Jeff Thom
7414 Mooncrest Way
Sacramento, CA 95831-4046
H: (916) 429-8201
C: (916) 995-3967
Email: [email protected]
1. My name is Jeff Thom, and I am seeking a final term as a member of the ACB Board of Directors. I have served in virtually every local chapter position, as former president the California Council of the Blind and a current CCB board member, and as a former ACB First Vice President and current board member. I am a current member and a past chair of the ACB Resolutions Committee, chair of the Audio Description Project Awards Committee, and current chair of both the ACB Advocacy Steering Committee and the Advocacy Services Committee. I am also the outgoing president of the Alliance on Aging and Vision Loss. Among my recent ACB activities are the Voting Taskforces and the Resolutions Taskforce that have designed the 2021 and 2022 convention voting structures.
It was a very difficult decision for me in determining whether to seek a final term, for one primary reason, which being a recognition of the need for the infusion of younger, more diverse and innovative board members to enhance our strong leadership team. It is my belief, however, that my institutional knowledge, unwavering commitment to ACB, my work ethic and the changing times, with the concomitant concerns that come with them, can be best served by my serving a final term.
In recent years, under the leadership of former presidents Pomerantz and Charlson and current president Dan Spoone and executive director Eric Bridges, ACB has begun a path that could culminate in financial stability. In addition, the role of ACB as an influential advocacy organization for people who are blind or have low vision is, in my view, unparalleled in our history. We cannot, however, rest on our laurels, but must continue to make strides in these and other areas.
2. I believe that my most important contribution to ACB has been my continuing work on the issue of the conducting of voting at ACB conventions.
My work began more than a decade ago as chair the ACB Voting Task Force. The task force was first successful in having the members adopt a change mandating that individual votes in elections be by secret ballot.
The other task force issue was that of remote voting for those not physically at the convention site. Despite a large amount of work by the task force, it was our feeling that, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, due to various issues, including technological barriers and membership concerns, the majority of ACB members were not inclined to support remote voting.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the realization that the laws of the District of Columbia, in which ACB is incorporated, require all members to be allowed to vote, changed the dynamic. After cancellation of elections during the 2020 convention, the voting task force on which I was vice-chair designed the voting structure for the 2021 virtual convention and the subsequent voting task force designed the voting structure for the upcoming hybrid convention. In addition, I served on the Resolutions Task Force that designed the Resolutions structure being used at this convention, so that the membership will again be voting on resolutions, rather than the board. I believe that in both years I have not only played an important role in these task forces, but also in multiple sessions with ACB members to explain the changes in our elections and resolutions structure, as well as that for voting on constitutional and bylaws amendments. I think that my long-term activity in this area has given me a unique perspective in handling this extremely important shift in ACB’s culture.
3. As we gradually emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, I think ACB’s biggest challenge remains the capacity to recruit and retain members and specifically how the national organization can be of assistance in this effort. However, the pandemic has, to some degree, changed the landscape and dynamic of that challenge.
The ACB Community, clearly an outgrowth of the pandemic, enabled literally thousands of individuals to become acquainted with ACB who would have been unlikely to participate in ACB activities or even heard of us at all. In fact, this has been one of the reasons that several special interest affiliates have shown membership increases. On the other hand, the lack of in-person meetings has, for a variety of reasons, helped to cause declines in state affiliate and local chapter membership. Additionally, the need to function as a more staff-driven organization, which is the case for all nonprofits in the 21st century, can impede involvement of the or at least give the appearance of doing so.
Although it is possible the Community’s growth will diminish as the pandemic eases, I am sure it will remain an important part of the ACB landscape. Nonetheless, as we resume more in-person meetings, we need to find ways to recapture members we have lost and cultivate new ones.
The board has long wrestled with the issue of how we could provide additional benefits to our members. As the pandemic eases, we must again address this need to supplement what the ACB Community has provided.
Our expanding resource development and marketing efforts must benefit our membership itself. Our improved financial status and expanding corporate relationships should be used to explore tangible membership benefits, such as discounts in stores, theaters, or restaurants or additional information in accessible formats.