National Association of the Deaf (NAD)

Howard Rosenblum. Howard A. Rosenblum started as the Chief Executive Officer of the NAD in April 2011 and also serves as an ex officio member of the NAD Board of Directors. He comes to the NAD after 19 years as a lawyer, focusing his practice on disability rights and special education law. For the past nine years, he was a Senior Attorney… See full bio.

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Story: The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) is the nation's premier civil rights organization of, by and for deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the United States of America. Established in 1880, the NAD was shaped by deaf leaders who believed in the right of the American deaf community to use sign language, to congregate on issues important to them, and to have its interests represented at the national level. These beliefs remain true to this day, with American Sign Language as a core value. The advocacy scope of the NAD is broad, covering a lifetime and impacting future generations in the areas of early intervention, education, employment, health care, technology, telecommunications, youth leadership, and more – improving the lives of millions of deaf and hard of hearing Americans. The NAD also carries out its federal advocacy work through coalition efforts with specialized national deaf and hard of hearing organizations, as well as coalitions representing national cross-disability organizations. On the international front, the NAD represents the United States of America to the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), an international human rights organization. Individual and organizational membership makes it possible for the NAD to ensure that the collective interests of the American deaf and hard of hearing community are seen and represented among our nation’s policy makers and opinion leaders at the federal level. The NAD is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization supported by the generosity of individual and organizational donors, including corporations and foundations.

Evidence of Impact Summary:

The National Association of the Deaf serves as an advocate for human rights and a better life quality for 35,000,000 deaf and hard of hearing Americans. The NAD has advocated for better visual communication technologies and high quality education for deaf people, families and professionals who serve them, and interpreters. The NAD works through coalition efforts with specialized national deaf and hard of hearing organizations, as well as coalitions representing national cross-disability organizations, to accomplish their goals.
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Organization Strengths Summary:

The National Association of the Deaf has been praised for its strong leadership. Additionally, the National Association of the Deaf provides leadership camps for deaf children and youth, leadership and business training for deaf adults, and cultural activities for everyone in the community to increase awareness and appreciation for diversity.
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Areas for Improvement Summary:

According to experts, the National Association of the Deaf could vastly improve its outreach and advocacy services as well as its communications and informational materials with more funds. It is limited by its scarce resources. To address this issue, they must improve their marketing and fundraising tactics.
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Howard A. Rosenblum started as the Chief Executive Officer of the NAD in April 2011 and also serves as an ex officio member of the NAD Board of Directors. He comes to the NAD after 19 years as a lawyer, focusing his practice on disability rights and special education law. For the past nine years, he was a Senior Attorney at Equip for Equality, the designated Protection & Advocacy entity for the State of Illinois. Previously, he worked ten years as an associate at Monahan & Cohen, a private law firm, and briefly as a legal counsel at Access Living, the center for independent living for the Chicago area. In 1997, he founded the Midwest Center on Law and the Deaf, to address the lack of access to the legal profession for deaf and hard of hearing individuals, and oversaw its operation as the Board Chair until 2011. In 2010, President Barack Obama appointed Mr. Rosenblum to serve on the United States Access Board, which is responsible for setting accessible design and technical criteria used to promote compliance with federal disability rights laws. Mr. Rosenblum has a bachelor of science degree in computer engineering from the University of Arizona and a juris doctor degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law. Born and raised in Chicago, Rosenblum is a diehard fan of Chicago sports teams. He also enjoys traveling the world to meet deaf people in other countries and learning their sign languages.

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