Hear the World Foundation

Hear the World Foundation is a Swiss corporate nonprofit foundation established by hearing-aid manufacturer Phonak AG in 2006. It was created to raise awareness of conscious hearing practices and to improve opportunities and quality of life for people affected by hearing loss, particularly children and families in low- and middle-income settings. The foundation is associated with Sonova Group and operates principally as a grant-maker and project partner rather than as a commercial hearing-care provider. Its work is organized around four broad priorities: providing audiological care to children with hearing loss; supporting parents, families, and self-help initiatives; preventing hearing loss through awareness and screening; and strengthening local professional capacity through training, equipment, and technical cooperation. Projects commonly combine financial grants with hearing-aid or battery donations, diagnostic equipment, cochlear implants in selected cases, and volunteer expertise from Sonova employees and other professionals. The foundation has supported more than 80 projects, including Hear Malawi, Hear Peru, Hear South Africa, Hear Armenia, Hear Haiti, Hear Cambodia, Red Bird Appalachia in the United States, Fundación Pro Integración in Panama, and a long-running partnership with the Centro Cristiano de Servicios Médicos in the Dominican Republic. Its approach emphasizes sustainable local services instead of one-time distribution. Examples include establishing clinics, creating mobile outreach services, training local technicians and teachers, developing newborn or school hearing-screening programs, and helping children integrate into mainstream education. Public education has also been central to the foundation’s identity. From 2007 to 2012 it published the bilingual Hear the World Magazine. Its wider awareness platform used a distinctive photograph of a person placing one hand behind the ear, captured by musician and photographer Bryan Adams. More than 100 ambassadors were associated with the campaign by 2018, including figures from music, film, fashion, and entertainment. A series of calendars featuring ambassadors was sold from 2008 to 2018, with proceeds directed to foundation projects. The campaign also received a Guinness World Records recognition in 2012 for the scale of its ambassador initiative. In October 2012, Hear the World became a corporate social-responsibility initiative of Sonova Group. From 2013, Sonova employees began volunteering on foundation projects, contributing professional skills as well as fundraising and public advocacy. The foundation’s governance consists of a Foundation Board and secretariat with personnel from Sonova, while an external honorary Advisory Board provides specialist input on project selection and grant allocation. Sonova supplies an annual donation and covers certain administrative and support costs, while additional funds may come from individual donors. In the 2017/18 financial year, the foundation reported support for 25 projects in 26 countries and the provision of more than 1,660 personally fitted hearing aids. Sonova’s reported cash and in-kind contribution for that year was CHF 3.51 million. The foundation’s present identity is therefore closely linked to Sonova’s global hearing-health ecosystem, but its activities remain focused on charitable access, prevention, awareness, and professional development rather than product sales.

Hear the World Foundation was founded in Switzerland in 2006 by Phonak AG, a hearing-aid manufacturer that later became part of Sonova Group. Its initial purpose was twofold: to improve public understanding of hearing loss and responsible hearing practices, and to support children who lacked access to audiological services. The foundation developed a grant-making model in which charitable funds were combined with hearing devices, technical equipment, professional advice, and partnerships with local health and education organizations. Between 2007 and 2012, the foundation published Hear the World Magazine in German and English. The publication helped communicate issues surrounding hearing, hearing loss, hearing conservation, and the social effects of untreated hearing impairment to a broader audience. The organization also built a recognizable public-awareness platform around the Hear the World pose, showing a person placing one hand behind the ear. Bryan Adams photographed ambassadors for the campaign, which brought together well-known personalities from music, film, fashion, and other fields. Selected ambassador photographs appeared in calendars sold to support the foundation’s charitable work. In 2012, the campaign received a Guinness World Records recognition connected to the size of its ambassador initiative. A structural change took place in October 2012, when Hear the World became a corporate social-responsibility initiative of Sonova Group. This deepened the foundation’s access to technical knowledge, employee expertise, administrative resources, and in-kind support while preserving its charitable project focus. From 2013, Sonova employees were involved as volunteers, especially where audiological, clinical, logistical, or educational skills were needed. The foundation also joined SwissFoundations in 2013. The project portfolio expanded across several regions. In Malawi, cooperation with EARS Inc and African Bible College supported the development of hearing services, including the ABC Hearing Clinic and Training Centre in Lilongwe. Opened in 2013, the clinic was described as Malawi’s first hearing clinic. A mobile audio trailer enabled teams to visit schools, clinics, and refugee camps outside the capital. Newborn hearing tests were introduced at a Lilongwe maternity clinic in 2017. In the Dominican Republic, a partnership with Centro Cristiano de Servicios Médicos, established in 2010, supported diagnostic equipment, professional expertise, and eventually a newborn hearing-screening program. Other partnerships addressed different elements of the hearing-care chain. In Peru, a program with World Wide Hearing sought to screen approximately 30,000 schoolchildren over two years and trained technicians, speech-therapy students, and teachers to identify potential hearing problems. In South Africa, support for hearX Group involved an app designed to let non-professionals conduct hearing screenings, with a stated goal of screening 10,000 children by 2019 and supplying hearing aids to children in need. In Panama, Fundación Pro Integración received financial support, hearing aids, batteries, and volunteer expertise; the partnership later included cochlear implants for children with profound hearing loss. In Armenia, cooperation between Arabkir Hospital in Yerevan and the University Children’s Hospital in Zurich emphasized pediatric care and integration into mainstream schooling. Projects in Haiti, Cambodia, and Red Bird Appalachia focused on sustainable local audiological services supported by equipment, funding, and professional cooperation. Education and professional development formed a further strand of the foundation’s work. The Judith Gravel Fellowship, created with the University of North Carolina’s Department of Otolaryngology in memory of audiologist Judith Gravel, supported an outstanding audiology student annually and emphasized the management of infants and young children with hearing loss. The foundation is funded primarily through an annual Sonova donation, with Sonova also covering specified administrative and staff-related expenses. Individual donations provide an additional source of support. Governance includes a Foundation Board and secretariat connected to Sonova, while an external honorary Advisory Board contributes specialist assessment of potential projects and funding allocations. In 2017/18, the foundation reported support for 25 projects in 26 countries, more than 1,660 personally fitted hearing aids, CHF 3.51 million in cash and in-kind benefits from Sonova, and 1,860 Sonova employees contributing 1,056 volunteer days. Its overall model combines charitable funding, hearing technology, prevention, public education, and local capacity building.

• 2018

  Reported global operating scale

  [1]Hear the World Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The foundation reported 25 projects in 26 countries and more than 1,660 personally fitted hearing aids in the 2017/18 financial year.

• 2017

  Charity gala and newborn screening milestone

  [1]Hear the World Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The first Hear the World Charity Gala raised more than CHF 400,000, while newborn hearing tests began at a maternity clinic in Lilongwe.

• 2016

  First cochlear implants donated in Panama

  [1]Hear the World Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The foundation supported its first cochlear-implant donations through its Panama partnership.

• 2014

  Concert hearing-protection campaign

  [1]Hear the World Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The foundation distributed earplugs at Swiss concerts as part of a prevention campaign.

• 2013

  Employee volunteering and Malawi clinic opening

  [1]Hear the World Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Sonova employees began volunteering, and the ABC Hearing Clinic and Training Centre opened in Lilongwe, Malawi.

• 2012

  Foundation joins Sonova CSR activities

  [1]Hear the World Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Hear the World became a corporate social-responsibility initiative of Sonova Group.

• 2011

  Hear Malawi begins

  [1]Hear the World Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The foundation began supporting EARS Inc and African Bible College to develop hearing services in Malawi.

• 2010

  Several long-term international partnerships begin

  [1]Hear the World Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Partnerships associated with projects in the Dominican Republic, Armenia, and Cambodia were established or expanded.

• 2007

  Hear the World Magazine begins publication

  [1]Hear the World Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The foundation began publishing a bilingual German-English magazine focused on hearing and hearing loss.

• 2006

  Foundation established

  [1]Hear the World Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Phonak AG established Hear the World Foundation in Switzerland to promote hearing awareness and support people affected by hearing loss.

A corporate-supported global hearing-health foundation focused on equitable access, child-centered audiological care, prevention, local capacity building, and public awareness.

• Foundation funding · 2006

  Charitable hearing-care grants

  The foundation provides grants to local and international partners working on pediatric audiological care, hearing screening, prevention, family support, and professional development. Funding is often paired with equipment, devices, batteries, and technical assistance.

• Public-awareness campaign · 2007

  Hear the World awareness platform

  The platform uses ambassador photography, editorial material, public events, and fundraising products to promote conscious hearing and explain the consequences of hearing loss. Its signature visual is the hand-behind-the-ear pose photographed by Bryan Adams.

• Publication · 2007

  Hear the World Magazine

  A bilingual German-English magazine that communicated hearing-health topics and the foundation’s work to the general public. It was published from 2007 through 2012.

• Fundraising product · 2008

  Hear the World Charity Calendar

  Calendars featuring selected Hear the World ambassadors were sold from 2008 to 2018, with proceeds directed toward the foundation’s projects.

• 2017Hear the World Charity Gala

  Switzerland

  The foundation held its first charity gala to raise funds for hearing-health projects.

  Outcome. More than CHF 400,000 was reported as raised at the inaugural gala.

  Source
• 2014Concert Hearing-Protection Campaign

  Switzerland

  The foundation worked with concert agencies to distribute earplugs and encourage audiences to protect their hearing at live music events.

  Outcome. The campaign extended the foundation’s prevention work into public entertainment venues.

  Source
• 2008Hear the World Ambassador Campaign

  International

  A global awareness and fundraising campaign used portraits of public figures photographed by Bryan Adams in the signature Hear the World pose. Ambassadors promoted conscious hearing and awareness of hearing loss.

  Outcome. The campaign had more than 100 ambassadors by 2018 and supported public awareness and fundraising activities.

  Source

• 2016

  Expand Panama support to cochlear implantsOther

  Background

  Earlier support in Panama focused on affordable audiological care, hearing aids, batteries, and professional assistance.

  Action taken

  The foundation began donating cochlear implants for children with profound hearing loss through its Fundación Pro Integración partnership.

  Aftermath

  Three children received implants in 2016 and four more in 2017, according to the cited reference material.

  Source

• 2013

  Introduce Sonova employee volunteeringStrategy

  Background

  Many foundation projects required audiological, technical, educational, and operational expertise in addition to grant funding.

  Action taken

  Sonova began selecting and sending employees to volunteer on partner projects and to support awareness and fundraising.

  Aftermath

  By 2017/18, employees were reported to have contributed 1,056 volunteer days.

  Source

• 2012

  Integrate Hear the World into Sonova’s CSR activitiesStrategy

  Background

  The foundation was originally created by Phonak and later operated within the broader Sonova corporate structure.

  Action taken

  In October 2012, Hear the World became a Sonova corporate social-responsibility initiative while retaining its charitable hearing-health mission.

  Aftermath

  The relationship enabled broader employee engagement, administrative support, and access to professional expertise.

  Source

1. 1Hear the World Foundationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Hear the World Foundation official websitehear-the-world.com