GERALDINE G. TAECKENS

Commissioner

Michigan Commission for the Blind

Geraldine (Geri) Taeckens is a woman who possesses a passion for increasing knowledge, awareness, and acceptance among ALL individuals. Having experienced personal and social intolerance as a result of gradual vision loss from age seven to 35, Geri has made it her mission to evoke positive changes in attitudes. She holds a special education degree from Eastern  Michigan University and a master’s of social work degree from the University of Michigan, and she has worked in the education and mental health field for over 30 years.  She is employed by the Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District under contract as a school social worker, along with her guide dog, Kojak, for the Sault Ste. Marie Area Schools.  An accomplished writer, she has published two children’s books with CDs and is soon to complete “Blind Man’s Bluff,” an autobiographical novel about self-acceptance.

She has developed two businesses:  Accessibilities Educational-Therapeutic Services, providing psychotherapy to individuals, families, and groups; and Iris Seemore Animal Health Fund, Inc., a nonprofit product sales corporation for raising money for catastrophic illness funds for service animals.

She is a wife and mother who enjoys cross-country skiing, hiking, writing, singing, and playing music. 

Regarding her new role, she states, “With my appointment as commissioner to the Michigan Commission for the Blind, I commit to supporting the existing accomplishments of the agency and its staff and customers, as well as contributing to its future growth.”