About the HLAA Board of Directors

The board of directors consists of up to 21 elected members (excluding ex officio members). Board seats are filled by HLAA members who are elected by two-thirds of the members of the board at any official meeting of the board. At least two-thirds of the directors are people with hearing loss. Board members serve on a volunteer basis.

Ex officio members of the HLAA Board of Directors include the executive director, one member of the founding family, the immediate past president (for one year), and others appointed by the board.

Board members are the fiduciaries who steer the organization toward a sustainable future by adopting sound ethical and legal governance, setting policy, and making sure HLAA has adequate resources to advance its mission. A nonprofit board helps to establish the mission and purpose of the organization; ensures effective planning; monitors major programs/activities; builds and maintains a competent board in support of the mission; ensures that management acts in a prudent and ethical manner; and, enhances the organizations public standing.

There are six standing committees of the board: Executive Committee, Development Committee, Governance Committee, Nominating Committee, Finance Committee and Audit Committee. Other committees are ad-hoc committees.

The board meets at least three times a year in the spring, summer (at the HLAA Convention) and in the fall. The annual meeting, open to the public, is held at the HLAA Convention. Other meetings are open with some sessions closed for executive sessions. 

HLAA Bylaws


Become a Board Member

From: Don Doherty and Pete Fackler, co-chairs of the Nominating Committee

Maintaining the strength of our governing board is a continual process. In that light, we are asking your help in identifying prospects for service as future HLAA Board members.

Members of the HLAA Board of Directors are responsible for policy development and oversight, for establishing long-range plans, and for assuring that the organization has the financial resources to carry out its mission.

The hallmark of a strong nonprofit organization is that it has an effective, dedicated governing board. For an organization like the HLAA to survive and thrive, it is critical that a strong board presence be developed and sustained.

We seek a diverse board in terms of race, age, gender, and constituency representation. Constituencies include people with hearing loss, family members of people with hearing loss, parents of children with hearing loss, people in the hearing health care community, and HLAA Chapter leaders. Hearing loss is not a requirement for membership, but members with hearing loss must represent two-thirds of the Board.

HLAA’s Board of Directors recognizes the need and value of diversity, including racial/ethnic diversity, in executing the mission of HLAA. We would like your help in identifying exceptional individuals in our community who might be interested in serving on the board. We seek to ensure our board reflects the diversity of individuals with hearing loss in its broadest definition.  In particular, we seek nominations of interested individuals who identify as a person of color, including individuals who identify as Black or African American.

Qualities sought in candidates include experience in the corporate and nonprofit worlds. Knowledge in fundraising and willingness to fundraise is imperative. Other skills that add to a well-rounded board include finance, public policy, senior level corporate experience, government relations, legal, management, marketing, development, public relations, medical, and strategic planning.

Do You Know Potential Candidates for the Board?

Please forward information concerning prospects for HLAA board service to board@hearingloss.org

PDF version  |  Word version

The candidate must be someone you personally know and can talk about in terms of integrity. An inquiry of the candidate should be undertaken to assure an interest in serving on the board of directors. Prepare a brief statement about why you think the candidate would be a desirable HLAA board member. Provide the name, address, phone number, and email address. It would be helpful if you include your own contact information so that, if we have questions, we can be in touch.

Board Application Form

Interested individuals may also self-nominate. Please forward the Board Application Form below and additional material (electronically or via mail) to the nominating committee chairs at board@hearingloss.org.

PDF version  |  Word version

Board Members

Kevin H. Franck, Ph.D. – Chair

Concord, Massachusetts

Photo of Kevin FranckKevin H. Franck, Ph.D., formerly the senior vice president of Strategic Marketing and New Product Planning at Frequency Therapeutics. A licensed audiologist, Dr. Franck joined Frequency from Massachusetts Eye and Ear, where he served as director of audiology and Harvard Medical School Faculty of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Prior to Mass Eye and Ear, he was head of marketing for Bose Hear, a division of Bose Corporation, where he led new product management and channel marketing of an emerging category of business focused on hearing loss. Dr. Franck co-founded Ear Machine, a startup funded by the National Institutes of Health before it was acquired by Bose in 2014. He has held senior roles at Cochlear Ltd., Artisan Healthcare Consulting and BiOM and worked as a clinician at the University of Michigan and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Dr. Franck holds an MBA in healthcare management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a Ph.D. in hearing science from the University of Washington, an MSE in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. in engineering from Dartmouth College. He has previously lived on three continents.

Dr. Franck was elected to the HLAA Board of Directors in April 2015.

Michael Meyer – Vice Chair

Chicago

Head shot of Michael Meyer

Michael Meyer is the vice president of Information Systems at McMaster-Carr Supply Company in Elmhurst, Illinois. McMaster-Carr is a leading e-commerce distributor of more than 560,000 maintenance, repair and operations products for industrial companies around the world. He has held senior roles in sales, marketing, logistics and finance during his two decades at the company. He is a 1996 graduate of Stanford University with a B.A. in economics and a 2001 graduate with an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Mr. Meyer was diagnosed with hereditary hearing loss when he was a toddler. He has benefited greatly from the coping strategies he’s learned over the years from his family and friends at HLAA. He interned in the HLAA national office while in high school and has attended HLAA Conventions since he was a child.

Mr. Meyer was elected to the HLAA Board of Directors in June 2018 and is chair of the development committee.

Jan Blustein, M.D., Ph.D. Secretary

New York City

Jan Blustein, M.D., Ph.D., is a professor of health policy and medicine at New York University, where she teaches courses in statistics, program evaluation and research methods. Health service equity, chronic illness, and the Medicare program are some of her longstanding interests. Ensuring financial access to health care services has been a consistent theme in her research, which has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, British Medical Journal, Health Affairs, and other leading journals. Her latest work focuses on how hearing loss affects the quality and outcomes of medical care. Dr. Blustein holds a medical degree from the Yale School of Medicine, and a Ph.D. from New York University. She was elected to the HLAA Board of Directors in October 2015.

Peter C. Fackler – Treasurer

Rochester, New York

Pete C. Fackler graduated from Duke University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and from the University of Michigan with an MBA. Following a five-year tenure with the audit staff of Price Waterhouse & Co. (now, PwC) he embarked on a 30-plus year career in higher education executive positions. While he is now retired, Pete takes on occasional interim management appointments at colleges in transition to new financial or presidential leadership. His ongoing professional interests include capital markets and investment decision-making.

Mr. Fackler has been a community advocate working on behalf of people with hearing loss. He was a part of the original team of the HLAA Board of Directors working under the leadership of Board Chair Anne Pope to introduce the Walk4Hearing in support of HLAA. Working with the HLAA Rochester Chapter, (New York), Pete played a leadership role in bringing closed captions to live theater productions in the region. He served two terms on the HLAA Board of Directors, from 2006 to 2013 then rejoined the board in 2017. Mr. Fackler is past treasurer and past chair of the HLAA Board of Directors and serves as the co-chair of the nominating committee.

Ibrahim S. Dabo – Assistant Treasurer

Atlanta

Ibrahim DaboIbrahim S. Dabo is an information technology (IT) leader and journalist. Originally from Sierra Leone, West Africa, he has held several IT and communications leadership positions for global for-profit and nonprofit organizations.

Mr. Dabo is currently the director of enterprise business systems for the General Board of Global Ministries, the global mission agency of the United Methodist Church, which operates in at least 100 countries.

A former Africa editor for Goal.com, the “second largest online sports publication only behind ESPN,” Mr. Dabo has written for several international publications and interviewed people from all walks of life. He is passionate about working with and mentoring young people, sharing other people’s stories and advocating for people in marginalized communities.

In 2002 while living as a refugee in The Gambia, he launched Ib Talk Online to share interviews and stories on topics like technology, education, sport and health.

Mr. Dabo was diagnosed with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss in 2013 during his final year of graduate school. He didn’t realize at the time that young people could have hearing loss, a discovery that made his diagnosis more shocking. His interests now include raising awareness about hearing loss, especially for young people and the Black community.

He holds an associate degree in business administration from Baltimore City Community College, a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from the University of Baltimore, and a master’s degree in applied information technology from Towson University. Mr. Dabo was elected to the HLAA Board of Directors in June 2021.

Don Doherty – Past Chair

Moyock, North Carolina

Don Doherty is a retired Marine Corps combat veteran (1965-1987) who lost his hearing during his 1965-1966 tour in Vietnam. He has worn hearing aids since June 1970. Mr. Doherty is retired from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) after 25 years of service. He was the education specialist for the National Chaplain Training Center which served more than 1,000 Veterans Affairs Chaplains at more than 153 Veterans Affairs Medical Centers nationwide. His specialties included education, curriculum development, instruction, technology and hearing loss.

Mr. Doherty has many years of experience working with different boards and organizations in Virginia. He is the former American Academy of Medical Administrators state director for the states of Virginia and West Virginia; two term commandant, senior state vice commandant and state judge advocate for the Marine Corps League; former chair of the Virginia State Standards of Practice Committee; former member of the Board of Directors on the Virginia Council on Alcoholism; and former member of the Virginia Attorney General’s Task Force to Combat Illegal Drug Use in Virginia. Don received the Chapel of Four Chaplains Legion of Honor Award in 1997 in recognition of his record of community service. He also is a recipient of the Hearing Loss Association of America Keystone Award in 2016 for his work with hearing loss.

Mr. Doherty is one of the leaders and founder of the HLAA Virtual Veterans Across America Chapter. He is a member of Hamilton CapTel’s “Heroes with Hearing Loss” program; he serves as president of the HLAA-Virginia Beach Chapter and as the HLAA-Virginia State Coordinator. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Alvernia College in Reading, Pennsylvania. He also holds a master’s degree in education and human development and an education specialist degree in higher education, both from George Washington University. He also completed the two-year Peer Mentorship Program at Gallaudet University and is a Certified Peer Mentor.

Mr. Doherty was elected to the HLAA Board of Directors in June 2014; served as chair from 2017 to 2019 and currently serves as chair of the governance committee and is a co-chair of the nominating committee.