WEBINAR—Hearing Loss at Work Series – Thriving in Sound-Intensive Workplaces: Strategies for Inclusion, Communication and Success

Panelists: 

Kendra Hada

Kendra Hada is a San Francisco-based bartender, mixologist, and brand ambassador with more than ten years of experience in some of New York and the Bay Area’s leading bars and restaurants. Severely hearing-impaired since birth, Kendra is a vocal advocate for disabled people in the workplace, particularly in the hospitality space, an area that can be particularly daunting for the hearing-disabled. She hopes to raise awareness of the challenges faced, and the opportunities for improvement in access, through visibility, empathy, and positive practices. Kendra’s bar career began in earnest as part of the opening team for “Sunday in Brooklyn” where she fed her excitement for the creativity and precision bartending requires. Subsequent moves included Tales of The Cocktail Spirited Awards-nominated bar Existing Conditions. In 2023, Kendra won the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association Shochu Cocktail Competition, and caught the attention of 8th-generation legacy shochu brand, Nikaido, who in 2024 named her their US Brand Ambassador. 

Dr. K. Renee Horton

Dr. K Renee Horton is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and is a graduate of Louisiana State University with an Electrical Engineering BS and holds a Ph.D. in Material Science with a concentration in Physics from the University of Alabama, as the first African American to receive this degree.   Renee is a compelling, international, and inspirational speaker whose love affair with space began when she was 9 years old, and her parents gave her a telescope. Her dream was to become an astronaut. After graduating high school at the age of 16, she took an Air Force ROTC physical. During the physical, Horton learned a shocking truth: she was hearing impaired. Her dreams of the Air Force and career as an astronaut were crushed. But Renee looked for ways to continue pursuing what she loved.  She found it in her day job; she serves as a NASA Airworthiness Deputy for the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstrator (EPFD) Project.  In 2022 she served as an Astro Access Ambassador on the charted Zero G flight. Her experiences have inspired her to advocate for people with disabilities and their inclusion in physics. 

Greg Bawden

Greg Bawden currently works as the Emergency Manager for a large regional fire department; supporting fire department and community preparedness.  Previously, he served more than 25 years as a firefighter, first as a volunteer firefighter/EMT and retired as Division Chief of Support Services.  Prior to joining the fire service, he was the safety manager and a senior project manager for a national environmental engineering firm assessing and remediating hazardous material sites across the country. Greg first began using hearing aids in 2007.  In 2013 he was told he would be fired from his job as fire department battalion chief due to his hearing loss.  However, Greg had proved his value to the department even with his hearing loss – he was offered a “non-combat” position with the same department, where he continued to work for an additional 10 years.  He received his first cochlear implant in October 2025. Greg’s work requires designing and leading training events and workshops, giving presentations, and facilitating meetings.  He is involved in regional committees and work groups, working in many different settings.

Dave DeBellis

Dave DeBellis has been an engineer for the past 42 years, most recently with HP. He has worked in nuclear and fusion power, solar energy, military and aerospace, automotive safety, and printing, both in business and industrial settings. For the past ten years, he’s dealt with profound hearing loss, and functions effectively with a combination of cochlear implant and hearing aid. Dave is also a fitness enthusiast and an outdoors person.

Moderator: 

Michael Noble – Chair, HLAA Task Force for Accessible, Inclusive Employment

Michael Noble is the vice president of global marketing at Senzime, a Swedish medical device company specializing in innovations in perioperative patient monitoring. With over 15 years of experience in medical device marketing, he brings a deep understanding of how to connect clinical value with real-world adoption. Born profoundly deaf, Michael received a cochlear implant at the age of two and has been thriving ever since. His personal journey has inspired a lifelong commitment to advocacy. He currently serves as the president of the board and a founding board member of the Joyful Life Cochlear Implant Fund, and as chair of the HLAA Task Force for Accessible, Inclusive Employment, where he works to expand access and opportunity for people with hearing loss.