Communications Ad Hoc Committee Meeting
MINUTES
October 13, 2016
Teleconference

Members Present: Lisa Byrd, Eric Chavis, Anna Cunningham, Nessie Siler, Kerri Eaker

Members Absent: Michael Groves, Vicki Smith

Staff Present:  Steve Strom, JoAnn Toomey

The open meeting was held via tele-conference and members were welcomed by Eric Chavis, chair.  The main agenda for the meeting was to recommend nominees to the Executive Committee, for the Hefner and Riddle awards to be presented at the November Council meeting.

Members first reviewed and discussed at length the four nominations for the Jack B. Hefner Memorial Award that is presented to an outstanding North Carolina advocate whose actions have improved the quality of life for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities. Each of the nominees were discussed at length and all agreed that the four nominations were worthy of this award but made the decision to bring forth the one nominee that they felt was most deserving to the Executive Committee by the following motion:

MOTION: Lisa Byrd made a motion to recommend Debra Burgess as the 2016 recipient of the Jack B. Hefner Memorial Award.  Anna Cunningham seconded the motion.  The recommendation will be reviewed by the Executive Committee at their meeting on October 17, 2016.  

Members then reviewed and discussed at length the eleven nominations for the Helen C. “Holly” Riddle Distinguished Service Award that is presented to an outstanding North Carolina professional whose work has improved the quality of life for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities. All agreed that all the nominations were worthy of this award but decided to bring forth the one nominee most deserving to the Executive Committee by the following motion:

MOTION: Nessie Siler made a motion to recommend Pat Porter as the 2016 recipient of the Helen C. “Holly” Riddle Distinguished Service Award.  Kerri Eaker seconded the motion. The recommendation will be reviewed by the Executive Committee at their meeting on October 17, 2016. The motion carried.

Anna Cunningham reminded the committee that there needs to be a broader push to have self-advocates in the nomination pool for each award.  The group also discussed the need for additional awards to recognize specific areas of contributions such as employment and housing. The members of the ad-hoc committee who are also on the executive committee will suggest the need for additional awards at the upcoming executive committee meeting.  

Eric Chavis thanked the members for their hard work on reviewing the nominations and coming prepared for a good discussion. The meeting was adjourned.