Maria Kristic, NY, Chair
C: (845) 901-6084
[email protected]
Susan Bowmaster, VA
Gabriel Lopez Kafati, FL
Bhavya Shah, CA
Naomi Soule, MO
Daveed Mandell, CA
Honorary Member: Oral Miller, DC
Officer Liaison: Kim Charlson, MA
Staff Liaison: Dan Spoone, FL
About
The International Relations Committee seeks to promote the understanding and empowerment of people who are blind or have low vision around the world. We accomplish this objective through such activities as the Voices From Around the World luncheon during the ACB Conference and Convention, where international guests come together and talk about their experiences; curating ACB Forum magazine issues focused on blindness around the world; holding ACB community calls on the international blindness experience; providing blindness related materials and equipment to those in emerging nations; and providing assistance where possible during natural disasters.
Convention Presentation Archives
- Reaching Beyond Their Borders (2022) – International programs of US organizations for the blind
- NLS Expands Its Foreign Language Collection (2022)
- Conversation with World Blind Union CEO Marc Workman (2022)
- Voices From Around the World (2022) – Success stories of blind/visually impaired US immigrants
- 2021 Voices from Around the World – culture and disability, reflections on the Committee’s 10 year anniversary
- Global Tails (2021) – Experiences and challenges of establishing international guide dog programs, in collaboration with ACB affiliate Guide Dog Users, Inc.
- 2020 Voices From Around the World – LGBT Pride around the world, in collaboration with ACB affiliate Blind LGBT Pride International
- 2019 Voices From Around the World – Non-verbal gestures from around the world
- 2017 Voices From Around the World
International Voices Winner Interviews
- 2022 International Voices: Meet the first-place winner, and get to know the rest of the inaugural class, of the International Voices Contest winners!
Community Call Archives
- Knowledge Around the World (2022) – Meet ACB’s 2022 international scholarship recipients. Collaboration with ACB Students special-interest affiliate.
- Global Braille (2022)
- Global Braille Resources
- Holiday Voices From Around The World (2021)
- It's a Dog's World (2021) – International travel with guide dogs
ACB Forum Magazines Curated by the International Relations Committee
Special Projects
We are currently soliciting items to assist blind children in Ethiopia and Nigeria. If you have any unused of the below items in good working condition and would like to help, please contact Maria Kristic for shipping location within the United States. Many thanks for your contributions!
Requested Items
- Slates and styli
- Braille paper
- Perkins Braillers
- Braille games (card, board, etc. (Dominoes, Scrabble, etc.))
- White canes
- Calculators
- Cubarithms
- Abaci
- Computers, such as laptops with NVDA
- Scanners, including portable scanners
- Braille Embossers
- Continuous Braille paper, 11x12.5 of 140 or 150 GSM, perforated with 19 holes
- Handheld magnifiers and telescopes
- Portable manual typewriters which use cloth ribbon
- Surplus copies of ACB Forum and other specialized publications
This webpage was last updated June 6, 2023.