Marke Hambley BC-HIS, RHIP President and Director of Operations and his wife Evelyn Hambley. Meet Marke. The man. The visionary. B I O G R A P H Y His wife Evelyn has been instrumental in the success of NexGen Hearing. Her dedication, assistance and support to Marke helped the owners succeed. She often volunteered without com- pensation in a training role, contributing greatly to the ongoing growth of the NexGen Hearing brand. Since then, Marke and his team have added another 28 clinics on Vancouver Island and in the BC Interior. With the merger, the NexGen Hearing Group now has over 48 locations in BC. Over his 40 years of experience as a hearing instrument specialist, Marke has been actively involved in the devel- opment of his profession. He is a past president of the Hearing Instrument Specialists Society of BC (HISSBC). In addition, he served on the Advisory Council for Hearing Instrument Studies at Grant MacEwan University, represent- ing HISSBC members. He is qualified as a Hearing Instrument Practitioner, acquiring his professional education through Grant MacEwan University. His credentials include a license to dispense hearing aids from the Province of BC, certification as a Tinnitus Clinician from the American Tinnitus Association and certification by the International Hear- ing Society. He is also National Board Certified in Hearing Instrument Sciences. In 2009, Marke was appointed by the Government of BC to sit on the Provincial Board of Hearing Aid Dealers and Consultants, the provincial body regulating the Hearing Aid Act. In March of 2010, Audiologists, speech language pathologists and hearing instrument practitioners became self-regulated through the Health Professions Act, and the Hearing Aid Act. The previous Board of Hearing Aid Dealers and Con- sultants was dissolved. Currently Marke is an active committee member of the College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals of BC. Operating under Rotary’s motto‘Service above Self,’ Marke co-founded Hear4U Foundation with co-founding member Dr. Brian Westerberg, Otologist. Marke was also Hear4U’s first president. The purpose of the Foundation is to donate used hearing aids and related services to financially challenged Canadians through retail hearing clinic participants. Marke continues to act as a director on the foundation. Seeking to assist the otolaryngology specialty, Marke accepted a seat on the board of directors for the Pacific Otolar- yngology Foundation. The foundation’s main purpose is to fund research grants for university projects related to otolar- yngology. Marke is an active director with this philanthropic organization. Marke is also a very active member in his community. He is a charter member of Victoria Harbourside Rotary Club and has been so since 1980. He has served as President of the club and has participat- ed on several Rotary district committees. HehasreceivednumerousRotaryawards for his philanthropic volunteer work. As a Rotarian, Marke is the co-founder of the Rotary International Hearing Health Care Project of Zimbabwe/Uganda, an altruistic venture that has donated over one million dollars in products and services to this worthwhile sustainable project. Marke traveled to Africa on three occasions with a volunteer team of hearing health care specialists that in- cluded Otolaryngologists, Audiologists, Hearing Instrument Specialists, teachers of the deaf, and technicians.They trained local hearing health care students and provided treatment to hard of hearing impoverished children. In his personal life, Marke developed a passion for flying, and he is a retired IFR private pilot having logged over 1,000 hours of flying time, much of that time flying between the erstwhile Island Hearing clinics. Marke is also a fitness buff, loves downhill skiing, and has been an avid golfer. His current passion is wake surfing and spending recreational time with his wife Evelyn, his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. It is our mission to deliver, with passion, an exceptional client experience that meets their hearing and communications needs. Marke Hambley retired in April of 2010, as the founder, President and CEO of Island Hearing. The company was the largest integrated retail hearing aid service provider in Canada at the time. Since incorporation in 1978, Marke grew the Island Hearing Group of companies from a single branch in Victoria with two staff members to 125 branches across the country. He achieved this industry-first accomplishment with his extraordinary partner and wife Evelyn, Vice-Pres- ident. His skilled and talented management team developed within Island Hearing were instrumental in achieving unprecedented growth in the retail hearing health industry. His team grew to over 400 dedicated employees the year of his retirement. Marke endeavored to retire, however, after two years he found his life without purpose, and returned to the work he loved. After all, serving the hard of hearing by improving their quality life through better hear- ing is his calling. Marke re-entered the profession in 2012 by acquiring a 50% share in Mainland Hearing. He partnered with a former franchisee, Audiologist Dr. Amir Soltani, and his former VP of Operations with Island Hearing, Bob Liew. In 2012 Marke launched a new company, NexGen Hearing, in partnership with his daughter Selene Finlayson, Registered Hearing Instrument Practi- tioner. Together they opened the first NexGen clinic in the Oak Bay area of Victoria. Mainland Hearing later merged with NexGen Hearing in April 2016 to establish a single brand. NEXT GENERATION OF HEARING CARE | 2