The leaders of the
National Federation of the Blind of Georgia are blind, as is the vast majority
of the membership. NFB of Georgia is thus the collective voice of the blind of
Robert
Smith, First Vice President
Thelma
Godwin, Second Vice President
Ronald
“TRE” Strother, Board Member
Anil Lewis was born
in 1964 in
Then in 1989, while
pursuing his bachelor’s of business administration in computer information
systems at
Armed with these
skills and determination, he quickly became committed to ensuring that others
in similar situations could get appropriate training and unlimited
opportunities. So while attending GSU,
Lewis got a job as a Braille and assistive technology instructor at the Center
for the Visually Impaired in 1991.
Within a year he was given the greater responsibility of job
development/placement specialist, helping clients develop employment skills and
get jobs. It was during this time that
he first became aware of the National Federation of the Blind. A friend referred him to the NFB when he had
questions about Social Security work incentives; and needed information about
tools and strategies to help blind people obtain employment. As a result he attended his first NFB
convention in
These additional
resources enabled Lewis to develop and manage a job placement program for
people with disabilities as the manager of the Disability Employment Initiative
with Randstad Staffing, one of the largest employment staffing companies in the
world, during the
His active
involvement in NFB and advocacy work for the blind assisted him in becoming president
of the Atlanta Metropolitan Chapter of the NFB of Georgia in 2000 and President
of the NFB of Georgia in 2002, respectively.
Also in 2002, he received the Kenneth Jernigan Memorial Scholarship, the
NFB’s most prestigious award presented to a blind student, which he used to
obtain his master’s degree in public administration with emphasis in policy
analysis and program evaluation from GSU in 2003. In that year he was also elected as a member
of the National Federation of the Blind board of directors. He received an
Outstanding Alumnus award from GSU and was also a 2003 GSU Torch Bearer of
Peace Award recipient.
Lewis has dedicated
his leadership skills to the development and growth of disability rights
organizations that promote independence and improved quality of life. He was appointed by the governor as a board
member and is the current president of the Statewide Independent Living Council
(SILC) of
Growing up with blind
siblings, Lewis is especially aware of the needs of blind children. He volunteers as a teacher and mentor for
blind children, working with promising blind students who, because of limited
resources and lack of trained professionals to teach them, are inappropriately
encouraged to pursue special education diplomas. He wants blind students to set higher goals
for themselves and to receive the training and tools they need to acquire the
skills to reach their full potential.
Aside from completing
his educational and career goals Lewis says that his proudest accomplishment is
his bright, ambitious son Amari, born in 1997.
Balancing his many civic responsibilities with being a father is
undoubtedly his greatest challenge. His
greatest success has been overcoming the temptation to be an unmotivated,
self-pitying person with a disability.
This over comer’s attitude has allowed him to be a great example and
encourage other people with disabilities to believe in themselves and to
understand that they can make a difference.
Lewis says that lack
of awareness of individuals with traits outside society’s accepted norms
promotes extreme ignorance, which in turn results in unjustified fear, negative
stereotypes, and discrimination. In an
effort to combat that ignorance, he aggressively recruits, refers, and supports
other like-minded people to become active in the NFB and other organizations in
the disability rights movement. He hopes
to promote social change by fostering the active participation of more people
with disabilities in every facet of society, thereby replacing ignorance and
negative stereotypes with mutual understanding; and fear with awareness.
Robert Smith was born
in 1948 in
His first reaction
was to think of the visual images of things such as people, colors and
objects. After that he said he did not
think much about it. He was able to
manage this attitude because of his faith in God and tremendous support from
his large family.
Smith continued to
move forward and after his high school graduation entered the work force. By the time he had lost all of his vision in
1979, he had worked at sears & Roebuck Company for15 years. Around the mid-eighties, Smith was invited to
a job fair sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind. He attended the fair and was encouraged to
join and get blindness skill training.
He did obtain the training but was very reluctant to join the NFB. Members of the NFB could not be easily swayed
and they continued to encourage him to join.
While at the job fair
he met people in various careers; but was most interested in massage
therapy. He had always been involved in
sporting activities and was very conscious about keeping his body in
shape. While taking his courses in
blindness skill training he took courses at the Atlanta School of Massage. In 1989 he graduated and became an
independent contractor for massage therapy.
Some years passed
between his first invitation to the NFB, but Smith was again encouraged to join
at another job fair he attended. Again
he graciously declined. In 1990 he was invited
to attend a convention; and said he would attend if he was able to get a
room. Thinking that this would be nearly
impossible because it was so close to the actual time for the convention to
start; he was very surprised when the assertive NFB member got him a room. He attended the convention and was amazed and
pleasantly overwhelmed by all the blind people he met. After attending the convention, Smith was a
believer and joined the NFB in 1990.
Not only did Smith
become a member but became aggressively involved in the mission and philosophy
of the NFB. During his membership he has
held several leadership titles and positions.
He is currently the First Vice-President and the Legislative Chairman
for the affiliate. He has been on the State Convention Committee, the National
Convention Committee, an affiliate board member, and also the Vice President
and Legislative Chairman of the Decatur Area chapter. Smith has been a board member since
1994. He wanted to be actively involved to
learn and contribute. He came in
prepared to work and wanted to be a leader.
So, in 1997 he attended his first leadership seminar. The seminar helped him to understand what his
chapter needed and he began to implement the valuable skills he learned.
During his time on
the board he has been able to help create a state scholarship application,
create an expense form for traveling members to track expenses and helped to
draft some constitutional amendments such as the Braille Literacy Bill.
As if all that he has
accomplished so far wasn’t enough, smith’s future plans for the NFB are to See
News Line become funded through the
state legislative process, Help secure electronic textbooks for students, see
NFB chapters grow not only in numbers
but financially as well, see more members become computer literate, and finally
to see more people knowledgeable of their rights as blind people
Outside of his NFB
activities, Smith is vigorously involved in community and social causes. He is
currently the chairman of the Metropolitan Area Rapid transit Authority’s
Elderly Disabled Access Advisory Committee.
While on the Committee, he helped to create the commonly used metal
Braille bus stop signs and helped to implement the tactual warning stripes on
the platforms of train stations. He is
also a member of the Commission on Disability Affairs for
Smith is proud of his
accomplishments and is grateful that God has given him the tenacity and ambition to do it. He continuously wants to impress on others
the mission and philosophy of the NFB.
He believes in leaving a solid
legacy for the future; something that will inspire people to move forward.
She said she noticed
something was different with her eyes when she could not pass her driving exam.
She ended up getting glasses to help compensate for the loss but as she got
older her vision decreased.
Using readers and
sitting close to the black board helped her to obtain a BA Degree in Social
Work & Sociology from
Immediately after
college, Godwin was employed as a Teen program Director for the
In 1994, Godwin
started taking blindness skill training courses at the Center for the Visually
impaired. That following year she became
the Assistant Volunteer Coordinator at CVI where she matched volunteers for
blind clients. Having a deep passion for
blind children, Godwin later became the Project Coordinator for the development
and operation of the Mentoring Program at CVI.
Losing her vision as a teen, she strongly felt that blind children need
mentors for guidance and support for their future endeavors.
She first heard about
the National Federation of the Blind when her husband met a member on a flight
out of town. They had just moved to
She and her family
have moved various times over the years due to her husband’s employment; but
irregardless Godwin has proven that you can still play an active role in the
NFB. During one of her moves; she was on
the NFB Board of Directors for the
She decided to get
aggressively involved in the NFB because she saw the need for parents of blind
children to get support. She wanted
parents to understand their children’s rights to a free and appropriate public
school education, so she took a 13-week course in education advocacy sponsored
by the Georgia Advocacy Office to be more knowledgeable. Her future goals are to do more work in this
area, help establish other chapters in the state and continue to participate in
the legislative process by attending
the Washington Seminars.
When she is not
engrossed in her NFB responsibilities, Godwin is a Chairperson on the Advisory
Board for the
Despite all that
Godwin has accomplished, she considers her greatest achievement to be rearing
her two children to be people of integrity and character. She also considers her willingness to move
forward after her husband died in 1998.
Her family and friends have been major supporters in her life and have
consistently encouraged her in every pursuit.
Shirley Barksdale was
born in1958 in
She developed a love
of math as a child in elementary and high school, taking that fondness; turning
it into a career. After graduating from
high school, as a Val Victorian, she went to college at
Barksdale considers
her greatest accomplishment to be her quick advancement up the corporate ladder
of her current employer; World Financial Group.
For the last six years she has been promoted each year. She started out as a Reconciliation Analyst,
and then moved to Senior Analyst after 1 year, promoted again to Supervisor 1
year later and finally another year later promoted to her current position as
Manager of the Commission Accounting department.
Barksdale decided to
use her accounting experience to assist the NFB; and “put her money where her
mouth is” so to speak. She is the
current treasurer of her local chapter and the state affiliate. Her goal is to provide detailed and accurate
financial reporting.
She is keenly
involved in her community by participating in her youngest daughter’s education
and extracurricular activities. She
currently serves on the board of the Lithonia Middle School Parent, Teacher and
Student Association. She is also on the board of the school’s band and Boosters
Association. She also volunteers on her
daughter’s softball team called the Redman Ravens.
Her future goals are
to work aggressively on her health by incorporating exercise into her daily
routine; and continuing to promote the mission and philosophy of the NFB.
Max Parker was born
in 1945 in
Parker went on to
college and attended
He first came in
contact with the National Federation of the Blind in 1973. He wanted to start a group of the blind in
Garrick Scott was
born in 1969 in
Losing his vision at
18, Scott did not allow that to stop the pursuit of his dreams. He finished high school and attended college
at
Scott says he pursued
this degree because it had 90% of all the things he enjoyed such as radio and
TV work, newspaper and drama classes.
Shortly after
graduation, Scott was attending a Fighting Blindness meeting in
This insight was the
stepping stone for his involvement not only in the NFB but other blind-related
activities. In 2002, he was nominated
for membership to the advisory board for the Library for Accessible Services,
formerly known as the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. Not stopping there, Scott also volunteered to
be a mentor for blind students at the Center for the Visually Impaired. In2004, he received his state certification
to be a peer counselor for people with disabilities. During that same time he worked as an
AmeriCorps volunteer at Disability Link, an independent living center for the
disabled. Lastly, he is also a member of
Toastmasters and teaches public speaking to blind students.
Scott says he is
irritated when people complain but won’t become a part of things. Hence his own involvement in the NFB; not
just as a mere member but a chapter and state board member. He says that when he does something he does
it all the way. His future plans as
board member are to continue promoting the mission and philosophy of the NFB; and
to personally Increase membership to ten to fifteen people for this year. He
also wants to establish a state student division. His personal goals are to continue his
education by Going to law school as an avenue for political office. He says he wants to become mayor of his
hometown.
National Federation
of the Blind
of Georgia, Inc.
315 West Ponce De
Leon Avenue, Suite 603, Decatur, Georgia 30030
(404) 371-1000
(404) 371-1002 (Fax)
(866) 316-3242 (Toll
Free)
The Blind @ NFBGA.org (e-mail)
www.NFBGA.org
(web)
Date Last Revised: April 5, 2008