Seeking candidates for the 2026 GDUI elections
GDUI Membership
GUIDE DOG USERS, INC.
3603 MORGAN WAY
IMPERIAL, MISSOURI 63052
Toll Free: 1-866-799-8436
July 2, 2026
Dear GDUI Members and Friends,
GDUI elections are coming up! Here’s what you need to know about our 2026 elections and how to participate, as a candidate, and as a voter.
The 2026 GDUI Elections will begin Tuesday, October 20, 2026 at 9:00am eastern and end Monday, October 26, 2026 at 5:00pm eastern.
GDUI is seeking candidates for the following positions in our October 2026 elections:
- President – 2-year term
- First Vice President – 2-year term
- Second Vice President – 2-year term
- Secretary – 2-year term
- Treasurer – 2-year term
- Two Directors – 3-year term
All GDUI members in good standing are eligible to run for a position on the GDUI Board. By the deadline of Friday, August 21, 2026, interested candidates should submit, via e-mail to the Nominating Committee, a completed application form (attached and online)
Please note: your completed application form will be shared in its entirety, as submitted, with GDUI members entitled to vote in this election.
You can reach the Nominating Committee at this e-mail address:
GDUI members who have paid their dues by this year's record date of Monday, August 31, 2026, will be eligible to vote in the October elections. If you have not renewed your membership, now is the time to do so. This will allow you to vote to fill the open Board positions, as well as to accept or reject any proposed Bylaws change(s) that members have recommended.
A membership in GDUI costs just $15.00 per person per year and includes an annual subscription to Paws for GDUI News You Can Use, our informative newsletter.
Your GDUI dues may be paid, by credit card, online by going to Membership - Guide Dog Users, Inc. (GDUI)
or by calling 866.799.8436. You may also pay by postal mail, by sending a check made payable to GDUI and sent to the GDUI Treasurer’s postal mailing address: GUIDE DOG USERS, INC., 164 Morris St. Apt. 21, Albany, NY 12208.
Important dates to remember:
In order to be eligible to vote in the 2026 GDUI election, your 2026 GDUI dues must have been received on or before the record date of August 31, 2026.
If you wish to run for any of the 2026 positions which are up for election, we need to receive your completed application by close of business on Friday, August 21, 2026.
We will hold two telephonic candidates’ Forums prior to the election. Dates and phone numbers for these calls will be announced soon.
We encourage GDUI members to submit questions for your candidates. Please submit your questions to the Nominating Committee, by the close of business on Friday, September 18, 2026. Email your proposed questions to elec...@guidedogusersinc.org and include “Forum Question” in the subject field of your e-mail message.
If you are thinking of running for one of the GDUI Board positions, we welcome your candidacy! Below please find a job description for each of the positions up for election as well as the application for candidacy (also available here Application Form for GDUI Board of Directors Position - Guide Dog Users, Inc. (GDUI)
We welcome your participation in our 2026 GDUI elections! We are looking forward to a lively campaign season. If you have not yet done so, we encourage you to renew your membership in GDUI, so that you may be eligible to run for an officer or director position, to submit questions for the candidates to answer; to attend one or both of the candidate forums; and especially to vote!
Thank you.
Sincerely,
The GDUI Nominating Committee, 2026
Dixie Sanderson, Chair
Lynn Merrill, Member
GDUI Officer and Director Position Descriptions
GDUI President:
Responsibilities and criteria for GDUI President position
The GDUI President must be willing and able to accept the legal, fiduciary and ethical
responsibilities for an organizational president, in accordance with standard nonprofit practices and procedures.
The GDUI President must be a GDUI member in good standing.
The GDUI President must be a current or former guide dog user.
The GDUI President shall:
- Preside over all meetings.
- Appoint a Vice President to preside over any meeting for which the president’s absence is unavoidable.
- Propose policies and practices to fulfill the mission of GDUI.
- Serve as an ex-officio member of GDUI committees (with the exception of the Nominating Committee) in compliance with the GDUI Bylaws).
- Monitor the performance of Directors and Officers.
- Submit various reports to the Board and to other “stakeholders” as necessary.
- Propose the creation of committees or task forces to accomplish needed work.
- Appoint chairpersons for committees and task forces.
- Perform other duties as the need arises and/or as defined in the GDUI Bylaws.
The GDUI President shall not be absent from three Board meetings in any year.
In the event that serious circumstances make it impossible for the President to attend any meeting of the GDUI Board, the president must inform the First Vice President, in advance, and must arrange for either the First or Second Vice-President to take on presidential duties for that meeting.
The President ensures that an agenda is planned in advance for Board meetings.
(This may involve periodic meetings with committee chairpersons to draft meeting agendas and reporting schedules.)
The President presides over meetings of the GDUI Board. In this capacity, the President: Chairs meetings according to accepted rules of order for the purposes of encouraging all members to participate in discussion; Facilitates the Board’s work of arriving at decisions in an orderly, timely and democratic manner; Votes as prescribed in the GDUI Bylaws.
The President is responsible for ensuring, on behalf of the membership, that the GDUI Board members are aware of and fulfill their governance responsibilities, including:
- Comply with applicable laws and Bylaws.
- Conduct Board business effectively and efficiently in accordance with standard nonprofit policies and procedures.
- Are accountable for their performance.
The President is accountable to the Board of Directors or Members as specified in the GDUI Bylaws. The President may delegate specific duties to Board members and/or committees, and to the office manager and the webmaster, as appropriate; however, the accountability remains with the President. For this reason, the president may take appropriate action to safeguard the interests of GDUI.
According to the GDUI Bylaws, the president’s involvement in the proceedings of the Nominating Committee is specifically limited; therefore, the President’s accountability, in the specific case of the recommendations or actions of the nominating committee, is accordingly limited.
The President serves as an ex-officio member of all Board committees (with the exception of the Nominating Committee). In this capacity, the President's role is to:
- Negotiate reporting schedules.
- Identify problems and assist the committee chairperson to resolve them.
- Bring such matters, if necessary, to the attention of the Board of Directors.
The President ensures that GDUI maintains positive and productive relationships with organizations related to the mission of GDUI, media and donors.
In this capacity, the President serves as primary spokesperson for GDUI, and Duties may include:
- Representing GDUI to the media.
- Representing GDUI on governmental or nongovernmental organizations and committees.
- Providing timely and appropriate reporting of Board decisions and actions to members and/or donors.
The President is normally designated by the Board of Directors and/or Bylaws as one of the signing officers for certain documents. In this capacity, the President may be authorized or required to sign or countersign bank checks, correspondence, applications, reports, contracts or other documents on behalf of GDUI.
The President ensures that structures and procedures are in place for effective recruitment, training, and evaluation of GDUI Board members.
The President ensures that structures and procedures are in place for securing the resources required by GDUI.
The GDUI President is the primary liaison between the Board and all GDUI staff. In this capacity, the President:
- Meets periodically with these individuals, no less than once a quarter.
- Ensures that annual performance reviews of these staff members are conducted.
- Participates in the hiring and evaluation of all staffers (presently the webmaster.
GDUI First Vice President:
Responsibilities and criteria for GDUI First Vice President position
The GDUI First Vice President is required to be willing and qualified to take over as President, if necessary, in accordance with the GDUI Bylaws.
Important: Please refer to “Responsibilities and Criteria for GDUI President Position” for specific details.
The first vice president must be willing and able to accept the legal, fiduciary and ethical responsibilities of an organizational vice president, and of President, in accordance with standard nonprofit practices and procedures.
The First Vice President is expected to attend all Board meetings, and to preside over any Board meeting for the president, if necessary.
The First Vice President shall inform the President, in advance, if unable to attend a particular Board meeting.
The First Vice President may not miss more than three Board meetings per year.
The First Vice President must be a member in good standing of GDUI.
The First Vice President must be a current or former guide dog user.
GDUI Second Vice President:
Responsibilities and criteria for GDUI Second Vice President position
The second vice president must be willing and able to accept the legal, fiduciary and ethical responsibilities of an organizational vice president, in accordance with standard nonprofit practices and procedures.
The Second Vice President Must Be a GDUI-member in good standing.
The Second Vice President must be a current or former guide dog user.
The Second Vice President is expected to attend all Board meetings and must be willing and able to run regularly scheduled Board meetings, if called upon by the President to do so (in the event that the President or First Vice President cannot be in attendance).
The Second Vice President shall inform the President, in advance, if unable to attend a particular Board meeting.
The Second Vice President may not miss more than three Board meetings per year.
GDUI Secretary:
Responsibilities and criteria for GDUI Secretary Position
The GDUI Secretary must be willing and able to accept the legal, fiduciary and ethical responsibilities of an organizational secretary, in accordance with standard nonprofit practices and procedures.
The Secretary must:
- Record (in document-form) meeting minutes for business meetings of the GDUI Board of Directors.
- Arrange for the audio-recording of meetings if it is the secretary’s desire to take minutes from an audio-recording.
- Possess thorough and quick note-taking skills in case an audio-recording of a meeting fails.
- Have the ability to use notes, memory, and/or recordings to reproduce accurate accounts of meetings for minutes.
- Use writing skills and discretion to summarize (or write in detail when appropriate) to create informative meeting minutes.
- Submit drafts of meeting minutes in time frames which allow other Board members to submit suggestions/corrections before a final draft is submitted for approval/acceptance at the subsequent Board meeting.
- Send minutes and attachments to the Web Master for posting to the GDUI Web Site.
- Assist GDUI by researching and reproducing content from previous minutes as is practical.
The secretary is expected to attend all Board meetings.
If the Secretary is unable to attend a Board meeting, after informing the President, the Secretary will arrange for a competent recorder for the meeting which the Secretary will miss.
The Secretary may not miss more than three Board meetings per year.
GDUI Treasurer:
Responsibilities and criteria for GDUI Treasurer Position
The GDUI Treasurer must be willing and able to accept the legal, fiduciary and ethical responsibilities of an organizational treasurer, in accordance with standard nonprofit practices and procedures.
The Treasurer must:
- Assist in the preparation of all budgets including GDUI’s annual budget.
- Be a bondable individual.
- Monitor the budget on a monthly basis, or more frequently if needed.
- Ensure that the financial policies (as set by the Board, and recommended by the Finance Committee) are being followed.
- Report to the Board of Directors and general membership on finances on a monthly basis.
- Prepare, in a timely manner, any required financial reporting forms to be submitted to the general membership, accountants, auditors or any such other entity as required for standard accounting procedures and policies.
- Maintain all bank accounts in a fiscally prudent manner in keeping with standard accounting practices.
- Oversee all financial transactions while ensuring all fiduciary responsibilities are met and ensure the benefit of GDUI.
- Serve as a member of the Finance Committee.
The Treasurer's signature should appear on all checks of the organization with the second signature from any of the board's other directors or staff with signing authority for amounts exceeding $1500.
The Treasurer is expected to attend all Board meetings.
The Treasurer may not miss more than three Board meetings per year.
GDUI Director:
Responsibilities and criteria for GDUI Board of Director position
Each member of the GDUI Board of Directors must be willing and able to accept the legal, fiduciary and ethical responsibilities of an organizational Director, in accordance with standard nonprofit practices and procedures.
Board members are expected to attend all Board meetings.
Members of the GDUI Board of Directors shall inform the President, in advance, if unable to attend a particular Board meeting.
A GDUI Board member shall not be absent from three Board meetings in any year.
A majority of Board members will be current or former guide dog users.
GDUI Application:
Please note that your application will be shared as submitted, in its entirety with the GDUI members eligible to vote in this election.
Application for Candidacy:
GDUI has three major responsibilities:
A. To promote the acceptance of guide dog teams by all agencies, employers, educational institutions, commercial establishments, and the general public.
B. To work for the expansion, standardization, and enforcement of legal provisions, both civil and criminal, governing the rights and responsibilities of guide dog users in the areas of public access, employment, housing, personal injury to dog and handler, transportation, and recreation.
C. To work in cooperation with guide dog training providers by contributing constructive input concerning selection, training, health care, and accommodations for both canine and human students, and providing constructive suggestions that will improve the quality of the training experience. With these goals in mind, please answer the following questions:
Date:
Position for which you wish to be a candidate (please specify specific officer or director position):
Applicant's Name: City/State:
E-mail Address:
Are you a guide dog user?
Describe your background (Educational, occupational/professional and/or general experience).
Describe your connection to, experience and previous work within the guide dog community.
Why do you WISH to serve on the GDUI Board?
Have you served on the GDUI Board or a GDUI committee previously? If so, when?
If you previously served on the GDUI Board, or a GDUI committee, in what activities and/or initiatives were you involved ?
Which of your skills and experiences would most support Board activities?
Please describe a time when a group of which you were a part accomplished its goal(s). What caused the group to be successful? How did you contribute to this success?
The GDUI Board of Directors primarily uses e-mail to communicate with one another. Do you have access to e-mail? Are you able to communicate effectively using this medium?
The GDUI Board of Directors meets every other month by teleconference. Meetings last from 2 to 3 hours. Other ad hoc telephonic meetings are sometimes called as well. Board Members are often asked to chair and serve on committees and perform tasks on behalf of GDUI as directed by the officers and committee chairpersons. Will you be able to find time to perform the tasks described above?
Please note: The information you have submitted in your application will be shared in its entirety with the GDUI members eligible to vote in this election. Do you understand and accept this fact?