March 2024, Spring President’s Report:
Greetings NFADB members and friends,
Here we are at the last month of the first quarter of the new year and my hope is that everyone’s year is off to a great start. This is NFADB’s 30th anniversary year, and our association continues to empower success for families of the DeafBlind community. Being a true Pennsylvanian, I am keeping the belief that the world-famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, located at Gobblers Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, is right on with his prediction of an early spring. Here is to hope!
As many of you know, for the past three years NFADB, national and state family deafblind organizations, and individual family members have been receiving training and education on legislative advocacy and are preparing for the 2nd DeafBlind Day on the Hill, April 16-18. Together, as one voice, we are the Family Advocacy Coalition Educating (FACE) for DeafBlind. I certainly understand that legislative advocacy is not everyone’s forte, but there are many ways to be involved and we do need your voice! We invite you to join us in person in Washington, DC, or virtually. If this is unrealistic, writing a letter, making a phone call, or joining our social media campaign, can make a difference. An easy way to contribute is to share our social media posts. Need a template or support in finding your state’s legislators or representatives? Maybe you just need a 1:1 conversation. No worries, NFADB has you covered. Feel free to reach out to our Policy, Information, and Education (PIE) Committee lead, Jacqueline Izaguirre Jacqueline@nfadb.org.
In April, NFADB’s Nomination Committee will be putting out its annual (2024-2025) Call for Nominations. We will have open executive and general board positions. NFADB bylaws allow for an individual to serve in a board position for three consecutive 2-year terms. We encourage members to express interest in joining our board via self-nomination or to nominate an individual of your choice. If you are interested or have any questions, please reach out to our Nomination Chair, Edgenie Bellah, Edgenie@nfadb.org.
The NFADB Board, along with our NFADB Special Advisors, have been diligently working since January to update NFADB’s long-term goals. The last time NFADB’s goals were updated and implemented was in 2018-19. The current board recognizes that long-term planning is key to bridging the gap between where NFADB is and where we wish to go. Our special advisors have facilitated our strategic planning work, with effective techniques for designing meaningful goals and implementing effective plans to take NFADB down the road to the future. Updated goals will provide clear direction, help us focus on what matters most, increase our motivation, and move us forward with a sense of purpose and direction. All this work on behalf of NFADB is aligned with our beliefs and mission and will allow us room to grow and adjust as internal and external conditions shift.
Interested in learning more? We will share all this and more with our membership at our upcoming annual General Membership Meeting on Tuesday, July 9, 2024, @7p.m. Eastern. Please SAVE THE DATE! More information will be forthcoming.
I would like to take this opportunity and close by thanking the NFADB Board and NFADB members for your ongoing commitment and support.
Wishing you a wonderful (hopefully early) Spring!
Kind Regards,
Patti McGowan, NFADB President
