Some have a gift for imagining a better world and then setting forth to create it. We usually call these people visionaries. But what do you call a man who imagined a future where the world could hear?
People Behind the Scenes
In 1973 The Starkey Hearing Foundation started with a simple premise: “ Alone we can’t do much. But, together we can change the world.” With “So the World May Hear” as his goal, Starkey Hearing Foundation founder William F. Austin built an organization upon this vision.
Today the Foundation is sustained by the efforts of thousands of volunteers and donors around the world. Your support allows us to deliver more than 20,000 hearing aids annually through more than 100 hearing missions a year in countries stretching from the U.S. to Vietnam.
Besides giving the gift of hearing, the Foundation promotes hearing health awareness while supporting research and education. From its headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Foundation works globally for one simple reason: There is no feeling like being in a room with a child who hears its mother say, “I love you,” for the first time.
Best of all, it’s easy for you to share in this life-changing experience because every dollar and every hour you contribute helps. Whether you participate by volunteering or help make a mission possible through a donation, you help give the gift of hearing.
William F. Austin
Founder & CEO, Starkey Laboratories, Inc. Founder, Starkey Hearing Foundation
Starkey founder and CEO William F. Austin has always had a passion for helping others. Leaving medical school in the 1960s to focus on helping people hear better, he opened first a hearing aid distributorship, and then an all-make repair service, revolutionizing the industry with his drive to provide not only a better product, but better hearing.
Through the years, Mr. Austin’s philosophy gained momentum, and he began talking about it. In the early 1970s, he asked himself what his true purpose was. The answer came in a dream: the reason for his work was the gift of hearing…the vehicle that creates love and caring between people so they can learn the lessons of living.
That philosophy led to many of the innovations Starkey pioneered, and fueled the company’s growth through three decades. Today Mr. Austin’s drive to satisfy consumers first has made Starkey Labs the industry leader, while his expertise on hearing loss is sought after by stars and dignitaries, sports figures and politicians, including President Ronald Reagan.
Yet corporate success and even recognition aren’t Mr. Austin’s primary motivations. Instead, it’s the smiles of hearing that make him smile—especially those of kids. With “So the World May Hear” as his goal, Mr. Austin founded the Starkey Hearing Foundation with a simple premise: “Alone we can’t do much. But, together we can change the world.”
Mr. Austin is a tireless advocate for hearing-impaired children and regularly makes missions overseas to personally administer to kids in such countries as El Salvador, Mexico, Panama and Ecuador, donating time, money and hearing aids. In the thousands of fittings he performs each year, he achieves his reatest success—measured in the smiles, hugs, and laughter of those he helps.
Besides giving the gift of hearing, the Foundation promotes hearing health awareness while supporting research and education. From its headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Foundation works globally for one simple reason: There is no feeling like being in a room with a child who hears its mother say, “I love you,” for the first time.
