This is being provided in a rough-draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings.
PAM ALLEN: Hello, everyone, and welcome to our March Presidential Release live. Thank you so much for being here with us tonight. We have wonderful Presidential Release live in store with so many exciting things happening in the Federation and ways for us all to be involved and to help transform dreams into reality.
It is now my pleasure to introduce President Riccobono. Hey, President Riccobono.
MARK RICCOBONO: Hey, Pam, how are you?
PAM ALLEN: I'm great, how's it going?
MARK RICCOBONO: You sound great coming off Mardi Gras.
PAM ALLEN: I still have a voice, surprisingly.
(Laughter.)
MARK RICCOBONO: Hope you had a good time, didn't lose anybody.
PAM ALLEN: Nope, and we warmed up the city for convention.
MARK RICCOBONO: Nice. Did you see Homer?
PAM ALLEN: He's MIA but we're trying to track him down.
MARK RICCOBONO: Maybe he'll show up on a Presidential Release one of these days!
(Laughter.)
PAM ALLEN: You never know, he's crafty that way.
(Laughter.)
MARK RICCOBONO: Well, we've got a jam packed night including an extra special panel coming up on leadership. So we might stretch the hour a little long, but I think that's okay.
PAM ALLEN: I think it will be fabulous.
MARK RICCOBONO: All right!
Greetings, fellow Federationists. Today is Thursday, March 6, 2025, and this is Presidential Release live number 49 here from Baltimore. I'd like to start by welcoming the 97th Leadership Seminar of the National Federation of the Blind.
(Cheering and applause).
Here in the NFB of Utah Auditorium at the Jernigan Institute.
It is officially convention season. Registration is open. Hotel rooms are still available for a little time! And you should start making your plans now to be with us in New Orleans that will be just as good as Mardi Gras, maybe even better. You can join us July 8th to 13th. We're looking forward to everything NFB National Convention. Nfb.org/convention.
Not going to go over the details in this release. You can find them there, and you can also find them in the chapter meetings in your local community on the Presidential Release recording there, and in the Braille Monitor.
Now, this evening, in addition to hoping to have some time to answer questions, although we do have a lot of things to talk about, we're going to have a special panel on leadership, and leadership in the Federation specifically, so just a reminder that you can share questions you have for me or the panel with [email protected].
Before I share the busy month that we've had in the last few weeks -- it feels like more than a month! -- I want to talk to you about my perspective on some current happenings and the times we're living in.
You know, 60 years ago, Bob Dylan wrote a song which is probably the most well-known song in his catalog. It was released as the title track of his 1964 album, and it was released in the U.K., but not as a single in the United States. The Times They Are A-Changin' partly spoke to the emerging movements of the times in 1964, '65. But it has stood the test of time, because change is in fact the one constant that we can count on in the world.
While the song is viewed by some purely as a protest song, others view it as an anthem for life, because change, struggle, progress is always happening around us in one sense or another.
The question always is, how will we decide to engage with change? Or how will we choose to engage with that change that's happening around us?
The National Federation of the Blind is unique because it helps to provide an important constant for the blind, a community led by and centered on our unique lived experience as blind people.
And the Federation works to apply our understanding about blindness to the changing times around us.
That's not to say that the Federation isn't changing. Because it is. But we continue to be a constant source of community and blind-led power for blind people in this nation.
Now, often we work to direct the change around us, but sometimes we simply work on inserting ourselves into the changes that might be felt throughout our society in one sense or another. That has been true for the entire history of the Federation. Change is not new, and our ability to get blind people inserted into it and recognized is not new.
In fact, this live Presidential Release is a good example of change and our adapting to change. This event series was born out of, well, a worldwide pandemic and changes that we needed to make at the time, and we've turned that into something that has proven to have long-term benefit for the organization.
One proven way that we can influence the times and the changes is to invest in the constant that has allowed us to deal with change in society, to create opportunities out of those changes in the past and to build opportunities for the future. And that is, of course, the National Federation of the Blind.
That is sometimes made more difficult by the social media environment in which we live, when you can light a firecracker and stand back and watch the fireworks without any personal consequences.
A good example of that from the last month is Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, who is a blind person who testified in front of the United States Congress and became a -- became one of those firecrackers when his testimony, and more specifically, his blindness, was used to discredit his testimony to Congress, without any consequences for the political leaders that initiated that.
Now, he happens to be a member of the National Federation of the Blind. But blind people in our organization know that we need to show up whenever this happens to blind people and the image of blindness, and there is never a team when we should tolerate the image of blindness being used as a political tool.
Our role in the Federation is to advance the cause of blind people. And we show up to do that, even in very changing times.
It's important that we continue to speak up against the actions that we feel are harmful to blind people or the programs that we use to enhance our own futures and use our own self-reliance to advance our independence and participate fully in society.
While the times, they are a-changin', I find the Federation to be an important constant and a source of hope for myself, and I hope you find that same source of inspiration.
Many people speculate about why Dylan wrote the song he did at the time that he did, and what motivated the writing of his song.
Dylan simply said at the time that he wrote the song because it was what the people wanted.
I know for sure that for blind people, the work of the Federation is what blind people want. Because that's who we are and what we do. And we should continue to lean into that.
So I encourage all of us to lean in to contributing to this movement and the hope it provides to blind people.
I also encourage us to stay focused on the things that we can change in society. Your active participation in our movement is what makes it possible and effective to do what we do, so I want to thank you for that and ask you to continue the commitment, even while these times are changing.
And by the way, the times are always changing.
That's my perspective for this meeting, and I hope that you will contribute yours by sharing your ideas about how we continue to build a movement in these ever-changing times.
Now, I said it feels like it's been more than a month the last month, and I just have a whole stack of things we've been making great progress on in the last month, which is part of the reason.
And the first is our Blind Americans Return to Work Act, which was introduced in the 119th Congress on Monday, February 10. The bill number is HR 1175. This was introduced by the sponsor, Representative Pete Sessions of Texas. We gave him an award at our Great Gathering-In meeting. So thanks to Congressman Sessions for stepping up and meeting the spirit of that award and continuing his work on our behalf in the 119th Congress.
The lead co-sponsor for this bill is Representative Kweisi Mfume from Maryland's 7th Congressional District -- wow, that's right where this building is, actually.
So thank you to these gentlemen for leading the way.
We have a growing number of co-sponsors from both parties supporting this bill, so we should keep up the momentum. Just a reminder, this bill eliminates the Social Security Disability earnings cliff by instituting a two-for-one phaseout. You can read more details about that on our website, and we've talked about it here in these meetings before.
Also, we're very happy to announce that we have successfully introduced the Access Technology Affordability Act in the 119th Congress on Monday, February 24th. The bill number is HR 1529. The sponsor of the bill is Representative Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, and the lead co-sponsor is Representative Mike Thompson from California.
Similar situation, we have a growing number of co-sponsors from both parties on this bill, which I think is a great advantage to us here. This bill would create a 2,000 dollar refundable tax credit for the purchase of qualified access technologies for the blind.
Great progress coming out of our Washington Seminar, but we need to keep up the momentum. So please continue to talk to your members of Congress about these bills. I got some asks coming up for you a little later about things we need to talk to Congress about as well. But congratulations to the Federation on a month well done!
(Applause.)
Yeah, I think that deserves applause!
The audience -- the audience is a little hesitant, you know!
(Laughter.)
I do want to talk to you about a deadline that's coming up tomorrow, and that is to register for our Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium. This is the leading disability law conference in the United States. It will be happening in this building here, NFB Jernigan Institute in Baltimore, from Thursday March 20th to Friday, March 21st.
We will be holding the proceedings here, but you can also register to participate online. The theme of this year's symposium is Democracy, Justice, and the Rule of Law: Protecting Our Right to Live in the World.
As I say, online registration is now open for participation here in person, or virtually, you can reach the registration page by visiting our legal page, nfb.org/legal.
The deadline to register is tomorrow, Friday, March 7th. So I wanted to bring that up if you're interested in participating in the law and learning about the progress of disability rights and being part of the discussion. You should definitely want to be there. It's the longest standing disability rights conference, and I think it's going to be a great one this year, and some very important and timely topics.
Now, our advocacy and policy group has given me a travel tip for you! A travel tip. That's not something you get every release. And this travel tip has to do with rideshare companies.
Oh, good, no boos! Okay.
(Laughter.)
So, our advocacy and policy group says, generally speaking, both Lyft and Uber will apply a wait time fee if the driver has to wait for a passenger for more than 2 minutes. However, you can choose to self-identify as a person with a disability to both companies in order to have the fee waived.
In the Lyft app, they suggest that the wait time fee waiver can be found under the "help" tab in the accessibility settings. In the Uber app, the wait time fee waiver can be found in the settings tab.
So, a little tip on wait times for you.
Over the last month, we've had a lot of talk about the action that's been taken by 17 states to take action against the Rehabilitation Act, 17 states and I'll list them here: Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia. These 17 states have sued the federal government regarding updated regulations that add gender dysphoria to the federal definition of disability under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
The states have also used this as a reason to say that Section 504 overall, not just the new regulations, but the whole section, is unconstitutional.
As a reminder, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act requires that entities that receive federal funding, such as schools and hospitals, cannot discriminate on the basis of disability.
If you live in one of these 17 states, you can contact, in fact, we encourage you to contact your state's Attorney General and governor and urge them to drop their participation in this suit. Be sure to tell them why you are calling them or writing them and why this law, especially Section 504, is important to you and to your access.
Remind them that Section 504 protects blind and other disabled people from discrimination by entities receiving federal funding and share your personal stories.
Now, on behalf of the Federation, I have sent a letter on behalf of the national movement to all 17 states. I decided not to share all 17, but you can find a copy of the letter to the Texas Attorney General on our website and states can request a copy of the letter that went to your state. The link will be in the chat. There will be other actions taken, but for right now, if you're in those 17 states, it's time to put the pressure on to get those states to drop the bill.
Some people say, well, you know, officials in my state say it doesn't really matter, the case is going to get dismissed. Keep the pressure on! Until the case goes away or until your state officially signs papers that says they're out, keep the pressure on.
We need to protect the Rehabilitation Act. We need to take this threat seriously, and we need to make sure that people with disabilities and our rights do not backslide from the progress that we've made over the past 50 years.
Now, some progress comes in new forms that weren't a result of our advocacy, but sometimes protecting those opportunities needs to be, and we have an urgent, urgent, urgent matter that I want to put in front of you that needs action this month.
The Medicare telehealth services were extended in March of 2020 by Congress to help limit the risk of exposure to COVID for seniors, and since that time, Congress has extended the use of telehealth in the Medicare program.
Without Congress taking action this month, this month, if nothing happens this month, the telehealth provisions will expire at the end of March.
I have sent a letter to all members of Congress, all 535 members of Congress this week, encouraging that this provision be made permanent and that the tele health services be made permanent for federally qualified health centers under the Medicare program.
We know that this particularly has an impact on individuals who live in rural communities, but of course, as blind people, we can relate to the difficulty of accessing transportation to get to medical facilities and also we know that this telehealth provision disproportionately harms individuals who are low-income.
Congress can do something about this. We also know that many doctors and health professionals support telehealth, as it allows them to better work with patients. It saves costs. We know that it saves patients' cost and energy that, you know, could have an impact on their health.
This will impact a number of blind people who are dealing with serious health conditions right now. If you contact your members of Congress and urge them to make this permanent, it will make a big deal, a difference. We think that we can influence this in the next month, but we only have a few weeks left. Please look for the letter on our website, again, at the policy page. We will put the link here in the chat.
For more information on this issue, you can reach out to Justin Young here on our advocacy team, [email protected] or extension 2210 at our national office.
A few more announcements for you about things that are happening before we get to our leadership panel.
We know that federal employees with disabilities have been disproportionately affected by recent reductions in the federal employment sector. If you or someone you know is a federal worker who has been impacted by the government layoffs and is interested in learning about career opportunities through the National Federation of the Blind's employment initiatives program, please urge them, or if it's you, go ahead and do it yourself, fill out our employment interest form to receive announcements, updates regarding career opportunities that we're going to be putting together with employer contacts that we have. We'd like to do what we can to help displaced federal employees who are blind.
The interest form can be found at our website, nfb.org/employment. We will work and continue to work closely with our employment committee and our staff here to find opportunities to help displaced federal employees.
I want to share a quick note from our DeafBlind Division. They asked me to let you know that, and remind you that they will be having an open Zoom meeting on Saturday, March 8th, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. The topics to be covered at the meeting include the convention, the National Museum of the Blind and other topics. To get more information, you should contact Maurice Mines, president of the DeafBlind Division. His email address is [email protected].
Now, one final tip, and this comes to us from Jonathan Mosen, who says that members may have read in the tech news that Google plans to phase out text messaging as a method of two-factor authentication when signing into your Google account.
These stories say that instead, users will be asked to scan a QR code.
We have reached out to Google to seek clarification regarding these stories and the procedures that it will be undertaking. And while we appreciate the need for data to be secure, we also insist on fully accessible log-in processes that are easy to use.
We consider our relationship with Google to be constructive and expect to work with them to ensure the needs of blind people are fully taken into account when any changes are made.
You should be aware of that. Stay tuned. We are working on it.
Okay, I would like to now move to our leadership panel, which we're calling "Leading with Love and Building Community".
I'd like to invite, in addition to Pam, who is going to be a panelist but also help me moderate, Everette Bacon, who is in the room.
(Applause.)
EVERETTE BACON: Hello, Mr. President.
MARK RICCOBONO: And NFB Nebraska's Jamie Richey is also in the room.
And I hope she's online, but another board member, president of NFB Colorado, Jessica Beecham.
JESSICA: Hello!
(Applause.)
MARK RICCOBONO: And Pam is still here, right?
PAM ALLEN: Hi!
(Laughter.)
MARK RICCOBONO: So we wanted this evening just to have a dialogue about leadership in the Federation, and so we're going to do this kind of, just round table, anybody can jump in. We'll talk for 10 or 15 minutes or so, and so the first question for the group, anybody can just jump in, is what motivates you to be an elected leader in the Federation?
JESSICA: I guess I can start. I am motivated to be an elected leader because we make a real difference in the lives of blind people, and I think now more than ever, with all of the times that are a-changin' that we have going on, it's just so important that we can band together and we can feel that as a group we can make our voices heard as blind people.
And so it's just a real honor for me to be an elected leader and to have the trust of our community, both in Colorado and as a national board member, to be able to help to lead and shape our movements. And I'm motivated by the personal stories that I hear all the time of blind people that's lives are truly impacted by the NFB, and by all the people I know who are really out there living the lives that they want because of the work that we do.
MARK RICCOBONO: This is the quietest you'll ever hear this group!
(Laughter.)
JAMIE: This is Jamie, and I'm motivated by our youth, the next generation. It's great to see the amount of people that do get involved, especially at a younger age. We have a great group in Nebraska right now, shout out to Nebraska!
But I'm really motivated by the youth, up and coming, and the things that they're going to see as they continue because of the work that we have done to lay that groundwork.
PAM ALLEN: This is Pam. I would say, I love Jamie and Jessica's answers and definitely can relate to that as well. And I think additionally, I'm motivated by the challenges that we face. Because I know if we don't step up and speak up and get involved, that change won't happen. And I know I'm also motivated by all of the different opinions and experiences and the diversity of our organization. We have so much strength because of our diversity, and it gives us such a wide range to really make a difference on so many levels.
EVERETTE BACON: I definitely agree. I am motivated by all of the members and the love, the hope, the determination I feel from all of them that I meet, whether back in my home state, but then as I go to different states as national representative and then as I attend national convention and Washington Seminar, I see that hope, love, and determination all the time. I feel it. And it inspires me and motivates me.
MARK RICCOBONO: So Pam mentioned diversity, and I think that's a good opportunity to ask you all, how do you feel that the diversity among the members of the Federation influences your leadership?
EVERETTE BACON: Well, being here on this panel with three pretty strong women, I'm excited by the diversity that we have.
I also think about the people who inspired me, like Anil Lewis, Shawn Callaway, Adelmo Vigil, who is in the room here. And so many people have given me thoughts of what they face and what I face as blind people, and I find that diversity just also very motivating and very inspiring.
JAMIE: This is Jamie. And when we talk about diversity, one thing I also think about is our diverse strengths. I was recently reminded that we do all have different strengths, and we don't all have to be the leaders in this movement, but even the leaders within the movement have their own strengths as well. And that's really great to see that we want everybody to be a part of this movement, no matter what your strength may be or who you may be, that we want you to be a part of the NFB.
PAM ALLEN: I would say, too, you know, I think we -- the issues that we tackle are diverse, but our philosophy and our core values bind us together in the work that we do. We may have different life experiences. We talk about the Federation being a cross-section of our world. And I think that's evidenced in the work that we do and the stories that we share, the personal stories of the impact that the Federation has had. And it helps us reach more people and create an environment that's welcoming for everybody.
And I think that, you know, I think about when I first became involved and somebody was telling me, you know, they were talking, we were talking about reading braille, for example, and this individual didn't learn braille. They weren't given that opportunity. And -- but I remember them telling me a story about how they advocated for kids to have access to braille and to be educated in the least restrictive environment.
And I didn't know, you know, that -- didn't know that hadn't always been the way, for example. But even though their experience was different than mine, they advocated so that I and other people could have experiences. And I think you can see that across the board in our organization over our history.
JESSICA: I think that curiosity is one of the very most important characteristics that we can have as good leaders, and so learning about the different perspectives of members that come from diverse backgrounds or that have perspectives that are different than mine helps to challenge me to be a more curious leader, to ask more questions, and to be more responsive in a way that is going to work for more people.
So I honestly think for me, it helps me to just be a lot more well-rounded and have a broader depth of understanding of the real problems as they relate to blindness, but hopefully it also helps me to be a better communicator and deliverer to our members across the nation as well.
MARK RICCOBONO: So Jessica may have answered the next question also.
(Laughter.)
Which is, what would you say needs to be the first thing that members need to do to get on the path to be an elected leader? People sometimes show up and say, "yeah, I want to be a leader", but, you know, there is preparation and understanding that needs to occur.
So what would you all say is the first thing members need to do?
EVERETTE BACON: I think that members need to seek out mentors. I know that I would have -- I still wouldn't be the man I am and the leader I am in the NFB if it wasn't for the people that came before me. Not only in my state -- people like Ray Martin, Karl Smith, Ron Gardner, Norm Gardner, and so many others that really inspired me, demonstrated to me what a good leader is.
And then on a national level, people like Scott LaBarre, Dr. Mauer, President Riccobono, even though we came together later, he still inspires me all the time. And I think that kind of thing, if you are a young leader, young person that wants to get motivated into leadership, seek out mentorship and really learn from the people that have been doing this for quite some time.
JAMIE: My answer would be passion. What we do in the National Federation of the Blind takes a lot of work. It's easy to become an elected leader and stand up there and pretend like you know what you're doing, but it's the, really the heart and the soul of what we do that makes us who we are, and so those people that might take those late-night calls, if you're having some issues, or the people that are willing to work on the weekends, just all kinds of different things. It's really that passion for what we do for what we do that I think is a really important asset of being a leader.
PAM ALLEN: I agree with what everybody has said, and I would, again, stress building relationships. Reaching out to people that maybe seem different, or their experiences are different than yours, or that you might -- oh, they're too young, they're too old, they're this, they're that, whatever it might be. Recognize that everybody has value and really work on building relationships and listening to people and helping recognize their strengths and the areas that they can -- that maybe you have areas that need building up and find people that can help you work on that.
And I would also say, remember, being a leader isn't just being out in the front. A leader also leads from behind the scenes sometimes, and isn't afraid to take out the garbage or take on a task that someone might think, you don't do that, you're the leader, you have people, whatever whatever. Remember that you'll be called on to do all kinds of things, and the little things really matter, and the relationships and genuine concern and care and belief that you show for others.
JESSICA: Absolutely. I 100% agree with everything that everybody has said. I would say another thing I see very often is that people might want to lead, they don't really have an understanding of what it is that they're wanting to lead. So get an understanding of who we are and what it is that we're doing!
(Laughter.)
I think that's a really important thing to do, because you can come in with all the ideas in the world, but if you don't have a fundamental understanding of what our organization is and where we're trying to go, it's hard to lead anyone in that direction. Finally, would I -- I would say find something that needs to be done and do it.
As Pam said, it doesn't need to be a big job. I'm often clearing tables after big events and things like that. Do things that need to be done, because people will see that and they'll start tagging you for other things.
MARK RICCOBONO: Let me check. Pam, do you have any questions from the audience that you want ed to throw out here?
PAM ALLEN: I do have a question. I thought you'd never ask!
MARK RICCOBONO: I know, sorry.
(Laughter.)
PAM ALLEN: No!
So, this is a question about how, if -- how do you get buy-in from members for an idea or an event or something? How does a leader get buy-in and get members to be excited and pitch in, so it's not just the same three people doing everything?
EVERETTE BACON: I think first and foremost, if I have an idea, I better believe in that idea. I better have some excitement in my voice, in my style, in my presentation about it. And I will also probably test that idea ahead of time with a few people that I trust before I bring it to the entire board or group. And, you know, because if I -- the few people that I trust, if they think it's a bad idea, they'll tell me. But if they think it's a good idea, they'll support me. And I think that's really important
Once you do that, I think then when you present it to the group, really sell it by, you know, showing the energy and passion that Jamie talked about.
JAMIE: And I think also, giving people jobs. We talk about that in the NFB a lot. If somebody has a job to do, they're going to be more involved in it and feel like they're a part of things. So if you want them to buy into what you're doing, having them be part of the planning committee, or something real simple, even. Start them out small. Monitor how things are going. Check in with them. Make them feel like they are really a part of things going on, and that will really help. The smallest jobs, like Pam was saying earlier, are sometimes the most important.
JESSICA: The only thing I would have to add to that is to just not be afraid that if an idea doesn't catch fire, to maybe drop it. It may just not be the right time or place for it. That doesn't mean drop every idea that you have. But if something isn't catching a tremendous amount of energy, it's okay to move along to the next thing.
MARK RICCOBONO: It has to work for the crowd, right?
EVERETTE BACON: Uh-huh.
MARK RICCOBONO: Now, Pam, do you have another question? Because I could ask some of these questions, but the more questions that we ask, the fewer I have to answer later! No, just kidding.
(Laughter.)
Go ahead and throw out another one and then we'll try to wrap this up.
PAM ALLEN: Sure. Another question, this is, I think, a question that happens a lot. How do you, as a leader, deal with challenges or conflicts, situations that might be hard? How do you handle those and help people stay focused on our mission and our work together?
EVERETTE BACON: I'll go first again.
(Laughter.)
I think it's, you know, when I was a young leader, anybody who knows me knows that I'm kind of a brash guy, I'm kind of loud and proud, and I think when I was a younger leader, I didn't always listen to what was going on when I was dealing with a conflict. I just jumped in and wanted to solve the problem. And I didn't really listen to what the problem really was, and listen to the situation and what, you know, that member might have been facing.
And I think as I've learned over the years, that stopping, taking some time, listening before you speak, think about what you're going to say before you say it. Not just speaking off the cuff all the time, but really, you know, giving it some thought and some contemplation.
And then be empathetic to the individual's plight and what conflicts they might be going through. Because I think all of those things play an important role into, you know, getting past whatever kind of conflict there is.
JAMIE: Mine would have to go along with my answer from earlier, with passion. I would have to say compassion. Talking with people as Everette had said, I don't confront people, but I do talk to them behind the scenes, and I find out what is going on, what has caused the issue, get the information from both sides, and then try and resolve it.
But also, too, remember that we are in this organization because we all share one thing, and that is blindness. And we have all experienced those times when things have happened because of our blindness, or situations have come up.
And so sometimes the people that have the disagreements or have things that come up, it's because they don't know how to handle it because they've always been told what to do. And so sometimes just sitting down with people, talking with them, and finding out what's going on in their lives so you can help them understand how to get past that.
JESSICA: And I think the only thing I would have to add is not being afraid to apologize, if you did something wrong or if you think that giving someone -- letting someone know that they've given you the opportunity to learn something to move forward would make things easier. As leaders sometimes people take our platform as we're saying the right thing, so being able to say when we're wrong or stepping back and saying I could have approached this differently is a good skill to have.
EVERETTE BACON: I'm going to add one more thing to that, Pam. When you -- it's not always the best idea to write or text your answer when you're dealing with a conflict. Things get completely misconstrued in written -- so, you know, call the person. Be old-fashioned. Give them a phone call!
(Laughter.)
Talk with them, you know, and try to get to the bottom of things that way. It just turns out so much better all the time.
MARK RICCOBONO: There are such great emojis out there, though!
(Laughter.)
Pam, one more. I know we'll get to some questions for me. But the panel won't leave. That way if I get stuck, they'll answer.
(Laughter.)
PAM ALLEN: These are great, I know, we could go on all night!
So this question is, how, as a leader, do you help our members understand the different ways to be involved, and how do we help our members understand that we are part of something bigger?
JESSICA: I guess, you know, we have a lot of tools that already help us with that, like our Presidential Release helps us to understand that we're part of something bigger, introducing people to our Presidential Release, our Braille Monitor, making sure that they know about old banquet speeches, the NFB radio network, all that stuff.
So people can, again, have the tools to understand who it is that we are, which is a part of something bigger. And then in terms of helping people to get involved, I think a lot of that just comes from individual conversations, finding out what people are interested in and making suggestions to people that you believe in them, and that you think that they could get involved or take on a task.
JAMIE: I was going to say, one of the best ways we can do that is what we're doing right now, which is to listen to the Presidential Release. This gives us that connection to President Riccobono and things going on across the country. And it is very important that we play the releases every month at our chapter meetings, at our division meetings, whatever it may take so that people know that we are a part of a bigger organization. The building that we're in right now for this Presidential Release live is our building.
This is our home. And I hope that everybody out there gets the chance to come visit this at some point. You don't have to be a leader. You don't have to be on the national board. Call them up, say, hey, I want to visit, I want to have a tour. There are lots of ways to get involved -- committees, seminars, things like that. But to know, yeah, you might be a chapter member and not on any boards or anything yet, but that doesn't mean that your opinion doesn't matter, and that doesn't mean that you don't matter. We are all here together and we're one big family.
EVERETTE BACON: And I would just add to that, using words like "we" and "us" to describe the National Federation of the Blind, refraining from things like "the national". No, we're all one family! No matter where we are in this movement. We're all together. We're all working for one common good to do many great things for blind Americans. And that's something I'm really proud of, and that's something I really try to emphasize to people that I work with.
MARK RICCOBONO: The answer is always yes, if there's a job available for you. It is!
(Laughter.)
So thank you to our leadership panel. You're not going anywhere. But thank you. Let's give them a round of applause.
(Applause.)
I know Pam has some other questions, I'm sure.
PAM ALLEN: I do.
MARK RICCOBONO: And I have a couple more notes.
PAM ALLEN: Excellent. That was great. I love the discussion. So, I have some questions, and I understand, President Riccobono, we also have a live question coming up here in a minute.
MARK RICCOBONO: Oh, no!
PAM ALLEN: So get ready.
So we have -- this sort of ties into the leadership panel, but one question for you, President Riccobono, is what advice would you give to somebody who is interested in becoming a leader in the Federation?
MARK RICCOBONO: Well, I think it was Jessica who said, you know, you have to learn who we are and why we do what we do. You know, I appreciate that many people come to this organization and they bring life experience and background from other places, and a lot of times, that does have a benefit and application to who we are. But we are who we are. And you have to understand how the Federation works, why we have the processes we do, what our history is, where we have been, and why we've built some of the things that we have.
Now, that's not to say that there aren't some things that should change. But unless you understand the "why", I think a lot of people get hung up on maybe chasing the wrong things, and it's really hard to be a leader when you don't really understand the organization that you're attempting to lead or what motivates the people who are showing up at chapter meetings or affiliate conventions to do the great work that we do together.
So I agree with Jessica on that point. You gotta get to know the organization. Then once you do, you know, to what Everette said, you put your own ideas to the test. Start putting your own ideas in. And you know what? Some of them are going to flop. That's a horrible idea! And if you can't get anybody behind it, maybe you should sit on it for a while. You know, I was an affiliate president, and I would propose things to the affiliate board, and they'd say, well, we really like you, but that's a horrible idea
(Laughter.)
You know? No. We're not selling that. And that's very helpful. Because it's not -- you know, we're not running sole proprietorships. This is an organization where we all have some ownership. So you have to start putting your ideas in the mix so you also understand how to work with people to refine your own ideas to make them our ideas.
PAM ALLEN: Awesome. Thank you. That's excellent. And definitely great words of wisdom for sure.
We have another question about -- for individuals who don't live in one of the 17 states you referenced; how can they get involved and make sure they are helping to advocate?
MARK RICCOBONO: So, that's a great question. I mean, you can certainly encourage and push things out to people who do live in those 17 states, whether it's through social media and that sort of thing.
At the moment, we truly believe that the best place to apply pressure is in these 17 states. There may be other opportunities coming up, depending on which direction this case goes. I think the best thing right now, though, is to keep the energy focused on encouraging people to understand why this case is misguided in terms of targeting elimination of an entire disability legal framework that is the underpinnings of the Rehabilitation Act, but also the Americans with Disabilities Act, and encouraging people to write to their governors if they're in those states, their Attorney General.
And, you know, the more we put it out there on social media, the more that, you know, people in the media also get interested in covering it. So the more pressure, the better. As this case evolves, we do have some other strategies waiting in the wings, and we will definitely call on folks when that opportunity arises. But if you're not in those 17 states, you've got a little more time than people in those 17 states to call Congress about Medicare!
PAM ALLEN: (Chuckling) That's right. Always work to do!
Now, this is a question related to the announcement about self-identifying in Lyft and Uber. The question is, does the driver know ahead of time that the person has a disability if they self-identify?
MARK RICCOBONO: If they've self-identified for the wait time exemption, I don't think so, but I don't exactly know the answer to that question. So I will ask the team to research that.
That, of course -- making that disclosure in the accessibility settings for the wait time is different than some of the programs that are now coming online with these companies in terms of traveling with a guide dog.
I don't believe they're exposing that wait time data to the drivers. But we will confirm that.
PAM ALLEN: Okay. Well, that tied in to the next question, so you just answered it! Great.
(Laughter.)
Okay, excellent, now, I think we are ready for our live question from our leadership class. So, Elizabeth.
Are you ready? How are you?
ELIZABETH: I'm so good, it's great to hear your voice.
MARK RICCOBONO: Tell people who you are.
ELIZIABETH: Sure. I'm Elizabeth from Iowa and I'm here at Leadership Seminar and we're having a great time
(Applause.)
I did some quick math and I count 123 days between us and national convention, which feels simultaneously like a long time and not a long time. President Riccobono, my question to you is three things you are most looking forward to being back in New Orleans this year.
MARK RICCOBONO: New Orleans specific? Well, first of all, it's getting the people of the Federation together. There's nothing like -- that's A number 1. Nothing like the experience of, you know, being in a city and everywhere you walk, there's canes all over and guide dogs all over!
(Crowd chuckling in appreciation).
And you walk into any restaurant and, hey, there's someone I know, you know?
And then of course the general feeling of coming back together. That was very special in 2022, because we hadn't been in person for a while. But I think this time, in New Orleans, even more special because I think we'll see an increased number of people who, you know , they regretted not coming in '22, or they couldn't come in '22.
So that's number one.
Number two, it's New Orleans! You can't complain about food, right?
(Laughter.)
So I'm just going to go with food, because, you know, there's too many choices there.
And three, I would say is the memories that I know will be created, you know? This will be my third New Orleans Federation convention. And, you know, each of them bring together special memories because of the people, the times, the experience, and the city. And so I think the memories that I'm anticipating will be created, whether it's good music, whether it's debating what the latest thing is that blind people should be worried about, those would be my top three.
I can tell you the elevators are NOT on the list.
(Laughter.)
Elevators, not on the list.
ELIZABETH: Love it. I was waiting for the pralines, so that was number 2.
(Laughter.)
PAM ALLEN: Awesome, thank you, Elizabeth. And we are counting down the days, let me tell you, with excitement. We can't wait to tell everybody.
So thank you, everyone, so much for all of the great questions that were submitted. If we didn't have a chance to get to your question this evening, our outstanding communications team will follow up with you. And again, thanks, everyone, for sending in questions.
Thank you so much for being with us tonight. Please join us for our next Presidential Release live on Tuesday, April 1st, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. You can contact President Riccobono at 410-659-9314 or via email at [email protected].
Thank you again so much for being with us tonight. And President Riccobono, a very -- you weren't kidding when you said we had a jam packed Presidential Release live!
MARK RICCOBONO: That's right, that's right. Well, thank you, Pam, for handling the questions, and it's great to be with you as always. And I look forward to seeing you soon!
PAM ALLEN: That sounds great. Happy spring
MARK RICCOBONO: Yes, thank you.
All right, fellow Federationists, I do have one piece of Federation family news. A lot of the Federation family notes we are only doing on the recorded version of the release, because we know that that's going to be played at every chapter meeting. But I wanted to offer you this one from Maryland, and I really regret to share with you that Mary Ellen Thompson passed away yesterday, March 5th, at age 76. Mary Ellen Thompson first got to know the National Federation of the Blind because she was employed in Marc Mauer's private law practice.
She came to be an employee at the Federation later on, and is known by blind people all over the country from her work here at the national office, whether it was in our records center or with our youth programs, or at conventions. Very active in the chapter meeting. She often helped out with child care at our chapter meetings. So she helped to grow up a lot of the kids in the Baltimore chapter, and she will definitely be missed in the Federation community. And so I encourage you to keep Mary Ellen Thompson, her family, friends, and colleagues in your thoughts and prayers.
That does bring me to the end of this Presidential Release live. Based on the last month, I know that the next month is going to be even busier, and the convention will be here before we know it!
So I want to thank you again for the work that you are doing and the efforts that you put into our movement. It makes all the difference.
I do have some customary endings for us here on this release. Give this one to Pam.
Pam, where do roses sleep at night?
PAM ALLEN: I don't know, where?
MARK RICCOBONO: Well, in their flower bed, of course!
(Laughter.)
This looks like one for Jamie. What is corn's favorite music?
JAMIE: I don't know!
MARK RICCOBONO: Pop, of course!
(Laughter.)
PAM ALLEN: Oh, god.
MARK RICCOBONO: I think Everette can handle this one. Everette, why can't Thursday lift Saturday?
EVERETTE BACON: I don't know, why?
MARK RICCOBONO: Because it's a "weak" day!
(Laughter.)
Let's go build the National Federation of the Blind!
(Cheering and applause).
MELISSA RICCOBONO: The preceding message was brought to you by Mark Riccobono, president, National Federation of the Blind 410-659-9314, [email protected]. Follow President Riccobono on Mastodon. Just search for at [email protected]. Let's go build the National Federation of the Blind!
(Jazzy version of Live the Life You Want).
(End of Presidential Release).