Welcome and Call to Order
Meeting commenced on Tuesday, June 2, 2026 at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Chair, Zelda Gebhard, welcomed board members, guests and the community. She noted public comments could be submitted to this email: bop@mail.acb.org.
Roll Call
Board members present: Deborah Armstrong, Jeff Bishop, Belinda Collins, and RaLynn McGuire.
Others present: Katie Frederick, past BOP Chair and ACB Board Liaison; Sharon Lovering, ACB Braille Forum Editor; Rick Morin, ACB Media and IT Manager; Deb Cook Lewis, ACB President; and Scott Thornhill, ACB Executive Director
Approval of the Agenda
Jeff moved, Deborah seconded. Approved.
Approval of the Minutes
Jeff moved, RaLynn seconded. Approved.
Public Comments
Later after the ACB Media report, several members from the audience expressed a desire to have greater promotion of ACB voting, the Vote Now app, and ensuring it was circulated to ACB community and YouTube. President Lewis responded at length to these comments.
Editor’s Report
Sharon had distributed a report to the board. A few minor questions about it were answered. Sharon also reported on a large variety of duties keeping her busy.
The theme for September “fall in love with learning – turn over a new leaf” was confirmed, and Sharon reported Diabetics in Action’s affiliate will handle the November-December theme.
President Lewis asked for the Braille Forum to focus more on ACB as it is the organization’s primary publication. She would like this to be considered when deciding on themes.
Deborah suggested leadership would be a good October issue’s theme. There was discussion about article ideas, and support for that theme. Tying in with disability awareness month, the board decided that “developing leaders, building community” was the theme they wanted for October.
There was a suggestion from the audience that voting awareness also be included as part of the October issue.
ACB Voices Blog Editors
There were no May submissions. Zelda reminded the community that posts are welcome.
Jeff and Belinda agreed to handle editing posts for June. RaLynn and Zelda volunteered to edit in July.
There was discussion about ways to promote and better focus the ACB blog. A member from the audience suggested having a community call about the blog’s purpose and encouraging folks to write for it. It was pointed out that people don’t know what to write about.
RaLynn described a template that could be published on the conversation list to clarify how to make a blog post.
The email for posters to use is voices@acb.org.
ACB Media Report
Rick reported the numbers for podcast listens was consistent and ACB Community was the most popular podcast. He described some new programs coming to ACB Media. He also took some audience questions.
ACB Large Print Guidelines Review
The goal is to ensure ACB stays consistent with guidelines by investigating regulations and other rules for large print creation. Sharon, Deborah, Jeff, Melanie and David Kingsbury have agreed to serve on this sub-committee.
Deborah agreed to act as chair, but not until August, after the convention.
Candidates’ Forum
Zelda reviewed information about the Candidates’ Page and discussed who on the BOP would be running again. This matters because only those not running are able to facilitate the July 8 Candidates’ Forum.
President Lewis suggested sending a courtesy reminder to incumbents who might have forgotten to post their info to Sharon for the Candidates’ Page.
BOP Award Presentations
The BOP will present 3 awards this year which Zelda listed. She said it’s important to find out who will be present at the banquet to receive their award. She will discuss this further with president Lewis.
She also asked who on the BOP would be available to present those awards. Jeff expressed the hope that the outgoing and incoming chair could do it together.
BOP Convention Session Update
Jeff has taken the lead on planning this presentation. He reported on his panelists. It will be held as a morning session on July 26 discussing affiliate communications.
Adjournment and Next Meeting
The meeting adjourned at 10:11 p.m. Eastern. The next meeting will be Tuesday, July 7 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
Recordings
Find past meetings at http://acb-business.pinecast.co.