Melissa Riccobono:
The following episode is repurposed content on the resolutions process. The official policies of the National Federation of the Blind are established every year with annual resolutions submitted by NFB members and adopted at our national convention. We want to hear from you. If you are an NFB member and have a policy position you believe should be considered, you can share it as a resolution. Submit your resolution to resolutions@nfb.org by June 8. See examples of past resolutions at nfb.org/resolutions.
Announcer:
Welcome to the Nation's Blind Podcast, presented by the National Federation of the Blind, the transformative membership and advocacy organization of blind Americans. Live the life you want.
Melissa Riccobono:
Hello and welcome to the Nation's Blind Podcast. I am Melissa Riccobono, back with you again. So happy to be back. And I'm here with...
Anil Lewis:
Anil Lewis, it's convention time ladies and gentlemen.
Melissa Riccobono:
It is convention time. There is no question about that. We are...
Anil Lewis:
(Singing) Convention time.
Melissa Riccobono:
We are working hard to get convention going and I don't know, Anil, what's your favorite part of convention?
Anil Lewis:
Convention (Anil and Melissa laugh). That's my favorite part. Oh my goodness. I mean the crowd, the people, the energy, all of the good work, everything.
Melissa Riccobono:
I mean, I agree with you. I guess more so I love the presidential report. I love that recap of what we've done. And the second thing that I really love is something that some people I think kind of shake their heads and groan and no, it's not the financials. Those are also very important, but they're not really (Melissa and Anil laugh) my...
Anil Lewis:
Entertaining. Yeah, motivating.
Melissa Riccobono:
Entertaining, favorite part. That's right. But I love resolutions. I think they are so important. They are proof that we truly are an organization that is run by our members. Anybody can write a resolution. It might not get passed, but that's the process, right? And anybody can speak on the floor for a resolution if it gets past the committee and you feel strongly for or against, you're able to speak on the floor. And I will never forget, and of course I don't remember. It's funny that I'll never forget it, but I don't remember part of it.
I don't remember what resolution I spoke for or against. I just remember feeling very passionate and just getting goosebumps when Dr. Mauer called on me and at the time I wasn't a state president. I mean, I felt like I was kind of a nobody. I wasn't really of course, because none of our members are nobodies.
But it was just such a powerful experience that I was able as a member of the National Federation of the Blind, to stand on the floor of the convention and state my point of view about this resolution either for or against that just sticks with me. And I've seen other people, I've seen young students be able to do the same thing. And I think for some people that's really when they truly become members of the National Federation of the Blind.
Anil Lewis:
I agree. The resolutions component for me is the reaffirmation of the commitment of the National Federation of the Blind to be member driven. And I think unfortunately, many of our members miss that aspect of what we're doing. Otherwise, the resolutions committee meeting would be overflowing. But it is that opportunity to see how deliberative the leadership is with respect to getting that feedback, considering that feedback from our members and really not with just feedback, but that direction from our members.
And the other important piece of it, I think that if people pay attention, it really helps them understand the nuance of the decisions that we have to make regarding our policies.
So many times, many of our members come to us and they think that it's just black and white. It's just so simple. You're either for or against audible traffic signals, you're either for or against truncated domes. And when you listen to the deliberation of the resolutions committee, you find out that there are some considerations that need to be addressed in order to come up with the true policy that we can execute.
Sure, it's nice if one person introduces a resolution and thinks that they have the answer, but then it has to be run across the spectrum of our membership to get those different perspectives to come to a consensus policy or procedure that we can implement altogether. That's where the collective action comes to play and the resolutions are at the foundation of stimulating our collective action.
Melissa Riccobono:
I completely agree. I am going to talk just a second about something that's in the interview that we're going to hear, but I think it's such an important point that it bears repeating. Just because a resolution might fail does not mean that we are saying that we don't believe in whatever it is. We're not against the policy because a resolution fails. We're only for the policies on record of the resolutions that pass. And so I think people might get very angry and say, "Oh, they NFB, they're against such and such," or "They're against that." And no, it's not necessarily that we're against the big picture, it's that we couldn't pass that particular or didn't pass that particular resolution the way it was worded.
Anil Lewis:
Right. And it doesn't mean we're not going to take action.
Melissa Riccobono:
Right.
Anil Lewis:
Many times during the process we consider no, this doesn't need to raise to the level of a formal resolution. There's plenty of work that we can do, like our advocacy and policy team can take some action on this. Our Blindness Initiatives staff can really do some research and integrate, develop a program or project. So again, the process is to get that feedback from our membership and again, the direction from our membership and then the leadership can make a determination as to which resources we should bring to bear in order to affect the change that our members want to see.
Melissa Riccobono:
Absolutely. So we have a really cool conversation to bring to you. We actually have President Riccobono, he has done a conversation with resolutions chair and this is Donald Porterfield. They are going to share their thoughts on resolutions and it's a really nice conversation. So should we get to it?
Anil Lewis:
Sounds good.
President Riccobono:
Greetings, fellow Federationists. It's a pleasure to be back on this episode of the Nation's Blind Podcast to talk about resolutions. And I'm even more proud to have with me to banter and talk about one of the most important processes we have in the Federation governance, our resolutions, the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Arizona, and a member of our national board, Donald Porterfield. Donald, welcome.
Donald Porterfield:
Well thank you for this opportunity to talk about resolutions, the important role it plays in the work that we do here in the National Federation of the Blind.
President Riccobono:
So Donald, to start off, I think it would be great for you to give listeners of our podcast just a little brief background sketch on your history and experience in the Federation.
Donald Porterfield:
I first joined the National Federation of the Blind back in 2011, and if I'm not mistaken, it was April of 2011 and I attended my first national convention that same year in Orlando. It was an amazing experience. I was fairly new to being blind and for some reason I thought that I was a singular type blind person, that I was going to blaze trails as this brand new blind attorney because there couldn't be that many of us could there (laughs)?
I mean, I found out that I was wrong, but I got my first leadership role later that year when the affiliate president in Arizona, gentleman by the name of Bob Krezmer asked me if I wanted to take on the legislative and advocacy director position here in Arizona. And of course I asked, "Do you have guidelines about what to do?" And he says, "No, kind of up to you."
And he gave me a lot of leeway to do advocacy, to do legislative work. And then he encouraged me to run for a position on the board, which I did, and I was elected. Then he encouraged me to run for the vice presidency, which I did and was elected. And when he stepped down, I moved into the role as the president. I've been on the national resolutions committee for several years now. I look at that process as one of the most important things that we in the Federation do.
But my short history, like I said, it runs from 2011 to the present. I've been a member of the Federation for about eleven years now, and I've held various leadership roles, really active in terms of legislative and advocacy. And like I said, I believe in the function and the role that resolutions play in what we do.
President Riccobono:
I think it's a great example of how leaders come to be leaders in this organization in many different ways and with many different backgrounds and capacities. And obviously you stepped in with some experience and some training, but you also declared that you were ready to work and ready to help out with the decision making process. And I think so often people miss the fact that the Federation provides a very blank slate for you to get involved in helping to build the organization.
And resolutions is an important part of that because it is a political process. You have to draft something that can garner support, but really anybody can draft a proposed resolution and bring it to the committee. Now, I of course take the resolutions extremely seriously. It kind of sets out a roadmap for my work, especially guiding our staff and other leaders during the year or the years to come. But Donald, can you talk from your perspective about the importance that resolutions play in our movement?
Donald Porterfield:
I guess one of the things I've heard it said, and I've seen it work, is the National Federation of the Blind. We're a democratic organization. We elect our leaders. Every member gets an opportunity to vote. And so the resolutions come from individuals who care about the advancement and the independence, the equality that blind individuals such as the two of us work every day to help achieve and not just the two of us. There is an innumerable number of people working on those things.
And because they're voted on by the membership, it's more than just the proponent who has ownership in that resolution. It's our entire organization because it has an impact and our anticipation and hope is that it's going to positively impact each and every one of us. So like I said, I believe that the process of selecting and reviewing and discussing and voting on resolution goes to the core, to the foundation of the National Federation of the Blind.
President Riccobono:
Can you talk a little bit about from your perspective as chairman, your willingness to work with people on taking their idea and getting it into resolution worthy form?
Donald Porterfield:
We are definitely going to continue that process. We've already had resolutions that are starting to roll in and we're reaching out to those individuals trying to get back to you within two days, three days at the max of receipt of the resolution. We might not have the exact direction to point you in, but we will acknowledge that we have received your resolution and whether it's me or another member of the resolutions committee, it might be a member that's from the state of that proponent. We will try to make sure that somebody helps get the resolution into final form.
And final form means so many things. There's a formatting, very sort of stylistic thing, and we have people that will review the resume for grammar, for spelling and things like that because it's a document that represents us. But making sure that the research has been done. is there more research that needs to be done and put into the warehouse clauses?
Anybody that's read the resolutions realize that a resolution is whether it's half a page or two and a half pages, it's really one long sentence that talks about an issue that we, the National Federation on the Blind need to address. So we will still have individuals that are willing to work with writers of resolutions to assist them in getting it into that final form that can be presented to the committee.
President Riccobono:
So nfb.org/resolutions is a great place to find examples. So Donald, we talked about people writing resolutions and the individual writing it and submitting it may or may not be the proponent, but there does have to be a proponent for the resolution that appears at the committee meeting to defend the submission of the resolution. Can you talk about the importance of the proponent appearing at the meeting?
Donald Porterfield:
The one thing we say every year about the resolution is that the resolution does not stand for itself. There has to be more. The proponent is there to articulate what was the general impetus or thrust of writing this resolution and what this resolution ultimately hopes to accomplish. Essentially in our democratic process, it's akin to a bill in the House or the Senate and that the proponent is serving as that sponsor.
And it's possible your resolution gets voted down if the proponent is not available or not in convention to support that resolution. There's very little they can do to revive that resolution if the committee votes it down, but they feel strongly enough about getting it in front of the convention for a vote. So having somebody that can speak to the reasons, the subtleties of that resolution, I think is very important for our understanding.
President Riccobono:
So process number one is to get a resolution in final form to the committee and the committee can support that process of getting into the final form. Step number two, if it's going to appear in front of the committee, there has to be a proponent there to speak for the resolution. Now the committee has an important job of recommending resolutions to the general body of the convention.
So the committee votes them up or down. Now as you point out, if the committee votes them down, it makes it harder to get them to the floor, but they can in fact get to the floor of the convention. If the resolution has the support of enough delegates to the convention, it can still appear on the floor as recommended by those delegates.
Donald Porterfield:
That is correct. And I believe the number of delegates is five.
President Riccobono:
Five delegates. That's correct.
Donald Porterfield:
So if your resolution gets voted down and the committee will debate and discuss the resolution, we won't modify or change it. Now, if there's a misplaced comma or something, we might clean that up, but no substantive or major changes will be made by the committee to a resolution and we'll vote it up or we'll vote it down. And as President Riccobono just said, up votes go to the convention floor and down votes, unless the proponent can obtain the support of at least five delegates in attendance, the resolution does not go for a vote in full of the full membership.
And there is a third thing that can happen with a resolution in addition to it being voted up or down, the proponent can withdraw the resolution, especially if they feel like sometimes it might be covered by other policy initiatives or sometimes they might realize that, ""Well, I need to do more work because I really can't answer all the questions that I think need to be answered in order to gain support for this resolution." And so it can be withdrawn as well.
President Riccobono:
That's a great point. We hope that enough due diligence is done at the front end, but proponents that recognize that their proposed policy statement may have some flaws do the responsible thing by pulling their resolution. So there are a number of ways to get it to the floor. By the way, another one is that the board of directors, which of course represents seventeen leaders of the Federation, most of whom not all are delegates. So the board of directors could bring a resolution to the floor and once in a while that happens if there's an emergency item that comes up during the convention, after the resolutions committee meeting, sometimes that will happen.
Now the committee simply recommends the resolution to the convention when it brings it to the floor. And by the way, if the committee votes a resolution down, that does not set policy for the organization. And the same is true for the convention. If the convention votes in favor of a resolution, it becomes policy. But if it votes a resolution down, then it doesn't make a policy statement at all. A lot of times people want to attribute voting a resolution down as adopting a policy that is opposite of what's stated in the resolution, and that of course is not the case. So an important political distinction there.
Donald Porterfield:
Like you said, it was talked about the national board bringing resolutions is also I think an important thing for individuals to know because sometimes there are things, as you said, that happen quickly and at the last minute that need to be brought to the convention floor. So writing a resolution, coming up with the ideas for a resolution, it's a year round process.
It's not just something that occurs in the summer of our convention year or late spring. It's a well-crafted resolution, especially if it's a technical resolution dealing with technical matters, it will probably take some time to draft that resolution and to do the research. So I would encourage people to begin the process of resolutions now, and definitely immediately after we've presented the resolutions to the convention.
President Riccobono:
Yeah, it's a great point. And some resolutions even start as local issues that get discussed, debated, and that's what we do in our organization as blind people. We get together and we share ideas and decide what major policy statements of the organization should be. I know we're running short on time, but we should also say that policy statements, resolutions, once they become approved by the convention, they become policies of the organization, but they can evolve over time with future resolutions.
And I think a good example of that is when you go back and look at twenty years ago when we first started talking about the problems that quiet cars, silent and hybrid vehicles posed for blind people, the convention wasn't quite sure if it really felt that we should go ask the government and car manufacturers to do something big and bold about it. So you can go back and notice that over a period of, I don't remember three or four years, we had resolutions that progressively showed that our community was evolving its understanding of the important thing that this was going to be.
And that ultimately led to our passing a very strong resolution about the need for federal law, which was signed into law in 2011 before Donald came around to the Federation and during the pandemic, we saw the final outcomes of those regulations. I was commenting to a friend who came and picked me up in a Tesla the other day that thank goodness that car makes a sound because of the work of the National Federation of the Blind, but it shows that our policies also evolve. So Donald, I want to make sure we don't get away from this conversation without you telling folks how do they reach you.
Donald Porterfield:
There are a couple of ways to reach me. One of course is by phone, and I'll give you that in just a minute. But resolutions can be sent to resolutions@nfb.org and those come to my inbox as well as the inbox of a couple of other individuals. I can be reached by phone at 520-850-2180. If you insist upon snail mail, my address is 7360 East Vactor, and that's spelled v as in Victor, a-c-t-o-r, Ranch Trail, Tucson, Arizona 85715. The quickest ways of course is by sending the email to resolutions@nfb.org or giving me a phone call. If I don't answer during the day, leave me a voicemail and I will get back to you.
One important thing I did want to say about resolutions before I close is that when writing a resolution or when you have an idea about something you think is a resolution, I think an important question to ask is, "Does this really require a resolution or should I create more work for President Riccobono and ask that he write a letter to an organization or a business or a government entity?" Because sometimes we can get in the door and get those things started. It doesn't always have to wait until convention time.
President Riccobono:
That's a great point. And of course, as individuals, we can do a lot to push businesses. I mean, for example, "Is the Federation on record in favor of accessible websites?" Well, yes we are. So you can point to that in a communication to any business out there, and you don't need a statement from the Federation about that. So you can also utilize the resolutions in advocacy work on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind and in our individual work to self-direct and empower blind people to break down the barriers that stand between blind people in our dreams. Donald, I'm looking forward to your first time in the seat. I know it's going to be great. Did you have anything else you wanted to share with the podcast audience?
Donald Porterfield:
I am looking forward to seeing everybody. I tell people all the time about the power that we have when we come together as a collective, and the resolutions are part of our collective effort to bring about positive change for blind people. So thank you for this opportunity to chair the resolutions committee and this process. I'm excited. Thank you.
President Riccobono:
Thank you very much, Donald for your chairmanship of the resolutions committee and to all of the members of the committee for taking up the awesome responsibility. Back to our podcast hosts.
Message:
Do you want to leave a legacy for the next generation? Join the National Federation of the Blind Legacy Society, the Dream Makers Circle. Joining is easy. You can give a portion of a bank or investment account by simply filling out a payable on death form at your bank and indicating the NFB should receive a percentage or a fixed amount upon your passing. Consider designating the NFB as a partial beneficiary of your life insurance, retirement or in a trust or will. For more information, call Patti Chang at extension 2422 or email pchang@nfb.org.
Anil Lewis:
Very interesting conversation. I said earlier that he's very busy. It's a good thing that he's very busy. Melissa, I might be out of a co-host position.
Speaker 3:
I was thinking the same thing, Anil. I was really kind of worried, and you know this podcast is very important to me.
Anil Lewis:
How important it's to you, yes (laughs).
Melissa Riccobono:
At one point you said that you'd have to pull the microphone (laughs) from my cold dead hand, and I kind of said, yes.
Anil Lewis:
No, no, no. You said that (laughs). Let the record show Melissa's dedication and passion to her role.
Melissa Riccobono:
I love this podcast. It's one of my very favorite things that I get to do, but I mean, I thought President Riccobono did a fantastic job interviewing, and Donald Porterfield is a great interviewee or conversationalist. I guess we don't really want to call it an interview because it was much more of a conversation. That's really what we want to do here on the Nation's Blind Podcast. It's to converse with one another.
I'm definitely looking forward to being at the resolutions committee meeting this year. Please, President Riccobono wanted me to share with all of you, if you know you can't make it to the convention, please register for the virtual experience. You can actually register after the 31st of May for the virtual experience. But please try to register before if you can. We just love to know what numbers we're looking at. And of course, if you can come to convention, you still have some time, please register before May 31st.
Anil Lewis:
I sincerely hope that listeners to this has really highlighted the importance of the resolutions process within the National Federation of the Blind and has inspired and encouraged many to participate. And I think that especially if you're one of those individuals that are saying, "Well, why did we do this and why didn't we do this?" I think it'll give you a lot of insight with respect to all of the different concerns, because the beauty of our resolutions committee, it is a very inclusive, very representative sample of all of the members of our organization through all the various characteristics that we embrace through our membership. So again, it'll give you an opportunity to step outside of your own perspective and look at what we're doing through the lens of so many other members and the development of our policies.
Melissa Riccobono:
Absolutely. Well, Anil, I think that's about all we can say about resolution aside from...
Anil Lewis:
No, there's plenty more.
Melissa Riccobono:
There is plenty more.
Anil Lewis:
Therefore be resolved, this stuff (Melissa laughs).
Melissa Riccobono:
But please remember, and I don't think they really talked about this much in the interview, but remember that your delegate to the convention, that's really where if you feel really strongly, if you're not going to be there or if you are going to be at convention, your delegate is really the person to talk to about any concerns or any strong feelings you have about a resolution. You want your delegate to know where you stand so that if it comes to a vote only of the delegates, they can take that.
Not that they might vote with you or against you or whatever, because the delegate has to be somebody that represents all the members of the affiliate, and that's why they're elected. They're elected so that they do represent all the members as fairly as they possibly can. But if you haven't shared your concerns with your delegate, then you can't have that conversation. So make sure you do that as well.
Anil Lewis:
Very good point. Well, we've knocked another one down there, Melissa.
Melissa Riccobono:
Yeah!
Anil Lewis:
Educating our membership, letting people know how vibrant the Federation is. Oh, I can't wait to see what's next.
Melissa Riccobono:
I can't wait either, and I can't wait to see everybody at convention.
Anil Lewis:
Excellent. Until the next time we communicate with our listeners, we want you all to know that you can live the life you want.
Melissa Riccobono:
Blindness is not what holds you back.
Announcer:
We'd love your feedback. Email podcast@nfb.org or call 410-659-9314. Extension 2444.