Looking Back, Moving Forward: A Message from the 2025 CAA President

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

It has been an immense honor to serve as your California Academy of Audiology 2025 President. As with any other organization, participation on the CAA Board of Directors is not insular. I want to acknowledge and thank our wonderful Board of Directors for their tireless work to serve you, our membership, and improve the lives of those we serve. I would like to give thanks to the 2025 Conference Committee, who hosted a conference for 397 attendees offering over 19 CEU hours with 34 exhibitors. I would be amiss to not share the immense success of the 2025 Annual Conference. The work is truly a huge undertaking, and without all our volunteer committee members, including our Conference and Continuing Education chairs, it would not be possible.

I also would like to acknowledge our Legislative Committee, who continued to engage with the SLPAHAD Board and our lobbying firm through 2025. Without their hard work and dedication, our progress on the proposal of hearing aids being included in the California Essential Health Benefits would not have happened. We are grateful for their work in collaboration with the SLPAHAD Board in hearing the voice of audiologists and pushing forward an expanded Audiology Assistant license type in California. They also hosted the successful 90 minute Legislative Update session at the 2025 Annual Conference, allowing them to share all that they have been working on.

The Membership Committee hosted successful Happy Hours across California, thanks to our wonderful industry sponsors. Additionally, our 2025 Membership Survey included questions for the first time in line with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion statement of CAA, collecting information on diversity in the workplace and barriers for equitable care for our members. 

We hope you experienced improvements in CAA through our Communications Committee. This year, a significant amount of energy went into engaging our membership through social media platforms and emails. We hope our presence has been seen and that you have a clear understanding of the work we have been doing. We will continue to work on providing more resources and information on our website in the months and years ahead.

I have learned so much, not only about CAA and audiology in California, but about myself over this past year. I want to thank you for entrusting me to lead CAA in 2025. While we have many hurdles ahead, as we encounter new billing codes, changes to reimbursement, and the ever moving targets of the hearing healthcare landscape, I know you will be in good hands with Dr. Lizette Montes serving as the CAA President in 2026. I hope to provide her with the continued support in 2026 that I received from Dr. Melanie Rosenblatt, CAA Past President, this year.

We look forward to seeing what the future holds for Audiology in California. Please continue to provide the quality, evidence-based services that we, as Doctors of Audiology, are uniquely skilled to provide. You, audiologists, can take action and make an impact every day in the lives of the patients we serve.

Warmest Regards,
Melissa Garafalo-Culmer, AuD, CCC-A, PASC
2025 CAA President