Tani Austin

Chief Philanthropy Officer

Tani Austin is Chief Philanthropy Officer at Starkey. Tani has more than 35 years of experience in the hearing healthcare industry, including: maintaining her own hearing aid practice for 10 years and serving as the Illinois Department of Public Health Practicum Examiner for licensure of hearing aid dispensers, Secretary of the Illinois Hearing Society, and on the National Board of Certification in Hearing Sciences.

Tani Austin has a deep-rooted passion for helping those in need, and for her, that starts with giving everyone access to hearing. In her role, she executes the company’s philanthropic efforts, focusing on improving hearing health across the world and other important humanitarian causes in our local community and beyond.

Named Female Philanthropist of the Year and honored at the First Ladies Summit at the UN General Assembly in 2015, Tani Austin volunteers the majority of her time to Starkey Hearing Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charity. The Foundation is the world’s largest hearing healthcare charity. The Foundation provides complimentary hearing healthcare services to people in need, empowering them to achieve their full potential. According to the World Health Organisation, an estimated five percent of the world’s population have disabling hearing loss, with the greatest prevalence in low and middle-income populations. The impact of hearing loss not only affects the individual but their family, community, country, and the world at large. Especially in third-world countries, gaining the ability to hear provides the opportunity for gainful employment, which in turn helps the entire family. The Foundation has touched the lives of individuals with the greatest need in more than 100 countries and on every continent except Antarctica, providing primary ear care services, hearing screenings, hearing aids, batteries, and repair and replacement of hearing aids, as necessary. In addition to providing hearing healthcare services, the Foundation has developed a formalized process for building, running, and evaluating a community-based hearing healthcare program and has established that program in more than 60 countries to date−where people in the country are paid to work and provide services to people in need.

Tani, along with her husband, Bill Austin, founder, principal owner and CEO of Starkey, travels with the Foundation on hearing mission trips the majority of the year. Tani Austin’s relentless efforts volunteering for Starkey Hearing Foundation have helped it become a global force in empowering local communities to develop sustainable, community-based systems of hearing healthcare.

In 2016, Tani Austin was invited to be the Delta Zeta Sorority Convention’s initiate. The national sorority supports Starkey Hearing Foundation’s hearing health awareness and education through the Listen Carefully campaign and pledged to raise $5 million over the next five years.

Tani’s commitment to philanthropy goes beyond hearing. By supporting a multitude of both local and global charitable causes, her inspiring vision and selfless dedication have helped change countless lives.