The Institute for Innovative Blind Navigation (IIBN) is deeply grateful to the staff and board members at NEC Foundation of America for the grant we received in June of 2001. As a young organization, IIBN was supported by strong inkind contributions, and by a talented and dedicated board of directors. In the first five years of operation, from the founding of IIBN in 1997 to 2001, our agency survived on small grants and volunteers. We were able to help blind children in Saginaw County with local support. We also had a global outreach program through two listserves co-sponsored with the Michigan State University School of Education.

Because NEC Foundation of America believed in our mission and had faith in our ability to grow as an organization, IIBN gained a strong national reputation as a leader and expert in wayfinding technology for blind consumers. We sponsored five regional conferences using NEC Foundation of America funding. We set up a knowledge management "textbook" on our website. We helped focus the technology development efforts at the American Printing House for the Blind where federal quota funds make it possible for teachers to get technologies for blind students in America's public schools. We wrote an article in the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness about wayfinding technology. Fees from conferences made it possible to continue offering national seminars on wayfinding technology. Using the NEC Foundation of America grant we influenced consumers and professionals in every region of the United States. We also got the attention of a considerable number of Canadian colleagues. We were careful and determined to acknowledge NEC Foundation of America at each conference and in our literature.

We established partnerships and co-sponsors for all grant related activities. In keeping with the grant mandate, we established a networking/contact system with the leading national organizations serving the blindness community. This included The American Printing House for the Blind (APH), The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), The Association of Educators and Rehabilitation Specialists for the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER), several university programs (Western Michigan University, Michigan State University, Florida State University, the University of California, and the Pennsylvania College of Optometry), The Southern United States Orientation and Mobility Association (SOMA), The United States Veterans Administration Department for Vision Rehabiltation, The Sacramento Society for the Blind, The San Francisco Light House for the Blind, Smith Kettlewell Institute, and two consumer groups (The National Federation of the Blind, NFB, and the American Council of the Blind, ACB). All of these contacts were made possible because of the credibility we received from the NEC Foundation of America grant.

We wish to especially acknowledge the leadership role that NEC Foundation of America director Sylvia Clark played in helping IIBN secure the grant. Sylvia was encouraging and supportive from the first moment we contacted her. She helped us rewrite and reassess our grant at several stages. She believed in our young organization and she enabled the great progress we have made over the past years. Every new organization needs a breakthrough, where their value and energy can be demonstrated. Sylvia Clark and the board members of the NEC Foundation of America gave us our important breakthrough. We now have the reputation and experience to further the mission of the Institute.

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