Created in 2019, the Blind Leaders Development Program (BLDP) began its third cohort in summer 2022–its biggest one yet. The program pairs Fellows with Mentors, both of which are blind or have low vision, to give talented people leadership experiences that can improve their ability to rise to high-level positions in their careers.
Since the beginning, the program has seen a steady increase in applicants for both Fellows and Mentors. In fact, seven Fellows from the second cohort are now Mentors in the third, because they gained the confidence and skills to apply and be selected as Mentors.
Fellows receive extensive training in leadership, networking, communication, and other key skills to advance in their careers to higher levels of authority and improve their effectiveness as leaders. Participants follow the highly regarded Leadership Challenge curriculum that provides tools and practices for leadership development, attend twice-monthly webinars, and receive guidance about what it takes to succeed from their Mentors.
“We rely on others to lift us up and I can do that with my voice and skills thanks to this program.”
“I started my leadership journey crawling, and now I feel I am walking.”
“I’ve learned how to be confident in my skin.”
—Blind Leadership Development Program Participants: In Their Own Words
They will also attend a leadership seminar at the 2023 AFB Leadership Conference, just as the previous cohort did in 2022. Although the program uses asynchronous learning, the return of in-person training in April 2022 and the AFB Leadership Conference in May created additional networking opportunities.
What’s more, the first two cohorts have maintained the connections they developed, such as working on their own to establish a monthly book club and helping those in the cohort who wanted to learn braille. AFB is creating an opportunity for more formal continued networking, too, developing an alumni association so all program participants can stay connected.
Learn more: afb.org/blindleaders.
Read on to learn about the work that drove the most impact in 2022.
