiliates. This is the reason for the request to change the wording to local chapter or affiliate. This proposal was included in the meeting packet.
It was moved by Thom and seconded by Bell to approve the wording change for this award. The motion carried.
2024 Strategic Plan: Deb Cook Lewis and Scott Thornhill
(See document in Board meeting packet.)
The one year plan was included in the board meeting packet. Bell brought forward two potential recommendations/additions.
- As an element of the Accessibility and Training Services Program, there be monitoring of federal Executive Agency compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. This would include deciding if there is a problem, and then how to proceed.
- Add a section to provide assistance to our members and affiliates in communicating with Congress regarding the adequacy of federal programs and services and rights for people who are blind/low vision. This would include periodically sending out to all members a document that invites them to provide information on their experience with such blindness-related programs and identify both benefits and shortcomings. Secondly, if desired, provide members with assistance from the Advocacy Steering Committee to develop and elucidate the kinds of issues they are having and determine who those stories should go to within Congress.
It was pointed out that adding elements to the strategic plan of this magnitude could not be added without first providing the opportunity for research of the impact on the work of staff and the process that would involve. Both of these initiatives would be major changes to the strategic plan, and if adopted, would probably require the elimination of other components. It was suggested and agreed that both of these items be referred to the Advocacy Steering Committee for them to work on developing processes and a recommendation regarding whether there is something that can be done or that it is beyond what they would be able to accomplish in the work plan. From there it can be determined how the organization wants to approach this, and what it has regarding an impact on the current strategic plan.
It was moved by Campbell and seconded by Sims to approve the one-year Strategic Plan as presented. The motion carried.
It was moved by Campbell and seconded by several that the meeting be adjourned. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 4:55 PM Eastern time.
Respectfully submitted,
Denise Colley
Secretary
Date submitted: 4/06/25
Approved: 5/19/2025