EAA is excited to announce our 2025 Summer Conference Keynote Speaker – Matt Hay!
Matt Hay, MBA has a long journey toward deafness and even longer journey toward learning to “hear” again with an experimental brainstem implant. He first publicly shared his story on a National Public Radio (NPR) podcast titled Soundtrack of Silence. The intimate, funny and authentic peek at what it’s like to start a career, fall in love and build a life while battling a rare disease inspired actor Channing Tatum and Paramount Pictures to option the motion picture rights to Matt’s life story. Matt’s memoir Soundtrack of Silence was released in January 2024 by St. Martin’s Press, an imprint of Macmillan.
When Matt isn’t adding tracks to the soundtrack of his life, he passionately supports the hearing loss community as a member of the Columbia University Genetic Counseling Advisory Board and served as a consultant to the St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf. He’s proudly served as a Congressional lobbyist for neurofibromatosis (NF) research funding, the genetic disorder that caused his hearing loss, and has raised money for NF research by doing endurance events, including an Ironman Triathlon and most recently, the Boston Marathon. Matt currently serves the rare disease community as the US Director of Advocacy for a global biopharmaceutical company. He lives in Westfield, Indiana, with his wife (whom he’s quick to point out is the hero of his story) and three children.
As Keynote, Matt will be kicking off the EAA Summer Conference on Wednesday, June 18th at 8:00am. Click here for registration and other conference details.