So The World May Hear: Supporting Starkey Hearing Foundation

This particular example also provided a profound human experience I’ll keep in my heart forever.

Starkey Hearing Foundation’s model is unique. They provide the gift of hearing through free hearing aids and follow-up care across the world to those who need it most. Their community-based hearing model has been honed through over 40 years of experience providing hearing aids to millions of recipients in over 100 countries. While that in itself is impressive and admirable, the work doesn’t require bringing in expensive screening equipment, or even electricity, to be able to change lives through the gift of hearing. It’s a model that is simple, sustainable, and scalable.

Recently, we were incredibly honored to be invited to join our client, the Starkey Hearing Foundation (or “SHF” for short), in-person on a hearing mission trip in the Dominican Republic. This wasn’t simply a site visit - it was an opportunity to volunteer right alongside their team and experience, firsthand, how technology, process, and deep human care come together to change lives.

I was selected to go and what I experienced was unforgettable.

Starkey Hearing Foundation + Arkus = Partnership

Our partnership with Starkey Hearing Foundation began last year, guiding them through the transition to Salesforce’s Agentforce Nonprofit (formerly known as “Nonprofit Cloud”) to track everything about their ongoing mission work - everything from initial intake and screening information all the way through ongoing hearing aftercare.

To provide efficiencies on their global missions, the Arkus team of experts crafted an Experience Cloud site with responsive forms and a clean UI for efficient on-site data entry, allowing the Starkey Hearing Foundation team to track, monitor, and act real-time on their mission impact. We designed with security and accessibility top-of-mind, knowing internet access is very limited in some areas of the world, and ensured program data is partitioned appropriately for users.

Much like the Starkey Hearing Foundation’s model, the Arkus team knew our build also needed to be simple, sustainable, and scalable to grow right along with the expanding reach of this incredible organization.

Care at Scale, Without Losing the Individual

The Dominican Republic mission allowed Starkey Hearing Foundation to serve over 600 people with hearing health care over a two-day mission. We saw children and adults of all ages - some as young as five and others well into their 70s, with varying degrees of hearing loss. Starkey Hearing Foundation staff and volunteers traveled from all over - the United States, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, Grenada - to come together to serve the Dominican community.

I arrived in Santo Domingo ready to help in any way I could, but unsure exactly what my role on the mission would be. As it turns out, I was trained right alongside other guests and volunteers to actually perform the hearing aid fittings! It was a process learned in about an hour through observation and then hands-on practice - and then documented through copious notes I took once I returned to my lodging.

The Foundation’s hearing care process itself is precise and deeply personal. Each fitting begins with creating a custom ear mold: a plastic piece shaped inside the ear, followed by careful testing of sound, volume, and power levels. Tubes are trimmed by hand. Hearing aids are fitted behind the ear. Every step requires patience, care, and deep attention to behavior - what reaction are you seeing, or not seeing, to the adjustments you’re making? Do their eyes light up? Are they wincing? Have they shifted their posture?

This was not about moving people through a line or hitting a quota. You’re encouraged to take the time necessary to do the job well, connecting with the hearing care recipient as a person first. No one is turned away, and walk-ins are welcomed.

And Starkey Hearing Foundation makes a commitment to ongoing care - they don’t simply provide hearing aids and leave. As children grow, ear molds are replaced by local partners. Power levels are adjusted when needed, and batteries are provided and replaced. Counseling is provided so that once the recipient goes home, they have the materials and support needed for the care to continue - for the rest of their life.

The Ear is a Direct Link to the Heart

Some moments stop you in your tracks in a way that no data point or dashboard can fully encapsulate.

On the first day of the mission, a six-year-old girl who was born prematurely and non-verbal came to the mission site with profound hearing loss. Her mother shared with us, via interpreter, that the girl had been referred for cochlear implant surgery - a decision not to be taken lightly. She came to Starkey Hearing Foundation with the hope that something else, anything else, could be done for her daughter’s hearing.

Using my SHF-provided fitter training, I helped assist with fitting the young girl with two hearing aids - trying varying levels of sound amplification and checking for her feedback. At first, there was no response as she stared down at her shoes. We tried adjusting her ear molds, then a different power level of hearing aids. Then another. More volume adjustments. And then, as if a light switch had suddenly been flipped inside of her, her eyes shot up to her mother’s face.

She could hear. SHE COULD HEAR!

And right then - the tears in her mother’s eyes, hearing the girl call for her mother for possibly the first time, seeing her awareness of what was going on in the room around her for the first time - it all came together. A profound human experience, shared and remembered forever.

Real-Time Results, Real-World Joy

Many times, the results of our work as consultants for the various nonprofits we partner with are only learned second or third-hand, through viewing dashboard results or an after-the-fact story shared.

In this experience, I actually got to see up-close how the work Arkus had done not only transformed the efficiency of their onsite recipient data collection, but also the resulting joy and encouragement seeing results reported in real-time had on Starkey Hearing Foundation volunteers and staff alike. Have you ever heard a room full of people cheer out loud about a Salesforce dashboard outside of a Salesforce or community event? I have! And it is incredible.

At the end of each day, the Starkey Hearing Foundation team can see the full impact of their work-how many people were served, how many hearing aids were fitted, and what that means in human terms. That visibility matters. It strengthens morale and reinforces mission. And it enables Starkey Hearing Foundation  to share and tell the story of their impact globally - how a community-based and patient-centered approach can scale to help even more people around the world.

This is where Salesforce plays a critical role-not as an abstract system, but as the scalable backbone that makes this level of coordination, care, and accountability possible.

Why This Matters

Being invited into this work went way beyond delivery of technology tools. It was about trust and partnership, and seeing up close the real human impacts of our partnership.

As consultants, we’re trained to move fast and optimize relentlessly. This experience was a reminder that sometimes the most important thing you can do is slow down, really listen, and remember that behind each step of our work is a person whose life is about to change through the organizations we serve.

We’re deeply grateful to Starkey Hearing Foundation for inviting us into this mission-and for reminding us why impact-driven technology work matters in the first place.

Because when process meets purpose and care, the results are loud.

What could Arkus help your team achieve? Reach out to us on LinkedIn, or through our contact form. We're excited to hear from you.