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In January 2020, Starkey brought 3,400 hearing professionals from around the globe to the hearing industry’s largest event, Starkey Hearing Expo. There, Starkey unveiled Livio Edge AI, a hearing aid that offers unmatched sound quality in difficult listening environments – like a restaurant or arena.
Less than two months later, the world was effectively shut down by COVID-19. Starkey’s President and CEO, Brandon Sawalich, knew there was no playbook for how to lead a global company through a pandemic. His first job was to keep Starkey’s 5,000 employees healthy and safe. Brandon and his team, having seen how the virus was spreading in Asia, used that knowledge to quickly put plans in place to keep employees safe in Starkey facilities around the world. Brandon’s second priority was to keep business moving forward. As hearing clinics that sell Starkey hearing aids temporarily closed, Brandon’s team quickly sprang into action, hosting virtual town halls to help clinics get information on everything from PPP to PPE. By helping these small businesses navigate the pandemic, offices around the country were able to provide telehealth services and implement safe practices to continue seeing patients. Starkey’s innovation also went into overdrive during this time. The company was hearing from patients that masks were blocking lip reading and muffling sounds; social distancing was making it even more difficult to communicate for those with hearing loss. Just a few months into the pandemic, Starkey released Edge Mode for Masks. The technology compensates for mask wearing and social distancing to increase sound intelligibility, a major help during a time when staying connected has never been more important.
Brandon also used his platform during the pandemic to spread awareness about the importance of hearing health. In op-eds, conversations with lawmakers and though social media, Brandon used the challenges people with hearing loss were facing during the pandemic, as well as the growing research linking hearing loss to issues like cognitive decline, loneliness and depression, to stress that hearing health is essential and that people should not wait to treat hearing loss.
Brandon has been leading the hearing industry over the past two years in the debate around over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids. Congress created the OTC category in 2017. The FDA has spent the past few years debating the rules around these devices that are meant to help people with perceived mild-to-moderate hearing loss. Brandon believes this new category of hearing aids has the potential to significantly open up access to hearing health care for Americans, but he is a strong advocate for ensuring these devices are safe and effective for consumers. Brandon has become a leading voice on this issue, appearing in several national news interviews, writing open letters to the White House and meeting with the Biden Administration and lawmakers from across the country. Brandon’s tireless work in Washington is ensuring that the voices of those with hearing loss, their families and hearing professionals are being heard in D.C. around hearing health policy.
In 2021, Starkey also released its best-sounding hearing aid ever, Evolv AI. Using artificial intelligence, the device scans its environment 55 million times every hour, adjusting automatically to perfect the way it listens.
Brandon is a firm believer in kindness and that the most important piece of business is how you treat people. In 2021, while many were still feeling the impacts of the pandemic, Starkey launched its corporate social responsibility program, Starkey Cares. The program helps those in our local communities who need help accessing hearing health care and technology. In March of 2022, Starkey Cares took this program one step further, announcing a global partnership with Special Olympics to help thousands of athletes around the world who suffer from hearing loss. The partnership will also focus on training hearing health providers to care for those with disabilities.
Nomination Title: Brandon Sawalich
