Inform & Connect: An American Foundation for the Blind Podcast

Inform & Connect, AFB’s ongoing series created to foster togetherness and camaraderie within the blindness community through informal storytelling and learning about relevant, interesting topics. This week, Melody Goodspeed speaks with guest Libby Thaw, founder of the Checkered Eye Project.

Audiences will learn firsthand of the creation and mission of the internationally recognized Checkered Eye Project, a small business that provides wearable badges that indicate to others that the wearer is partially blind or low vision. Libby will walk us through her story, how the project has made positive changes and how it has been adopted in several countries to advocate and educate the community on blindness in its many forms.

Podcast Transcript: https://www.afb.org/inform-connect-episode05-libby-thaw

In this episode of Inform & Connect, Melody speaks with guest Jasmine Glass, founder of Spktrm Beauty.

Listeners will learn firsthand of the creation of the world's first beauty brand to ban model re-touching entirely. With this focus on natural beauty, Jasmine will share the story behind her desire to help reshape the industry by making it more inclusive and transparent. Spktrm Beauty has been featured in Teen Vogue, Refinery29, Glamour, Allure, Bustle, and more.

(Episode Note: A complete transcript can be found on the American Foundation for the Blind website.)

On Episode 4 of AFB's Inform & Connect, Melody interviews filmmaker, Juan Alcazar. Juan has been making films and videos for a few years now. He graduated with a BA in Cinema from San Francisco State University. He has screen a number of his films at a few festivals and now is showing his work on his YouTube channel. A complete transcript of their conversation can be found on the AFB website.  https://www.afb.org/news-publications/publications/inform-and-connect-podcast/inform-connect-episode04-juan-alcazar

Episode Transcript

The third episode of the American Foundation for the Blind’s (AFB) Inform & Connect series focuses on the journey of the creator of digital lifestyle magazine Bold Blind Beauty, Stephanae “Steph” McCoy.

This week’s special guests are Bold Blind Beauty Founder Steph McCoy and Nasreen Bhutta, the magazine’s Chief Communications Officer. Audiences will learn of the mission of Bold Blind Beauty, the “2020 A Year Of Vision” campaign, and the voice of “Abby,” the magazine’s fashion icon extraordinaire.

After promising career at one of the Big Four accounting firms, Steph felt like something was still missing. As kindness, compassion, and a deep desire for social justice are central to who she is as a person, Steph founded Bold Blind Beauty out of a yearning for personal empowerment that she wanted to share with others. This epiphany sparked her passion for becoming a full-time abilities crusader-advocate.

“The one thing sight loss has taught me is perception is much more profound than seeing,” Steph said. “I may have lost my sight, but my clarity has increased exponentially, and for this I am grateful.”

“Meeting Steph was exactly what I needed in my own struggles of dealing with sight loss,” said Melody Goodspeed, AFB Major Gifts Specialist. “Steph has taken Bold Blind Beauty to places of power and inclusion through focusing on the whole person, inside and out.”

The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is pleased to announce the second episode of its Inform and Connect series focusing on the journey of Dave Steele, the Blind Poet, and how he took his fight with RP to create an expressive art form of captivating poetry.

“Originally scheduled to emcee our Helen Keller Achievement Awards, I got to meet Dave personally when he visited our AFB office in Arlington,” said Melody Goodspeed, AFB Major Gifts Specialist. “I was immediately moved to a place of peace and wonder as he recited his poetry from his heart. This will be a moving and engaging experience – participants should come ready to be moved by Dave’s art. He is a calming and engaging presence, teaching us all that we can find hope and wonder, even through the darkest of times.”

Inform and Connect was created with the idea of fostering camaraderie within the blindness community through informal storytelling and learning about relevant, interesting topics. This week’s guest will feature the Blind Poet Dave Steele as he walks us through his personal story, his journey to healing, and how he reaches others through his poetry reading and advocacy.

Episode Transcript.

Roy Samuelson has narrated audio description for over 500 films and shows, including NCIS, Star Trek: Picard, SONY's Spider-Man: Far From

Note: A complete transcript of this recording can be found on the American Foundation for the Blind website:

https://www.afb.org/blog/entry/inform-connect-episode01-roy-samuelson