NIB Connection

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 […]

For Terrie Collins, a recruiter with Alphapointe in Kansas City, MO, finding out she was the Milton J. Samuelson Career Achievement Employee of Year winner for 2024 came as a surprise. “It was awesome! But then I was, like, what is it? How did I get it? I work because I like it, not for […]

The NIB/NAEPB annual Training Conference and Expo (TCE), scheduled for October 14-18 in the nation’s capital, will offer a variety of exciting programming designed to empower employment for people who are blind. We will also recognize the 2024 Employees of the Year, representing NIB associated nonprofit agencies from across the country! To register for TCE, […]

The focus of this year’s advocacy is to work with elected officials to encourage the formal adoption of a 1% AbilityOne Program utilization goal for the Department of Defense (DOD) to grow employment for people who are blind or have significant disabilities. From 2018 to 2021, the Panel on Department of Defense and AbilityOne Contracting […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

After retiring April 30 from a 44-year career at National Industries for the Blind and its associated agencies, Kevin Lynch, president and CEO emeritus, was honored May 14 with the R.B. Irwin Award.    The recognition took place during the General Session of the annual NIB/NAEPB Public Policy Forum. During the ceremony, Lynch was presented with […]

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. […]