The Voice Back Advisory Team is a group of people living with speech loss, including several with ALS, who test the Voice Back AAC app and voice banking features before they ship. Advisory Team members tell us what actually helps, and keep Voice Back honest to the experience it was built for.
Kris MacNamara, the first member of the Voice Back Advisory Team, passed away on September 9, 2026, at the age of 54. Kris joined the advisory team after being diagnosed with ALS in July 2025, and her honesty, warmth, and confidence shaped Voice Back from its earliest days. Every conversation with her made the app better, and her voice — in every sense — lives on in the work she helped guide.
“I am so much more confident now having the Voice Back App. I found that I was limiting my conversations or just refusing to participate in any for that matter… becoming frustrated and insecure about the way I sounded. Now, I have gained back confidence to speak and it sounds just like me!! It has given me back MY VOICE!”
“It’s amazing that with a 10 second video of my voice can be recreated with tone and personality. The app is very responsive when speaking and has many saved common used sayings. I absolutely love this app. Voice Back easily works with my TD Pilot. It’s fun to see my family react to hearing my voice again. I have used so many different platforms for text to speech and Voice Back is amazing.”
“Amazing app!!! Being able to use my voice through the app is a game changer. And no need to upload hours of content to generate my voice. This will definitely improve my quality of life. The support that Riya gives is top notch. I can tell that she truly cares about the people using the app.”
“I’ve been using other apps and I felt I sounded like Alexa. With Voice Back it made it easy to upload a short clip of me talking and I finally sound like myself again. Thanks to Voice Back I feel like me again.”
“Voice Back gave me something I never thought I’d have again…my voice. Hearing it for the first time brought tears to my eyes. It truly is life changing.”
“Voice Back gives me more than words—it gives me back a piece of myself. When ALS took away my ability to speak, it did not take away what I have to say. Technology like Voice Back helps bridge the distance between the voice inside me and the world that still needs to hear it.”
“I haven’t spoken for almost 2 years. When I saw the Voice Back app, I thought it would be a good addition to my communication tools. I found an old video of me talking and the app did the rest — brilliant. What I love is I can send friends and family voice messages and it sounds just like me. It’s so simple to clone your voice. Also, if you send a voice message people have to open it and listen, rather than a message popping up on the home screen. So you know people are listening to your message. Thank you, Voice Back.”
“I’ve been exploring voice-cloning options for some time, and Voice Back has been the easiest to use and the most effective at preserving my voice. I was able to clone my voice using a video from 2020 rather than recording hundreds of phrases. The app includes many common phrases already built in, and its editing features make it simple to customize them to fit my needs. The phonetic spelling option is a great feature and has been very helpful. Riya has created a remarkable tool that allows people to continue communicating in their own voice, and I’m truly grateful for that.”
“I uploaded a short audio clip I made wishing my brother happy birthday. Minutes later the voice was ready and it literally brought tears to my eyes. But the real test and confirmation came when I surprised my husband and used it to ask him a question. He truly could not believe his ears. Next I surprised my sons, and it was so satisfying watching them smile at the sound of a once familiar voice. Voice Back has truly given me the confidence to engage socially. You have really honored your grandmother by changing the lives of so many. Thank You!!!”
If you’re living with speech loss and use Voice Back, we’d love to hear from you. Your experience shapes what we build next.
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