Douglas Ingram, Florida Regional Group, has been appointed by the Blinded Veterans Association to serve as the Director of District 3, effective January 25. Accepting the appointment, he will serve out the remainder of the three-year term of office, which began last summer. 

Doug was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, at the Naval Air Station Hospital. He grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, where he resides still today. He joined the Navy in 1977 immediately out of high school and was trained as an Operations Specialist, stationing him in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and then Charleston, South Carolina, aboard the USS Aylwin, FF-1081, a Knox Class Frigate.

After four years of service, Doug transferred to the Reserves and began college. He graduated with an Associate Degree from Tallahassee Community College in 1984 and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of South Florida in 1987 while attaining the rank of E-6, Petty Officer First Class.

Doug retired from the Reserves following graduation and began his employment with the State of Florida, reaching the position of Computer Systems Administrator. In 1998, he discovered that he was losing his central vision and was diagnosed with Stargardt Disease. Although he was declared legally blind in 2004 and retired under disability, Doug started a property maintenance company after engaging in some part-time computer consulting.

After some ten years of being legally blind, he began looking for ways to serve in the blind community, discovering in the process the resilience of the blind community as he joined BVA in 2018 and began working with the Florida Regional Group. He was soon appointed by the Governor of Florida to the Florida Rehabilitation Council for the Blind to both represent BVA and provide oversight to the State Division of Blind Services. He became the treasurer of the Florida Regional Group in 2022 while accepting invitations to snow ski in Colorado and engage in some ocean kayaking in Key Largo, Florida, with groups now known as Team BVA. He and his wife, Melissa, have been married for 33 years.