The membership elects the officers and directors to two-year terms at a state-wide convention. All officers and directors are blind. The Board meets at least quarterly.
President - Jennifer Dunnam, St. Louis Park
612-203-2738
jennifer.dunnam1829@gmail.com
Jennifer grew up in Louisiana,
graduating from Louisiana Tech University with a double major in
French and Spanish and a minor in political science. She moved to
Minnesota after college and for several years worked as an
instructor at Blindness
Learning in New Dimensions (BLIND), alternately teaching
braille, white-cane travel, and administering the Buddy Program
for children. Then, for nine years, she worked at the University
of Minnesota, coordinating the production of materials in
braille, audio, and electronic formats and, for a short while
administered a student-testing center. Currently, under contract
with the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped, she coordinates the administration of all of the
courses leading to Library of Congress certification in braille
transcribing and proofreading. She joined the National Federation
of the Blind as the age of fourteen, after meeting successful
blind adult role models. She has held several offices in the NFB
of Minnesota, and was elected president in 2007.
(Term ends 2013)
Vice-President - Steve Jacobson, Edina
952-927-7694
steve.jacobson@visi.com
Steve has been employed by the 3M Company for more than thirty
years and is currently a Lead Computer Analyst. He graduated from
the Minnesota Braille and Sight Saving School and received a
Bachelor's degree in mathematics from Augsburg College. Steve
joined the NFB of Minnesota in 1971, has served as an officer of
the student division, Metro Chapter president, and secretary of
the NFB of Minnesota. He is also heavily involved in technology
and is currently vice-president of the national NFB computer
science division.
(Term ends 2012)
Secretary - Judy Sanders, Minneapolis
612-375-1625
jsanders.nfb@comcast.net
Judy is a graduate of the University of Colorado, where she
obtained her teaching certificate. She discovered that blind
people are not always judged by their capabilities; Denver Public
Schools refused to hire any blind person, no matter their
qualifications. It was through the NFB that she solved that
problem. She has been employed as a teacher, a Congressional
staffer and has worked in rehabilitation of the blind. She
currently serves as president of the national NFB Senior
Division. Her hobbies include reading fiction, playing cards and
going to movies.
(Term ends 2013)
Treasurer - Tom Scanlan, Minneapolis
612-920-0959
tom.scanlan@earthlink.net
Tom is a retired information technology manager, having held key
management positions in the State of Minnesota's Office of
Enterprise Technology. He grew up in Rochester, graduated from
the Minnesota Braille and Sight Saving School, and earned a
degree in business administration from the University of St.
Thomas. He joined the NFB of Minnesota in 1969, served two terms
as president of the student division, and was first elected
Treasurer in 1974. His business education and management
experience have served him well in his duties as treasurer.
(Term ends 2012)
Pat Barrett, Minneapolis
612-866-6878
patrick.a.barrett@msn.com
Pat earned a B.A. degree in Communications-English with
Journalism emphasis from Boise State University in 1975. While
living in Idaho, he served as president of two chapters of the
NFB of Idaho, and as second vice-president on the state board.
Since 1997, he has worked as a systems change analyst in the
Information Technology department at Express Scripts, Inc. in
Minnesota. He works hard to support his family, is a local leader
in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, active in
Toastmasters, and loves to read braille books, bowl, and play
harmonica and sing.
(Term ends 2012)
Rob Hobson, Minneapolis
815-546-3306
rhobson@blindinc.org
Rob was born and raised in Illinois. He graduated from Southern
Illinois University at Carbondale with a bachelors in political
Science and pre-law. He later graduated from the Louisiana Center
for the Blind and then went on to earn a master’s degree in
Educational Psychology with an emphasis in Orientation and
Mobility at Louisiana Tech. Now He resides in Minneapolis where
he works at Blindness: Learning in New Dimensions (BLIND)
teaching White Cane Travel. Rob loves to get out and experience
all of the fun activities that the city has to offer. Some of his
hobbies include swimming, runnning, and bike riding
(Term ends 2013)
Sheila Koenig, Minneapolis
612-977-9110
shekoenig@comcast.net
Sheila grew up and attended college in Wisconsin. After
graduating from college, Sheila taught 7th grade English and 8th
grade Spanish in Springfield, Missouri. She moved to Minnesota in
2000 and teaches 9th grade English at South View Middle School in
Edina. Sheila earned her Bachelor's degree in Education from
Cardinal Stritch College and her Master’s degree in
Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Minnesota. She
is a graduate of Blindness:
Learning in New Dimensions (BLIND), where she developed the
skills and attitude to be a successful blind teacher. In 2007 she
was awarded the “Blind Educator of the Year” award
from the National Federation of the Blind. Sheila also serves as
president of the National Organization of Blind
Educators and president of the NFB of Minnesota Metro Chapter.
(Term ends 2013)
Bryce Samuelson, Hayfield
507-477-3165
bjsamuel29@gmail.com
Bryce was born in Rochester. In 2000, he graduated from Hayfield High School and went on to receive an Associate of Arts degree and a Certification in Web Design from Riverland Community College in 2003 and a Bachelor's degree in Scientific and Technical Communications from the University of Minnesota in 2006. After his graduation from high school and until after he graduated from Riverland Community College, he worked at ShopKo in Austin in various capacities. In 2009, he accepted an internship for the Office of Congressman Walz. Less than a month after completing his internship, he began training and then working at the Rochester location of the MN Low Vision Store where he worked until November of that year. After the job at the Low Vision Store ended, he founded Samuelson Contracted Services LLC to provide web design/maintenance, technical writing/editing, and project management services to small and medium-sized businesses in Southern Minnesota.
(Term ends 2013)
Joyce Scanlan, Minneapolis
612-920-0959
joyce.scanlan@earthlink.net
Joyce grew up in the Fargo-Moorhead area, graduated from the
North Dakota School for the Blind, and earned B.A. and M.A.
degrees in English from the University of North Dakota with
minors in Social Studies, Latin, Education, and History. She
taught high school English, Latin, and History in North Dakota
and Montana before moving to Minnesota. She joined the NFB of
Minnesota in 1970, and was first elected its president in 1973.
In 1974, she was elected to the national NFB board of directors,
where she served until 2006, including the offices of secretary
and first vice-president. In 1986, she founded Blindness: Learning in New Dimensions
(BLIND), and served as its executive director from 1987 to
2003. She was elected president of the NFB of Minnesota every two
years from 1974 until her retirement from that position in
2007.
(Term ends 2012)
The actions of the board and the membership are governed by the following: