AFB Possibilities

This past year, producer and host of AFB Possibilities Tony Stephens traveled to west Virginia to capture the stories of six individuals who are blind or have low vision. Traveling by train from the East Coast, he experienced first hand the states beauty and ruggedness as they crawled through the Appalachian Mountains before settling on the banks of the Ohio River. What he discovered was a strong...

In 2025, the American Foundation for the blind (AFB) launched the AFB Scholars Program, which provides substantial financial support and mentoring to graduate and undergraduate students who are blind. Our first cohort welcomed four students into the program, and we had a chance at the 2025 AFB Leadership Conference to sit down and meet with two of the scholars, Josh Olukanni at Georgetown and Anni...

Welcome back to another episode of AFB Possibilities, a podcast from the American Foundation for the Blind. In this episode, Tony Stephens sits down for a conversation with Matt Ater. Matt is Senior Vice President for Vispero, a leading global assistive technology and digital accessibility company. In this episode, Matt share his own journey as a blind leader in the digital accessibility space. To...

As we kick-off 2026, we wanted to share a special episode taken from the opening plenary of the AFB Leadership Conference held in Arlington, Virginia this past November. In this episode, we welcome leaders from across the field of blindness who weigh in on the current pressing issues facing people who are blind or have low vision today. Please be sure to like and subscribe to this podcast from whe...

Welcome to another episode of the AFB Possibilities Podcast. To mark Vocational Rehabilitation awareness week, which spans June 9th - 13th, AFB’s Tony Stephens sat down for an engaging conversation with Dr. Randy Pierce of Future Insight and Russell Martello from Visions to discuss the benefits around holistic approaches to rehabilitation.  Tony, Randy, and Russell met through the annual Vision Se...

Spring has sprung, and so has a new season for the AFB Possibilities Podcast . As we kick-off this season, we’ll be focusing in on AFB’s Award winning documentary film Possibilities , which presents an authentic portrayal of life today for people who are blind, deafblind, or have low vision. The film was awarded this past weekend the Broader Vision Documentary Award at the Garden State Film Festiv...

In this episode, your host Melody Goodspeed sits down with the audio description team for the AFB documentary film Possibilities (2024). She’s joined by AD producer Roy Samuelson, AD writer Colleen Connor, AD QC specialist Serina Gilbert,AD performer Sautana Howery, and AD writer Bridget Melton. The team shares the unique approach they took toward creating open audio description for the film, as w...

Welcome to the AFB Possibilities Podcast. In this first episode of the newly rebranded podcast from the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), we wanted to share with you a special interview during this season of giving with AFB trustee Ted Francavilla and financial advisor Liz Updike. The AFB Possibilities Podcast is a production of the American Foundation for the blind. Previously the Inform a...

Welcome to another episode of the Inform & Connect Podcast, a production of the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). In this episode, AFB’s Melody Goodspeed and Tony Stephens catch up with Spectrum’s Petr Kucheryavyy, who provides a breakdown of what’s new with SpectrumAccess and exciting news on the horizon for consumers of audio described content. As the weather moves us more indoors, wh...

https://www.andrewleland.org In this episode of the Inform & Connect podcast, Melody and Tony welcome Andrew Leland, author of the recently released book The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight , available through Penguin/Random House. Leland’s book, which is part memoir and part cultural breakdown of blindness throughout history, shares his experiences loosing his sight from Re...

In this episode of AFB’s Inform & Connect , Melody and Tony talk with Jordan Thomas, who runs the Twisted Tomato pizzeria in Del Ray Beach, Florida. Jordan shares his experience of going blind after serving ten years as a fire fighter in northeast Pennsylvania, and how his plot twist of loosing his sight would eventually lead him to the sunshine state where he opened his family run pizzeria, b...

Welcome to the latest episode of the Inform & Connect podcast, a production of the American Foundation for the Blind. In this episode, we talk with new AFB Trustee Victoria Watts. Victoria is a mother of four children, her youngest a seven-year-old boy who is blind. Victoria shares her journey with her son, and the mission that followed to make the world more accessible one packaged good at a...

Welcome to another episode of the Inform & Connect podcast, a production of the American Foundation for the Blind. In this episode, our host Melody Goodspeed is joined by AFB’s Tony Stephens as they have a sit-down conversation with AFB’s new President & CEO Eric Bridges. Eric shares his personal experience with vision loss as a child, the paths in life that fostered leadership and his mov...

Welcome back to a new season of the Inform & Connect podcast. In this episode, AFB’s Melody Goodspeed speaks with Timothy Breitenfeldt, who is nearly completely blind. Timothy graduated with his Bachelors in Computer Science in 2019. He has been working at JPMorgan Chase for 2 years as a software engineer, and helps manage applications that support Outside Counsel for the legal department. Tim...

Jim Stovall has been a National Olympic weightlifting champion, a successful investment broker, president of the Emmy Award-winning Narrative Television Network, and a highly sought-after author and platform speaker. He is the author of more than 50 books, including the bestseller, The Ultimate Gift, also a major motion picture from 20th Century Fox starring James Garner and Abigail Breslin. Five...

Ishan is the founder and CEO of VIP World Services , where they design innovative accessible solutions for corporates to cater to the needs of Visually Impaired People (VIP). He is a Service Designer with 10+ years of experiences in multi-national companies, healthcare organizations, government bodies, and startups, leveraging professional, creative and analytical skills combining his Engineering...

This episode of Inform & Connect features Clarke Reynolds, a UK-based visual artist who uses sound and touch to bring his art to life for people who are blind or visually impaired. Clarke knew from a young age that his calling was to be an artist. At age four, he started losing sight in his right eye, and hospital treatments did little to help. He turned to art – a solitary hobby that became h...

Inform & Connect continues with Nefertiti Matos Olivares , a fervent advocate for accessible culture, transit, tech, and personal fitness. Nefertiti currently works as an Assistive Technology Trainer for the New York Public Library’s Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library, where she provides one-on-one technology coaching, creates programming, and facilitates group workshops on a ran...

Ron Brooks is totally blind and a writer, speaker, entrepreneur and evangelist for the transformation of mobility for people with disabilities. In this episode, Ron discusses employment and transportation barriers, as well as his own entrepreneurial journey and the lessons he’s learned along the way. A graduate of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University in Indianapolis...

Neva has over 20 years of professional experience in the field of vision loss and a lifetime of experience living with low vision. She was diagnosed at an early age with Cone Rod Degeneration, a rare genetic eye condition. Neva is a vital part of AFB's Aging Initiative team, which involves the research and public policy needs of people experiencing vision loss later in life. She currently oversees...

Season 3 of Inform & Connect continues with Paul Schroeder , Vice President, Government and Community Affairs, American Printing House for the Blind. In his role, Paul serves as a key advisor on matters pertaining to all government activities at APH, including educating U.S. Congress members by raising awareness of the unique learning needs of people who are blind or visually impaired and the...

Season 3 of Inform & Connect kicks off with a conversation with Carl Augusto , President Emeritus of AFB. Carl served as president and CEO of AFB for 25 years —one quarter of the organization’s 100-year history. Under Carl’s leadership, AFB forged numerous strategic partnerships and alliances within the vision loss community and beyond to address critical issues and expand opportunities for pe...

In this episode of Inform & Connect , the American Foundation for the Blind’s ongoing series created to foster togetherness and camaraderie within the blindness community, Melody speaks with Ron Brooks. Episode Transcript

Inform & Connect returns featuring a duo who share a drive for taking their love for their heritage and natural curiosity to make powerful and beautiful change in the world: ESAS Founders Amanda Sichon and Seda Bilgner . After working in the corporate beauty industry for a combination of over 25 years, Amanda and Seda set out to create a sustainable and all-natural farm to beauty manufacturing...

Inform & Connect , the American Foundation for the Blind’s live group conversation and podcast created to foster togetherness and camaraderie within the blindness community through informal storytelling and learning about relevant, interesting topics, returns with an episode featuring siblings Brian and Kerry Kijewski. Brian and Kerry are both blind – they were both born with Senior-Løken synd...