Episode Description

On this week’s episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, ACB’s Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs, Clark Rachfal, celebrates the one year anniversary of our ACB Next Generation affiliate. Clark is joined by President Amanda Selm, Second Vice President Steven Salas, and Secretary Greg Lindberg for a conversation about the founding of ACB Next Generation, the work they are doing to engage new members, advocacy issues important to the affiliate, and where they go from here. To learn more about ACB Next Generation, visit: https://acb.org/acb-next-generation or connect with them on Facebook: http://facebook.com/acbnextgen or Twitter: https://twitter.com/ACBNextGen.

Description

On this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, Clark Rachfal is joined by Eric Bridges, ACB’s Executive Director, to discuss the DC Leadership meetings, and we replay the keynote remarks from Will Butler, Vice President of Community, Be My Eyes. To learn more about the DC Leadership Meetings, and the ACB Legislative Imperatives, please visit: https://acb.org/2021-leadership-conference. To watch the three days of presentations and guest speakers, visit the ACB YouTube page at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI_nLwS9Cw2Bm1IA4qIBw3Q.

Description

During this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, we discuss how ACB scholarships further our mission of increasing independence and economic opportunity for people who are blind and experiencing vision loss. ACB Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs, Clark Rachfal, is joined by Rebecca Bridges, Chair of ACB’s Scholarship Committee, and two recent scholarship awardees - Amanda Lannan, and Mitchell Bridwell. The 2021 ACB Scholarships deadline is Monday, Feb. 15, and information about ACB Scholarships may be found at: https://acb.org/scholarships.

Description

On this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, we share a presentation from the ACB of Maryland State Convention on the focus and impact of advocacy by the disability community. Clark Rachfal provides an overview of the advocacy work being done by ACB on the national-level, while Cecilia Warren from the Maryland Department of Disability discusses the measures being implemented on the state-level. If you are experiencing accessibility barriers related to the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit the ACB COVID-19 website: https://acb.org/acb-covid19-response, reach out to your state affiliate, and contact the ACB National Office by emailing [email protected].

Description

Join ACB as we highlight the exciting programming in store for this year’s ACB Leadership Conference. The conference will be held virtually from Sunday, February 21st to Tuesday, February 23rd, 2021. Registration is open for the conference, which will include our annual President’s Meeting and Legislative Seminar. Register for the DC Leadership Conference by visiting http://weblink.donorperfect.com/2021DCLeadershipmtgs.

Description

On this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, Clark Rachfal is joined by a couple familiar voices in new places. We speak with ACB First Vice President Mark Richert, and friend of ACB, Paul Schroeder. Mark is the interim Executive Director for the Association of Education and Rehabilitation for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and is now the Director of Public Policy for the VisionServe Alliance. Paul is now the Vice President, Government and Community Affairs for the American Printing House for the Blind. With combined decades of advocacy and public policy experience, Mark and Paul share their thoughts on what policies important to ACB and our members might be addressed during the 117th Congress.

Description

On this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, ACB Director of Advocacy & Governmental Affairs, Clark Rachfal, and ACB’s Membership Services Coordinator, Cindy Hollis, speak about the ACB Community. They discuss the logistics of facilitating and growing the ACB community, and how the ACB community is meeting the social and mental health needs of our members and the broader community. Clark and Cindy are joined by Sheila Young, President, Florida Council of the Blind, and Matthew Vollbrecht, Founder, The Tech Juggernaut, and Certified Apple Trainer. 

To learn more and become involved with the ACB Community, visit: https://acb.org/acb-community-events.

Description

On this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, Clark speaks with ACB experts regarding the Final Rule on Air Travel with Service Animals from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The DOT Final Rule goes into effect on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021, and our panelists for this conversation included: Sarah Calhoun, Guide Dog Users Inc. (GDUI) President; Melanie Brunson, GDUI Advocacy Chair; Sheila Styron, ACB Transportation Committee Chair; and Becky Davidson, ACB Environmental Access Committee Chair.

Description:

On this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, Clark speaks with ACB President, Dan Spoone, and Executive Director, Eric Bridges, about our organizational accomplishments throughout 2020. Despite the challenges thrust upon us by a global pandemic, ACB stayed true to our core values and created opportunities to embrace, engage, and empower our community. To help us build upon our 2020 accomplishments and carry this momentum into the New Year, please consider ACB in your end-of-year giving by visiting: https://acb.org/give2020.

Description:

On this episode of the ACB Advocacy Update, Claire and Clark discuss an important resource that can be used by all ACB members and people with disabilities. With special guests from Cyrus Huncharek, National Disability Rights Network, and Thomas Crishon, Indiana Disability Rights, we learn about the federally mandated protection and advocacy (P&A) services available to people with disabilities. The P&A system offers free disability-related legal and advocacy services to residents of their region. To find out more about the P&A in your area, visit: www.ndrn.org.

To access a transcript of this podcast, visit: https://acb.org/acb-advocacy-update-12-10-20-transcript.