Blind Industries & Services of Maryland

“The form 990 is reviewed by the president, senior director, chief financial officer and the controller before it is filed with the internal revenue service. It is also reviewed by the treasurer of the board of trustees and made available to the rest of the board of trustees to comment upon, if they chose to do so, before it is filed with the internal revenue service. It is also discussed at the next meeting of the board of trustees, where any concerns/questions are addressed.”

“We regularly and consistently monitor and enforce compliance with the conflicts of interest policy by requiring the following: each new person serving as an officer, associate or member of the board of trustees shall be required to review a copy of our policy and to acknowledge in writing that he or she has done so. Each person serving as an officer, associate or member of the board of trustees (responsible person) shall annually complete a disclosure form identifying any relationships, positions or circumstances in which he or she is involved that he or she believes could contribute to a conflict of interest arising. Such relationships, positions or circumstances might include service as a director of or consultant to a nonprofit organization, or ownership of a business that might provide goods or services to bism. Any such information regarding business interests of a responsible person or a family member shall be treated as confidential and shall generally be made available only to the chair, the president, and any committee appointed to address conflicts of interest, except to the extent additional disclosure is necessary in connection with the implementation of our policy. Our policy shall be reviewed annually by each member of the board of trustees. Any changes to the policy shall be communicated immediately to all responsible persons.”

“The senior director provides the board of trustees with a compilation of salaries for the position of president in agencies for the blind that are comparable to our agency as well as a salary survey of not-for-profit organizations. The board of trustees reviews information regarding compensation levels for the president's peers, they target a range of compensation that is applied to the president based on the scope of his job, experience and capabilities and then look at his individual performance for a given year. All these elements factor into compensation for that year.”

“Our governing documents are available at the state of maryland department of assessments and taxation website. Governing documents, the conflict of interest policy and the financial statements are available for inspection during normal business hours at our headquarters or can be mailed upon request for the same period of disclosure as set forth in section 6104(d).”

“Rehabilitation, training, and employment of blind and low vision individuals. We positively change people's attitudes toward blindness.”