GDUI

The following people have submitted resumes or profiles to run for office with GDUI in 2008. Hit enter on each name to be taken to the resume/profile.

BECKY BARNES

ELIZABETH M. BARNES
50 Barker St. Apt. 230
Mt. Kisco, New York 10549
Res. Phone: (914) 244-9165
Bus. Phone: (914) 243-2210
e-mail: bbarnes@guidingeyes.org

CAREER OBJECTIVE:

To work with organizations to accommodate consumers and employees with disabilities; to assist persons with disabilities to become more independent.

HIGHLIGHTS & QUALIFICATIONS:

Supervision; counseling; communication; ability to rapidly analyze and adapt to new situations; ability to plan, organize and implement programs and strategies.

EMPLOYMENT:

Guiding Eyes for the Blind 1999 to present
611 Granite Springs Rd.
Yorktown Heights, New York 10598
Manager of Consumer Outreach and Graduate Support
Responsible for coordinating services for students in, and graduates of, guide dog training program; representing Guiding Eyes for the Blind at various conferences and conventions; overseeing speakers bureau.

Niagara County Employment and Training 1975 to 1999
Trott ACCESS Center
1001 Eleventh Street
Niagara Falls, New York 14301
Counseling Supervisor
Responsible for supervision of other intake interviewers Employment and Training Counselor Responsible for interviewing and counseling clients; Acted as supervisor in absence of unit manager; Managing Editor, In-House newsletter; Responsible for intake interviews.

EDUCATION:

Master of Public Administration August 1974
Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
B.A. Political Science May 1973
Beaver College, Glenside, Pennsylvania

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

Guide Dog Users, Inc.
- 1st Vice President

Guide Dog Users of New York
- Vice President

New York State Rehabilitation Council, Past Chair

Lions Club of Mt. Kisco, Past President

Member, Bedford Community Church

Lock City Business and Professional Women's Club - Past President

Lockport Alliance Church
Member of Governing Board and Chairman of Christian Education Committee
- Advisor to Youth Group

Community Education

- Small Business Survival Training Advisory Board

REFERENCES: Will be furnished upon request.

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LYNN DUPLESSIS

Please consider me as a candidate for the GDUI Board. My name is Lynn Duplessis.

I reside in Augusta, Maine with my husband, Donald. We have been married for over 33 years and have three children and six grandchildren. (If I had known grandchildren were going to be this much fun, I would have had them first!)

My husband was a soldier in the US Army for twenty years; we lived in North Carolina, Arizona and in Germany (for 13 of those years). After his retirement, we settled back in our hometown of Augusta. I became visually impaired in 1995 and in 2001 I was matched with Queeg, a fabulous Fidelco guide dog. We have been a team since. I am retired from the Federal Government on a disability retirement; having worked for the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs for twenty years. I am a past board member of the Pine Tree Guide Dog Users and am currently the 1 st Vice president. I maintain our home in Augusta and care for three of our grandchildren, ages 7, 4, and 18 months, each day while their parents work.

I have traveled somewhat extensively with Queeg – after one month of working together, we ventured back to Germany alone to visit one of our daughters there. We have traveled to Texas several times and to Washington, DC and New York City. As references, I would submit the names of Pauline Lamontaign and Maryann Mitchell, President of Pine Tree Guide Dog Users and past Treasurer respectively.

Thank you for your consideration. If I can provide further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Lynn M. Duplessis
25 Kennison St.
Augusta, ME 04330
207/623-0347

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GINNY FISCHER

Virginia Fischer
153 South Aurora St.
Collinsville, IL 62234
Telephone: (618) 346-8612
Cell (618) 334-2075

EDUCATION:

Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville
Edwardsville, IL
1986-1988 Graduate classes - Speech Communications
1980-1985 Bachelor of Science Degree – Psychology and Communication

Illinois Braille and Sight Saving School
Jacksonville, IL
1961-1975 Grade School and High School
Obtained Diploma and was in the top 1% in graduating classEXPERIENCE:

2003-2007 St. Louis Lighthouse for the Blind
St. Louis, MO
Subcontracted at Scott Airforce Base
Switchboard Operator
Duties: answered all calls for Scott Airforce base including confidential and Homeland Security, obtained security Clearance Programs used included: Tele metrics, JAWS and Excecl

1993-2003 LINC, Inc
Belleville, IL
Independent Living Advocate
Duties: Taught Braille, computer skills, cooking, cleaning and Independent living skills to persons with a disability

References upon request

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BECKY FLOYD-COLLINS

I am Becky Floyd-Collins and would like to run for a GDUI board position.

I have been chairman of the organizing Committee and a charter member and President, on a number of occasions, of The Mississippi Council of The Blind. I am presently serving as Vice President of the Mississippi Council. I have been a member of the organizing committee, charter member, and President of the Mississippi Association of Workers For The Blind (now MAER). I have been a member of the organizing committee and charter member of Friends of Handicapped Readers. I have served as both President and Treasurer of the Alumni of Pilot Dog Owners, Inc. I have also served as President of The Jackson Medical Center Lions Club.

Professionally, I wrote grants for the Client Assistance Program for the Blind (when they were competing grant programs and/or Pilot Programs) and have started up a CAP program, on two occasions. I organized and started the Protection And Advocacy Program, now in existence in Mississippi, where I have worked as Executive Director for the past twenty-five years.

I have worked a dog guide since 1964 and have been instrumental in the donation of a few puppies that have become dog guides. I am committed to all dog guide programs and am particularly interested in advocacy and public relations. Since I have not been active in GDUI, I would like to serve on its Board of Directors.As you can imagine, after forty-three years of working a dog guide, I am very interested in all matters pertaining to the use of these service dogs.

I am not planning to take on any additional obligations either in Mississippi or on a national basis of any organization. My job position limits the time I have to spend on service to organizations, and I plan to dedicate my energies to GDUI, except for my position as Vice President of the MS Council of The Blind which position is not very demanding.

I would be willing to serve in any capacity, on committees, as a Board Member, and/or an officer (except for President) of GDUI.

As you may know, I am without a guide dog, at this moment, but, of course, will be obtaining another dog within the year.

Becky Floyd-Collins

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Rebecca Kragnes

I would welcome the chance to be considered for either GDUI's Secretary or its Second Vice President. I have been active in Minnesota Guide Dog users (MNGDU) in various capacities -- member at large, Secretary, President, and am currently Vice President.

I was elected to a GDUI board position last year and have done my best to be a contributing, active board member as I see opportunities. Currently I have no aspirations to be in any higher office, and it's probably fair to tell the nominating committee and membership now. People in the higher offices take on convention and other things that my life will not allow.

I would enjoy the challenge of being part of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee seems to know a bit more about current GDUI business than regular board members, and I feel I could be a good sounding board for other members and positively contribute to decision-making. With experience chairing Committees in other venues, I am willing to take on this task. I have also been Secretary of other organizations besides MNGDU. As a result,I would write minutes which appropriately reflect discussions and decisions at board meetings. Though I would not attend convention, I am willing to be available by phone at my own expense to take minutes for the convention board meeting.

I have worked with dog guides for 12 years and am currently working with my fourth dog -- a Black Labrador Retriever named Zane. Consequently, I have good knowledge of the lifestyle which goes along with the choice to handle a dog guide.

Thank you for considering my application for a GDUI Officer position as either Secretary or Second Vice President. I will be happy to serve in whatever position you and the membership deem appropriate for me.

Rebecca Kragnes
with Black Labrador retriever & Seeing Eye Dog Zane

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Laurie mehta

Laurie Mehta

I am a three-time guide dog handler and I am glad to share my time and efforts for the benefit of GDUI and for all of us who travel with and live with guide dogs.

Volunteer Experience:

2006 to present—
GDUI Guide Dog School Liaison; I maintain regular correspondence/communication with all of the guide dog programs. I coordinate information to facilitate school participation in annual GDUI conventions (including soliciting and sharing feedback on school presentations), and in special projects, such as Katrina/Rita Relief Assistance.
I regularly keep the GDUI Board informed of school-related information of importance to GDUI members. GDUI Committee Member; P.R. & Publications committees, and chaired the task group that found applicants for the Board to consider for the webmaster position.

2005-2006--
GDUI Revised Survey of Guide Dog Schools:
(rewrote/reformatted the survey, administered the new survey- obtaining participation from all currently operational guide dog training programs; compiled results and created html and pdf versions and summaries of survey sections for website publication, and brought the updated survey to the website)

(community-based work)

2003 to present--
Secretary, Secular Franciscan Fraternity

1993 to present--
Curriculum Consultant and Speaker/Presenter: “Everybody Counts” (a program providing in-school education regarding persons with disabilities/differences)

1995-1997--
Treasurer, Archdiocese of Cincinnati Committee on Inclusion of Persons With Disabilities
1993-1997--
Secretary, Archdiocese of Cincinnati Committee on Inclusion of Persons With Disabilities

1991-2005--
Committee Member, various local boosters and planning organizations

Education:

B.A. Philosophy/Biology SUNY College at Purchase (1982)
Certificate—Computer Programming, CUNY Baruch College (1983)

Personal:

Married for more than 25 years. We have two sons, both in college.

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Donna Permar

Donna C. Permar

ADDRESS: 1412 North Gregson Street
Durham, NC 27701
Telephone: (919) 688-4812

EDUCATION:

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill B.A. 1977-1981

EMPLOYMENT:

1998 to Present: Staff Assistant
Principal Duties:
Compile monthly QA data for Medical Intensive Care Unit death review
Coordinate and prepare monthly call schedules for the Medical Intensive Care Unit
Monitor medical student enrollment for the Medicine Subinternship
Coordinate clinic appointments, referrals and diagnostic tests for clinic patients
Arrange meetings and maintain calendar
Coordinate travel arrangements
Compose correspondence to patients and Duke Medical Center staff
Type and edit documents such as manuscripts, personal correspondence, and clinic
notes and review them for accuracy Maintain confidential office documents and files
Triage messages and route to appropriate personnel when necessary
Perform other duties as assigned

I am seeking election to a second term as Second Vice President of Guide Dog Users, INC. I served as a member of GDUI’s board of directors from 2005 to 2006 and have served as second vice president from 2006 to the present. During that time I have chaired the program committee for convention planning.

I first became a member of GDUI in 1983 and am working with my fourth guide dog.

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MaryLyn PiePho

I am MariLyn Piepho, pronounced Pie Pho) and I've been on both sides of the disability fence. Until my late 30's, I had OK vision. I had just good enough vision to drive a car. When I hit my 40's it all changed due to previous damage from the incubator I was in after birth. As the years went on my vision steadily decreased causing loss of my driver's license and a career change. I currently manage residential rental property and am having a ball.

Being stubborn by nature, it took two injuries at construction sites to finally convince me that I really could not see where I was going. So in 2005 I got my first guide dog and have learned a lot about mobility. It is scary at times when I can't really see where I'm going, but Dave, my furry guide makes it much easier.

I am involved in advocacy as it relates to disabilities, especially related to information access for citizens with vision disability. As my friends say "I got dragged into the 21st century kicking and screaming" when I finally got e-mail, but I'm still not very good at web-sites yet. I'm involved in ACB as well as DNOS, also called Solidarity, both advocacy groups for citizens with disabilities.

I guess my main philosophies are "to help people help themselves" and for people to "help each other". If there is an issue to deal with I don't believe that endless complaining without some sort of action serves anyone. Change takes time, but it also takes persistence and "grass roots action". Just a few people can't get it done unless everyone gets involved somehow. I firmly believe in calling on the membership to step up to the plate and help. So yes...I will call members to do some things.

MariLyn and Dave, my furry friend.

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Dixie Sanderson

Dixie Sanderson
265 Three Mile Course
Guilford, CT 06437
203-458-6474
blueherons@sbcglobal.net

To Whom it May Concern:

I would like to submit my name as a candidate for the position of Board Member of GDUI. I have worked for GDUI in the capacity of committee member. I was a member of the committee to find a web page designer for the GDUI website. I have also held several other volunteer positions outside of GDUI. I have been the Service Unit Manager for Girl Scouts in my town. This position oversees approximately 70 leaders and the functions held each year in our town by the Girl Scouts. I have also held numerous other positions with the leaders in Girl scouts, including Newsletter Coordinator, School Coordinator, Training Supervisor, and coordinator of several town wide events. I am presently the directory secretary of LICA. A local community association. I maintain the records of the residents and publish a directory each year for the entire membership of 150 people.

I have also as a profession held the positions of assistant director of a year-round swimming pool. I was in charge of scheduling and managing approximately 50 swim instructors and lifeguards. At the same time I also had my own business as a bookkeeper and maintained the books and payroll for 3 businesses.

I believe I am qualified to fulfill the position of board member for GDUI as I have extensive experience working with others, heading up projects, and running events. I would like to be considered for the position of board member for GDUI. I am skilled at organizational skills, communicating with others and getting done whatever is needed to be accomplished. I would be honored to use these skills to further the goals of GDUI.

Thank you for your consideration.

Dixie Sanderson

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AMY SHAW

Hello Everyone,

My name is Amy Shaw and I live in Durham, North Carolina. I am interested in running for a board seat for GDUI.

I've been a member of GDUI since 1989. I've been active with the North Carolina Council of the Blind since 1990. I was elected Second Vice President shortly after joining. I assisted in making arrangements for guide dog users attending the national ACB Convention in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1995.

I have had three guide dogs; and at this moment, I am anxiously waiting for my fourth.

I earned a Masters degree in Special Education with a Certification to teach visually impaired.

I am currently the Treasurer of Carolina Paws, Guide Dog Users of North Carolina. I have served as Treasurer since 2004. I was not a founding member of Carolina Paws but I was partly responsible for getting it off the ground: and making it an active affiliate of GDUI. I actively participated in the work with the North Carolina Legislature: which resulted in the passage of the dog attach legislation in 2005. Recently, I had been very active in putting together a very successful Southeast Regional Top Dog Workshop in January, 2008.

I fee'l that I could be an important addition to a well-rounded board for GDUI because I am multiply disabled. I am now in a wheelchair as well as being visually impaired. I feel it's important to keep total accessibility in mind when planning activities.

Thank you for your consideration. Your support in this historic election would be appreciated!

Sincerely,
Amy Shaw

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JANE SHEEHAN

Jane Sheehan has served as treasurer of Guide Dog Users, Inc. since July 1990. During that time, she has been instrumental in bringing the organization from a 300-member group with $300.00 in the bank to one with over a thousand members in half a dozen countries with a much larger financial base. Under her direction, GDUI developed and has distributed a growing and well-respected product catalog, and we now have the ability to accept credit card orders. Ms. Sheehan's brainstorming ideas led to the formation of the GDUI empathizers group, which consisted of a network of over 40 people willing to provide peer support in guide dog-related issues.

Ms. Sheehan is a native of Maryland, having been born and raised in that state. She attended the Maryland School for the Blind in Baltimore for her K through 12 education, then Salisbury State College in Salisbury, Maryland, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in English in 1976.

Ms. Sheehan has been employed for over 30 years in the U.S. Federal government, and currently works as a Quality Assurance Specialist for the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, which is part of the U.S. Library of Congress. Her attention to detail, and her fascination with lists and maintaining accountability, as well as her competency in the use of a computer, have been very important not only in her Quality Assurance job, but also in her work for GDUI. As treasurer of GDUI, Ms. Sheehan maintains our bank account, as well as the data-base of current, previous and potential members of GDUI. As a natural outgrowth of this income/expense activity, for many years, the product catalog naturally fell under her jurisdiction. She gradually turned over much of her house to GDUI's product inventory. Although the product sales and inventory management and dealing with GDUI members who are all her "people" was a very enjoyable part of Ms. Sheehan's life, she was forced to give up this part of her GDUI work when she obtained her full-time quality assurance job. But she still serves as an advisor to GDUI's current product manager, and maintains a lively interest in GDUI's product inventory and sales.

Although her work with GDUI and her job with the Library of Congress leave little time for hobbies, Ms. Sheehan enjoys reading, listening to music, attending folk music concerts, and horseback riding. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland with her husband Patrick and her current guide dog, Xenon, a yellow labrador retriever.

Go to the GDUI Election Page to learn about full-member voting.

1-866-799-8436