Hearing Loss at Work Webinar Series – Thriving in Sound-Intensive Workplaces: Strategies for Inclusion, Communication and Success
Many jobs—hospitality, manufacturing, emergency response, scientific fieldwork, aviation, outdoor operations and more—take place in fast-moving, high-noise workplaces. For employees with hearing loss, succeeding in these settings requires not only the right accommodations but also creative communication strategies, supportive workplace culture and empowered self-advocacy.
Our professional panelists—Kendra Hada, K. Renee Horton, Ph.D., Greg Bawden and David DeBellis, with moderator Michael Noble—discussed navigating these types of environments. They shared real-world tactics for managing communication in sound-intensive workplaces, navigating accommodations, using technology effectively and building confidence in environments where hearing can be challenged. Watch this webinar to learn how to create more inclusive workplaces, no matter the noise level, as an employee, employer, HR manager or other organizational leader.
Panelists:
Kendra Hada
Kendra Hada is a San Francisco-based bartender, mixologist and brand ambassador with more than 10 years of experience in some of New York and the Bay Area’s leading bars and restaurants. Born with severe hearing loss, Kendra is a vocal advocate for people with disabilities in the workplace, particularly in the hospitality space, an area that can be particularly daunting for people with hearing loss. 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 U.S. Brand Ambassador.
K. Renee Horton, Ph.D.
Dr. K. Renee Horton is a compelling, inspirational, global speaker and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native. She earned a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Louisiana State University and a Ph.D. in material science with a concentration in physics from the University of Alabama—the first African American to receive this degree. Renee’s love affair with space began when her parents gave her a telescope at age nine and she dreamed of becoming an astronaut. After graduating high school at the age of 16, she took an Air Force ROTC physical, where she learned that she had a hearing loss. Her dreams were crushed, but Renee looked for ways to continue pursuing what she loved. She found it in her job, serving 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 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 and received a cochlear implant in October 2025. In 2013, he was told he would be fired from his job as fire department battalion chief due to his hearing loss. However, because Greg had proved his value to the department, he was offered a “non-combat” position with the same department, where he continued to work for an additional 10 years. Currently, he designs and leads training events and workshops, gives presentations and facilitates meetings for regional committees and work groups, in a variety of settings.
Dave DeBellis
Dave DeBellis has been an engineer for 42 years, most recently with HP Inc. He has worked in nuclear and fusion power, solar energy, military and aerospace, automotive safety and printing, in both business and industrial settings. For the past decade, he has 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.
