Friday, June 19, 2020 is Claude Stout’s last day as TDI’s long-time Executive Director. The TDI Board of Directors wants to take this opportunity to bid him a fond farewell and to wish him a wonderful retirement.
TDI is very fortunate to have succeeded in hiring Eric Kaika as TDI’s new Chief Executive Officer by its April 1 target date and to have Claude Stout, TDI’s outgoing Executive Director, remain on board until May 31 as originally planned to facilitate the transition in executive leadership.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic has upended our world in ways we could not have imagined a mere three months ago. Such an upheaval has naturally caused a necessary reassessment of TDI’s operations to ensure continued stability.
Because Claude was successful in guiding TDI through the Great Recession that began in 2008, he has very generously offered to remain with TDI another three weeks to assist Eric in planning and initiating recalibration to TDI’s operations. Therefore, Claude’s last day is now June 19, 2020.
With the outstanding teamwork of Claude and Eric and the active engagement of TDI’s Board of Directors, we are already identifying and developing creative solutions that would enable TDI to not only maintain but also elevate its capacity to effectively advocate for full accessibility in
information and communication technology in the midst of this pandemic and beyond.
In recognition of and appreciation for Claude’s twenty-three years of distinguished service and innovative leadership in support of TDI’s mission, the TDI Board of Directors is presenting him an honorary lifetime TDI membership and bestowing upon him the title of TDI Chief Executive Officer Emeritus.