• 24 Sep 2020 10:29 AM | Holli Tempe

    Good morning members, 

    In December 2019, the FRID Board of Directors conducted a survey of the membership to gather feedback about the current state of the organization, including strengths, key areas for improvement, and priorities for the upcoming year. We are pleased to announce that the results of the survey have been collected, catalogued, and summarized for review in the FRID Membership Survey Results 2019-2020 report. Clicking the link will take you to the survey report, where you can review the feedback the board received as well as recommendations for improvement and setting priorities for the organization moving forward. Please take a moment to look over the results. 

    Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback!

  • 22 Sep 2020 11:59 AM | Holli Tempe

    FRID members, if you're eligible to vote and you haven't yet, check your email! Eligible voting members received an email invitation to vote in the 2020 Board of Directors election.

    Visit the Election 2020 page to see who's running, Candidate Statements, and other election information. Then use the link in your email invitation to open your ballot and VOTE! 

    The polls close at 11:59 p.m. EDT TONIGHT.


  • 15 Sep 2020 9:00 AM | Holli Tempe

    Eligible voting members received an email invitation to vote through Election Runner, the electronic election management software the board has chosen to manage the 2020 Board of Directors election.

    Visit the Election 2020 page to see who's running, Candidate Statements, and other election information. Then use the link in your email invitation to open your ballot and VOTE! 

    The polls close at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, September 22.

  • 12 Sep 2020 12:09 AM | Holli Tempe

    Good morning, FRID! 

    Today is the deadline to complete our brief, four-question survey to gather feedback from our members about about RID's potential changes from a member driven organization to a professional certifying organization. No decision has been made at this time. The feedback collected will be interpreted by the RID Board of Directors, which will then suggest ways in which the membership can explore either deepening our identity as member driven or as a professional certification organization.

    Before taking the survey, please review the information provided by RID on the relevant issues.

    • RID has published an organizational transition website, with an overview of the process and an FAQ page.
    • Watch this video that provides background and rationale on the transition to a professional organization.
    • Review the President's Report from the May 2020 Views.
    • If you were not able to attend one of the Membership Town Halls in May, you may want to watch the recording from the May 12th Town Hall for additional information on the process and Board's perspective.

    Please take a moment to complete the survey. Thank you for taking the time to providing your feedback!

    Best regards,

  • 05 Sep 2020 8:12 PM | Holli Tempe

    Good evening FRID Members, 

    RID has asked all Affiliate Chapters to gather feedback from their members about the potential changes from a member driven organization to a professional certifying organization. No decision has been made at this time. The feedback collected will be interpreted by the RID Board of Directors, which will then suggest ways in which the membership can explore either deepening our identity as member driven or as a professional certification organization.

    To gather this feedback, FRID has created a brief four-question survey. Click on this link to take the survey: FRID Membership Feedback on Proposed RID Organizational Changes. The deadline to complete the survey is Saturday September 12, 2020.

    Before taking the survey, please review the information provided by RID on the relevant issues.

    • RID has published an organizational transition website, with an overview of the process and an FAQ page.
    • Watch this video that provides background and rationale on the transition to a professional organization.
    • Review the President's Report from the May 2020 Views.
    • If you were not able to attend one of the Membership Town Halls in May, you may want to watch the recording from the May 12th Town Hall for additional information on the process and Board's perspective.

    Thank you for providing your feedback!

    Best regards,

  • 24 Aug 2020 8:25 PM | Holli Tempe

    Good afternoon, FRID Members!

    Please take a moment to watch this video announcement from FRID President Eli Sierra. 

    Transcript: 
    "Hello FRID Members,

    I wanted to take this opportunity to share some changes to our Board's structure that will be taking place soon. I recently ran for RID's Region 2 Representative and was elected to the position. My term starts on Sept 1st 2020. Now, according to FRID's bylaws, I cannot serve concurrently on RID's national-level Board and on our state-level Board (FRID). So sadly, I must resign from my position as FRID President, effective August 31st. Our current Vice-President of Internal Affairs, Nicole Bihlmayer, will become interim President for the remaining 4 months. We have an election coming up soon. You should have received an email from us with instructions including, the elections process, positions up for reelection, how to vote and more. Please review it and email us any questions you might have. If you have not done so already, I encourage you to consider serving on the FRID Board. We need you! I will continue working with this Board, as RID's Region 2 Representative, so you will get to see my face from time to time. I want to thank you for your support over the years and I want to thank the Board for everything they do for the Organization and its members. Thank you! I have enjoyed serving you. Have a great day!"

    The Board and FRID membership want to congratulate Eli on this achievement. The Board would also like to thank Eli for his dedicated service. We look forward to continuing to work together as Eli transitions into his new role. 

    Best Wishes, 

    FRID Board of Directors

  • 22 May 2020 3:57 PM | Holli Tempe

    Good afternoon everyone, 

    FRID would like to take a moment to pass along RID's request regarding the 2020 Practitioner Survey. the RID Headquarters and Board of Directors recognize that many members have been affected adversely by the COVID-19 pandemic and that the pandemic is quickly changing they way interpreters work. They wanted to capture this shift, so Headquarters and the RID Finance committee collaborated to co-develop the 2020 Practitioner Survey to assess how the profession is faring and to better oversee the organization's finances. 

    Building on the famous 2010 survey and report done by Betty Winston and Dennis Cokely, the survey adds questions distinguishing both "before" and "during" COVID-19, which assess what the profession looked like before COVID-19 as well as now during the pandemic. The goals of the survey are to capture what "normal" looked like before COVID-19, identify how things have changed for interpreters since the pandemic hit, and understand how to support interpreters better during this challenging time. 

    The whole survey should take about 15 minutes to complete. The questions for the Finance Committee are the most important; RID would appreciate members filling out the entire survey to help benefit the profession and guide RID's financial planning moving forward. RID will share the results with the membership once they have them. The survey closes on May 31, 2020; please click this link to open and complete the survey before the closing date. We encourage everyone to take the time to complete the survey to help benefit our profession as a whole. 

    Best regards,

    FRID

  • 22 Feb 2020 12:16 PM | Holli Tempe

    A special note from the FRID Board of Directors and Communications Committee: 

    It has come to our attention that some members have been receiving emails from supposed Board members asking for donations. Please know that these emails are not coming from FRID. A look at the email address the messages are being sent from shows they are coming from the careswer.com domain and not our domain at fridcentral.org. Please mark these messages as spam and disregard them. 

    Thank you for your attention, 

    FRID Board of Directors

  • 22 Apr 2018 7:52 PM | Adam Ledo

    The 2018 Florida Legislative session concluded last month. The Boards of FRID & FAD had been tracking a couple bills:

    • SB1466/HB1109 - "State Emergency Communications and Warning System"

    • SB588/HB211 - "Crimes Evidencing Prejudice"

    Unfortunately, both of these bills failed to pass. The Board of FRID is disappointed that these critically important bills were not able to become law.

    In the coming months, the Board of FRID, and our Advocacy, Education, & Outreach Committee chair, Carrie Moore, will be meeting with the Board of FAD and their Advocacy Chair, Rachelle Settambrino, to discuss our plan for the next legislative session and how we can have a stronger influence on public policy.

    In related news, the National Association of the Deaf released a statement recently regarding the 2018 Florida legislative session. Part of the statement read:

    "This legislative activity was covered gavel-to-gavel on television and on the legislature’s websites. Deaf and hard of hearing people, however, were not able to understand much of the legislative activity because the state failed to caption the proceedings.  As a result, the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and disabled rights advocate Eddie I. Sierra of Miami are suing the State of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives, the Florida Senate, the Florida Channel and various other defendants for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973."

    To read the full statement, click here, and follow NAD for updates on this lawsuit.
  • 08 Feb 2018 10:36 AM | Deleted user

    SB1466/HB1109 - "State Emergency Communications and Warning System"

    The Board is continuing to monitor this bill, which would require the Division of Emergency Management to include qualified interpreters in certain emergency broadcasts. Also, we are scheduled to meet with the bill sponsors on Friday, February 9 to offer our support and guidance, and to discuss the specific language in the bill. 

    Read the bills here: SB1466 and HB1109

    SB588/HB211 - "Crimes Evidencing Prejudice"

    These bills in the Florida legislature would update our existing hate crimes law. The changes would be twofold: 

    1) adding "gender identity" as an additional protection, and 2) updating the definition of "disability". 

    The Board of FRID has been in contact with the office of the Senate sponsor, the Criminal Justice Committee staffer who did the bill analysis, and a representative from the Anti-Defamation League, who brought this bill to the sponsors. From what we have been able to gather from these conversations, the current definition of disability in Florida statute is antiquated and not inclusive. The law as written uses the "incapacitated" definition of disability, which only covers persons who are severely debilitated, and would not include disabilities like being Deaf or blind. SB588 and HB211 would be changing the language of the definition of disability to be more in line with federal statute, including the ADA. 

    The changes would expand the definition of disability to include Deaf people, as well as other persons with disabilities. This means that if a Deaf or hard of hearing person were to be targeted because they are Deaf or hard of hearing, then the crime could be prosecuted as a hate crime. Also, Florida hate crimes statute includes both crimes against persons and crimes against property. 

    If this bill were to pass, should a deaf-owned business be targeted, then they could use hate crimes law in their prosecution, as well. 

    Read the bills here: SB588  and HB211

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software