Associated Agency

For 85 years, National Industries for the Blind has championed diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility through its enduring mission to create employment opportunities for people who are blind. Seventy percent of working-age people who are blind in the United States are unemployed. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the jobless rate for people with […]

The 2024 NIB/NAEPB Training Conference and Expo was a smashing success, with over 900 registrants from across the country attending the four-day event held at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA. New this year were panel discussions with NIB associated nonprofit agency CEOs – including one composed of female CEOs who shared the […]

From its modest beginnings in 1936 as the Catholic Guild for All the Blind, to its internationally respected rehabilitation center, The Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton, Massachusetts, is at the forefront of vision rehabilitation for people of all ages and all stages of vision loss. Today, the NIB associated nonprofit agency is among […]

National Industries for the Blind (NIB) – in partnership with the National Association for the Employment of People Who Are Blind (NAEPB) – held its annual Public Policy Forum May 13-16 in Alexandria, VA.   The event, which has taken place for more than 15 years, was held at the Westin Old Town Alexandria, with 42 […]

Advocacy makes legislators aware of the needs of their constituents, including people who are blind, and nobody is better equipped to tell the NIB story than the people who live it.   NIB launched the Advocates for Leadership and Employment program in 2012 to help people who are blind represent their community to their elected officials. […]

Alicia Howerton was advocating for members of the blind or visually impaired community even before her involvement with NIB as an Advocate for Leadership and Employment. Her professional advocacy journey began years earlier, in the Ohio statehouse, where she and others from the Cleveland Sight Center (CSC) worked diligently with legislators advocating for insurance coverage […]

Despite experiencing poor vision throughout childhood and progressive vision loss as a working adult, Gary Wagner lived most of his life trying to adapt to the sighted world. It wasn’t until he connected with NIB and the AbilityOne® Program through Visually Impaired Advancement (VIA), an NIB associated nonprofit agency in Buffalo, NY, that he began […]

Rebekah Grieb wasn’t concerned at the age of 12 when an eye doctor recommended she have some tests done. She was an athlete, active in basketball, volleyball, and softball. “There was no vision loss in my family that glasses wouldn’t fix,” she says, “or that wasn’t related to old age.” The eye specialist told Rebekah […]

Despite having a successful 12-year career in management and owning a flooring business for 13 years, Craig Ellis struggled to find employment after he became blind due to macular degeneration. “Most of my flooring business was tied to new construction, so I was hit hard by the housing crash of 2008. After I lost my […]

Mary Elizabeth Clare distinctly remembers starting her job as a store clerk at the AbilityOne Base Supply Center® (BSC) operated by Envision at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. It was March 2020, and the next day the base closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Deemed essential, the BSC remained open, but customer traffic […]