NAD and Howard Rosenblum make it official they have separated

On Friday, April 19, the National Association of the Deaf and its former CEO Howard Rosenblum posted individual announcement videos to make it official that they have separated.

Neither side gave a specific reason for the separation. But based on my previous reporting, the split has to do with internal disagreements on Howard’s handling of the Super Bowl ASL access as the NAD CEO and a perceived lack of transparency into how Alexis Kashar stood to benefit from the display of her private businesses’ jewelry and apparel on Deaf performers.

NAD President Jenny Buechner said the NAD will establish a search committee to find their next CEO and the search would begin after the NAD Conference in Chicago in July. She said two staff members are currently handling CEO duties and internal operations.

Jenny said the NAD Board received a report of the internal review conducted by outside consultants and that they are committed to sharing information about the review within the next few weeks.

What is this review about? If you remember, the NAD Board said on February 27 that it was reviewing its “advocacy of access to the Super Bowl and the NAD’s endorsement and conflict of interest policies.”

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Howard, in his video, listed various major achievements that the NAD has done under his leadership.

Howard explained that he developed a relationship with the NFL through Alexis Kashar before he started his role as NAD CEO and continued to develop that relationship during his time as CEO with the goal of increasing awareness about the NAD and visibility of ASL and Deaf Culture.

Howard said this was a partnership between the NFL, Alexis Kashar, and himself, including during his role as NAD CEO, and that there was no conflict or endorsement.

I think it’s important to note here that Alexis Kashar was the NAD Civil Rights Committee Chair in 2011 when the NFL and FOX announced that all commercials would be captioned. Howard became NAD CEO that year. So both were NAD representatives in their dealings with the NFL. I want to emphasize that.

We’re just over two months away from the NAD Conference in July. By then, we’ll know more about how the CEO search will play out.

For now, the next thing to look out for is the NAD Board’s report on the internal review of its actions with the Super Bowl.