Via Zoom and Broadcast on ACB Media Six
7:00 PM Eastern Time
Call to Order: Deb Cook Lewis, President
President Cook Lewis called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM Eastern.
Roll Call: Katie Frederick, Secretary
At the call of the roll, the following directors, Board of Publications Representative staff and guests were present.
Officers: President Deb Cook Lewis, First Vice President David Trott, Second Vice President Kenneth Semien Sr., Secretary Katie Frederick. Treasurer Michael Garrett, Immediate Past President Kim Charlson
Directors: Chris Bell, Donna Brown, Cheryl Cumings, Peter Heide, Gabriel Lopez-Kafati, Cecily Laney Nipper (excused absence), Terry Pacheco, Rachel Schroeder, Koni Sims, Jeff Thom, Zelda Gebhard Board of Publications representative
Staff: Scott Thornhill, Executive Director, Nancy Marks Becker, CFO, Cindy Hollis, Membership Services Engagement Manager, Claire Stanley, Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs, Rick Morin, Director of IT and ACB Media, and Julie Palm (Parliamentarian)
Guests: Janet Dickelman, Conference and Convention Coordinator, Gabe Griffith, Chair Resolutions Committee, Mitch Pomerantz, Chair, Prohibited Conduct Committee
Review and Approval of Agenda: Deb Cook Lewis, President
A motion to approve the agenda was made by Chris Bell and seconded by Donna Brown, the motion passed.
Review and Approval of Minutes: Katie Frederick, Secretary
July 4, 2025, Trott moved and Bell seconded approval of the minutes as amended (fixing some instances of ACB Radio to ACB Media and the term "pro-term" should be spelled "Pro Tem"). The motion passed.
Convention Wrap-Up and Report: Janet Dickelman, Convention Committee Chair, and Rick Morin
Janet Dickelman announced that the convention had a total attendance of 1,023 registered attendees, with 602 in person and 421 registered virtual attendees.
There were 61 exhibitors, 16 of which were new, and a total of 105 meetings and sessions were held.
Janet addressed some feedback received from attendees: The hotel's menus were limited because it was their summer menu, but she will work with the hotel to get larger menus for future events.
The ACB Cafe will not be brought back because the hotel's high minimum sales requirements were not met in previous years, resulting in extra costs to ACB.
Janet is hopeful that the Blinded Veterans Association (BVA) will join the 2026 convention, but they are still making their decision.
A discussion of the convention survey followed Janet’s report. President Cook Lewis explained the membership database provides a lot more accurate demographic data than the convention survey, and the survey is more about event satisfaction. President Cook Lewis proposed adding gender data to the final survey report at the November meeting.
Review and Approval of the 2025 Resolutions Priorities and Assignments: Claire Stanley and Gabe Griffith
Resolutions passed during the 2025 conference and convention were reviewed and ranked. Each resolution has a staff member and member leads. Jeff Thom moved, and Koni seconded adoption of the 2025 priorities. The motion passed. President Cook Lewis mentioned Ray Campbell will be assisting as cochair of the Resolutions Committee this year.
External Versus Internal Policies and Positions: Deb Cook Lewis
Practical logistics and website placement: President Cook Lewis proposes creating a place on the ACB website where external policies and guidelines, such as the organization’s position about text-to-speech and audio description. Internal policies would reside within organizational documents. Kenneth is in favor of the proposal and thinks it is good for members and partners to see the documents. There were no objections to President Cook Lewis’s proposal. Board members will be notified once these documents are on the website.
Youth Track: Cindy Hollis
This would introduce high school students and their parent/guardian to ACB and would be designed to inspire confidence, provide practical skills, and foster advocacy, while giving parents tools and networks to support their child’s transition into adulthood. Cindy asked for board approval the launch of the youth track at the 2026 convention. Rachel Schroeder moved, and Kenneth Semien seconded Cindy’s youth track proposal. The motion passed.
Proposal to Hire an Attorney: Scott Thornhill
A donor is willing to donate up to 1.2 million dollars for this purpose, likely for up to four years, but may be able to be extended to additional years. Koni Sims moved, and Jeff Thom seconded adoption of Scott Thornhill’s proposal. The motion passed.
Use of Cultural, Racial and Religious Language: Peter Heide
David Trott moved to send the letter back to the convention program committee for their review and input at the January board meeting. Kenneth Semien seconded the motion. Following discussion, a record vote took place. There were nine votes in favor and five opposed. The motion passed.
President’s Report: Deb Cook Lewis
Reminder to board members to donate something for the November 30 auction.
Board session and meeting October 31 and November 1. Friday is a strategic planning session with the board meeting following on Saturday, November 1 in St. Louis.
Budget meetings are on Monday, December 1(revenue) and December 8 (expenses). Those are anticipated to begin at 7:00 PM Eastern time.
Scholarship committee chair appointment. President Cook Lewis announced the appointment of Amanda Selm to the chair of the scholarship committee.
President Cook Lewis will add the vice presidents to the Leadership Team to help with succession planning and managing the work of ACB.
Board members and committees will have Google Workspace email addresses they can use for communication.
President Cook Lewis has been receiving the feedback emails and proposes assigning them to secretary, Katie Frederick. A summary of emails received will be provided to the board. An auto response can also be set up, so members will receive an acknowledgement receipt.
Executive Director’s Report: Scott Thornhill
Scott expressed that he felt very good about how the convention went, despite the issues that need to be addressed, such as getting the survey out sooner and the dining options.
There will be small changes and adjustments being discussed for the following year.
He was particularly excited and emotional about the approval of the youth track, stating that he wished he had something like that at a young age. He mentioned that Cindy Hollis had already received several texts from people who wanted to help with the youth track event.
Scott provided the following social media and Website Report
YouTube: In August, there were 3,100 total video views and 30 new subscribers and the most popular video was an advocacy update on services for young children.
TikTok: The platform had 28,350 total video views in August and the most popular video was an advocacy post about paratransit, which had 3,600 views.
Website: In August, there were 12,767 new visitors and a total of 13,342 visitors. The top five most popular pages were:
1. Home
2. About
3. Scholarships
4. Jobs
5. Large Print Guidelines
CFO Report: Nancy Becker
Financial data through the end of July is completed. Affiliates should receive money in a few weeks. In 2026 DC Leadership meetings are March 6 -10 with a $163 room rate plus taxes. The 2027 DC Leadership meetings are March 5-9 with a rate of $179 plus tax.
In 2018, ACB Trademarked ACB and Together for a Bright Future. We’re currently working on several other trademarks for American Council of the Blind.
By the end of June thrift stores were above budget by $66,800 and in August, both stores had sales of $70,000, which hasn’t happened before.
The ACB Mini Mall site is up and running and the site is acbminimall.org.
Election of Budget Committee
Koni Sims, Gabriel Lopez Kafati, and Terry were selected to the budget committee.
Koni Sims moved, and Peter Heidi seconded the motion to adjourn to Executive Session at approximately 11:53 PM Eastern time.
Executive Session
The draft of the Prohibited Conduct Policy was discussed. No official action was taken during the session.
Adjourn
The executive session adjourned at 12:10 AM Eastern time.
Respectfully submitted,
Katie Frederick, Secretary
Date Submitted: 9/22/2025
Date Approved: 11/1/2025