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President Melissa's first video for the 2018-2020 term discusses the five new priorities.

Learn more about the five priorities for 2018-2020: Link


VIDEO DESCRIPTION AND TRANSCRIPT: Melissa is standing outside in front of a grey brick wall. A small white NAD logo appears on bottom right corner.

MELISSA: Hi, I'm Melissa and this is my first President's Update video and I look forward to continuing my series in my new term from 2018 through 2020. Earlier this month we had a very successful NAD conference in Hartford, with over 2,100 people in attendance! I'd like to take a quick moment to thank some people. First, the volunteers who provided a lot of support in ensuring a smooth, warm and positive experience for all -- thank you for all that you did. Second, the delegates and alternative delegates for the Council of Representatives three-day meeting -- thank you for taking the time to review, discuss, and get a sense from the community to help us decide what our top five priorities should be. Moving forward, we are excited to share what our five new priorities are for the 2018-2020 term:

1) Restoring the Deaf community’s confidence in the sign language interpreting profession by strengthening our partnership with the interpreters.

2) Establish a Task Force with Deaf Seniors of America (DSA) on all aging-related issues.

3) Focusing on Systemic Barriers in Vocational Rehabilitation Services for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing.

4) National Parent Campaign

5) Campaign to spotlight the oppression of Deaf people within the justice system

These are our five priorities and we look forward to working with the committees, Headquarters, and Board -- we are ready to get started. Within the next few weeks, we'll release more information about joining a committee for anyone who is interested. Thank you.

Video fades to a soft white background with several different font types showing “NAD” very quickly. Copyright video ends with the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) logo centered. Blue text below the logo appears, “The National Association of the Deaf / (copyright) 2018 All Rights Reserved / Link . After a few beats, a yellow highlight appears with the URL.