Ear Community Organization

I began volunteering with Ear Community, a nonprofit that helps children and adults with Microtia and Atresia, upon finding the organization’s support group before undergoing a surgery. I was born with Microtia and Atresia, and after becoming one of the Board of Directors for Ear Community, I became inspired to get involved in further projects for the nonprofit.

I started assisting with Ear Community’s Instagram page, where I helped grow it’s following by 30% within the first year. I became proficient in helping to manage Ear Community’s social media platforms to engage users and create awareness by posting relevant content, information from sponsors, and photos from support group members. Creating daily content taught me more about the deaf and hard of hearing community, hearing aids, and helped me to connect with people world-wide who also have Microtia and Atresia. It also taught me a lot about how to use Instagram in an efficient and effective way to reach a large, and specific audience.

While living in Philadelphia during the summer of 2019, I took the train to D.C. in order to meet with various members of congress on behalf of Ear Community to lobby for coverage of bone anchored hearing devices for children and adults. Following successful lobbying and writing, a bill was introduced in both the House and Senate.

On behalf of Ear Community on November 8th, I hosted the first virtual Zoom party with attendees from around the world to celebrate Ear Community’s National Microtia Awareness Day. The event was a huge success and continues to inspire me to help people to thrive in communities that need assistance.

In December of 2022, I hosted a silent auction holiday party in my neighborhood to raise money for Ear Community. We raised $1,100 within a couple of hours, and I hope to do this again on a larger scale and with more advanced advertisement this year.

In March of 2023, I spoke at the webinar that Ear Community hosted on the topic of Microtia and Bullying. This was a fantastic experience for everyone who attended and included the sharing of personal bullying stories and vulnerability around the topic. I was happy to share my personal bullying experiences to connect with others, as I believe that connection is the main purpose of Ear Community!

Ear Community Picnic in 2019 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.