Ida Institute Founder and Managing Director to retire in July
Ida Institute Founder Lise Lotte Bundesen will retire from her role as Managing Director in July, 2022. During Bundesen’s 15-year tenure, the nonprofit institute’s impact and influence has grown exponentially. Ida tools and resources are now used in AuD programs around the world. Over 14,000 professionals have taken the institute’s online training, and have collaborated on standards and guidelines with powerful organizations like ISO and ASHA. With unique design methods, a cadre of influential advisors, and an eye to the future, the Institute has cemented itself as a leader in driving person-centered hearing care. Bundesen credits the institute’s success to collaboration with organizations and individuals at the forefront of audiology and consumer advocacy, and a passionate Ida community of hearing care professionals and people with hearing loss from around the world.
Ida Institute Advisory Board Chairperson Louise Hickson, Professor of Audiology and Associate Dean in the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences at The University of Queensland, Australia points to Bundesen’s knack for bringing people together to move the field forward in new and exciting ways. For example, by launching the Future Hearing Journeys report to help stakeholders navigate hearing care in the future, being an early advocate for tele-audiology, and of course, being a pioneer in person-centered hearing care. “Lotte’s innovative approach defined what we needed to do and gave us the tools to do it,” she explained. “Better hearing care through engagement with the community and the co-creation of a suite of person-centered Ida resources is her lasting legacy.”
“Lotte is a transformational figure in the world of hearing care,” said Lucille Beck, Ida Institute Advisory Board Member and an executive with the Department of Veterans Affairs. “She brought new ways of thinking and new techniques for problem solving to a diverse community of practitioners, educators, researchers, professional associations, and consumer organizations building a strong network. Her focus on persons with hearing loss shifted the treatment and rehabilitation paradigm to person-centered care — defining a new way of individualizing care to meet the needs of the person.”
As Bundesen sets off on new adventures, so too does the Ida Institute. There are new courses in the works, new tools in development, and partnerships helping Ida to scale as never before.
“We’ve achieved a lot together, and I’m so proud to have been part of Ida,” said Bundesen. “But there is more to be done, and I can’t wait to see the ways that Ida develops as I step away. I thank the Demant Foundation for supporting our work for 15 years, and I thank everyone Ida collaborated with for your partnerships, your friendships, your knowledge, and your commitment to Ida and to person-centered care. Lastly, I applaud one final time, your belief that together, we can make hearing care better for people with hearing loss everywhere.”