Don’t miss Opportunity magazine, available now

The fall edition of Opportunity magazine is here! In this issue, we proudly highlight the 2024 Employee of the Year winners and nominees, and recognize our exceptional federal and private-sector partners, customers, and associated nonprofit agencies dedicated to empowering people who are blind through meaningful employment. We also celebrate employee milestones and spotlight recent exciting news and […]

Olek Onikiienko is the 2024 Peter J. Salmon Employee of the Year!

Oleksandr “Olek” Onikiienko works on the production line at Association for Vision Rehabilitation and Employment (AVRE) in Binghamton, NY. Olek was both surprised and happy when he learned of the honor. “It was a surprise because I have worked here a little more than a year. I didn’t expect this,” he said, adding there aren’t […]

Heard & Empowered Podcast Lives Up to Its Title

Since its premier in November 2023, National Industries for the Blind’s Heard & Empowered podcast has amassed more than 1,700 unique downloads and countless listens. Its inspiring content, which is specifically tailored to people who are blind and visually impaired, has been heard around the globe, from Australia to Zambia, and 19 other countries in […]

Defying Geography: NSITE Virtual Learning Options Bring Career Training Home

NSITE partners with state vocational rehabilitation agencies and NIB associated agencies to bring a range of career services to people who are blind or visually impaired, even in areas where NIB doesn’t have a physical presence. Imagine this scenario: A case manager at a state vocational rehabilitation agency determines a client who is blind or […]

Be My AI: What Happens When You Give ChatGPT Sight?

Let’s face it: When the artificial intelligence research project OpenAI announced the public release of ChatGPT in 2023, no one expected the quirky chatbot to dominate world headlines for weeks to come. What is ChatGPT? Using large language modeling (LLM), OpenAI researchers fed a dataset of an estimated 175 billion words of text into ChatGPT, […]

Taking Care of Their Communities

According to VisionServe Alliance, a forum of U.S. and Canadian organizations working to build a better world for people with vision loss, at least 12 million people in the U.S. age 60 and older report significant difficulty seeing. In addition, at least half of Americans aged 65 and older are at high risk of developing […]

NIB President Named to List of Influential Virginia Leaders

National Industries for the Blind President and CEO Kevin Lynch was recently recognized by Virginia Business magazine as a member of its “Virginia 500” list. The Virginia 500 list acknowledges influential leaders throughout the state of Virginia who are making meaningful impacts in their communities. Virginia Business magazine covers news and economic activity in every […]

Dive into the Opportunity Magazine Archive

Opportunity, the award-winning magazine published by National Industries for the Blind (NIB), covers news and developments at NIB and its associated nonprofit agencies. The publication also tells the stories of people who are blind – their careers and capabilities, and the difference meaningful employment has made in their lives. One Opportunity article that brings all […]

Celebrating Employees with Disabilities

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), a national campaign led by the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Disability Employment Policy. NDEAM raises awareness about employment issues facing people with disabilities and celebrates their contributions to our country. NDEAM’s roots go back to 1945, when Congress enacted a law declaring the first […]