Leader Dogs for the Blind

Since 1939, Leader Dogs for the Blind has provided the tools and training to reintroduce people who are blind or visually impaired to a life of independence, confidence and community. Leader Dog is the answer for thousands of people who are in critical need of our services. We serve over 300 clients each year in our three programs: Guide Dog Training, Orientation & Mobility Training (white cane travel) and a Summer Experience Camp for teens. Our programs are life-changing and open the doors to school, work, safety and self-worth for many of our clients. And because we believe every person deserves equal opportunity for travel and independence, all of our services are provided at no cost.

Our vision is that every person who is blind or visually impaired travels safely and independently.

Goal One: Reach, recruit and retain people who are blind or visually impaired to increase the number of clients served across Guide Dog, Deaf-Blind and O&M programs.

Goal Two: Develop a robust evaluation and follow up model with defined measurable outcomes to ensure clients have lifelong skills for safe and independent daily travel.

Goal Three: Grow and diversify the revenue base to advance the Leader Dogs for the Blind mission and ensure future sustainability.

Our organization had team members participate in Clifton Strengths sessions. We started with our leadership teams to ensure that our new adoption of a strengths-based culture would be encouraged from the highest leadership and down throughout every department that makes up our team. Rolling out the Clifton Strengths assessments and trainings has been ongoing as we work through each department and onboard new team members. In order to embrace this culture, our team members have included their top five strengths at the bottom of their email signatures and along the bottom of the nameplates on their offices. Each interaction prompts a discussion on similarities or differences team members have as it relates to their top five strengths and how they are utilized each day. Additionally, we altered our bi-annual touch base reviews to incorporate a focus on the importance and utilization of strengths on a daily basis. It is a culture we are thriving in and are proud to continue.

Leader Dog has followed COVID safety protocols, adapting them to our Program to be able train our clients who are legally blind. We initially reduced our ratio of client to guide dog mobility instructor from 4:1 to 2:1, followed all sanitization procedures, wore masks and conducted daily health surveys for clients and team members. Initially we were selective in the areas clients lived who could come for training at the leader dog campus based on COVID positivity rates in their State, and as the pandemic progressed and restrictions eased, we’ve be fortunate to train clients from across the Continental US and Canada. During this year of evolution, our team created many brand-new initiatives to tackle the challenges caused by a global pandemic. We created Alumni Hour, a regular event where our clients can virtually join in to learn about Leader Dog news and to just chat with each other. We launched T.O.M. Talks, which invited adults between the ages of 18 and 24 who are blind to virtually learn about independent travel, professional readiness and networking. We held the first Great Leader Dog Picnic, which allowed people to participate in an event that could maintain social distancing. We created a Virtual Learning platform for people from many different subsets of our community to find out more about subjects like cane travel, coming home with a Leader Dog, accessible pedestrian signs and more. Our puppy development team began virtual events for raisers who could not meet up and train together as they used to, and they created online modules to help guide raisers through the basics of their time with a Future Leader Dog. At this time, clients are still meeting and training with their Leader Dogs, preparing for a successful partnership for years to come. We plan on broadening our reach in the coming weeks and months to our clients in Latin America and Spain.