150-P. Age Readiness: A Global Imperative

Join innovators, policymakers, researchers, and service providers for this full-day summit exploring how to build societies ready for longevity. The program will feature global perspectives and cross-disciplinary dialogue to help participants challenge traditional assumptions about ageing, explore emerging innovations and best practices, and identify opportunities to prepare organizations, communities, and societies for the realities—and possibilities—of demographic change. Don’t miss this opportunity to join colleagues from around the world as they explore innovative approaches to supporting lifelong wellness, creating age-ready environments, harnessing technology to transform the aging experience, sustaining high-quality care through workforce development, and advancing the policy changes needed to shape aging-friendly communities.

• Paul Sharman, Founder of PACE Canada, PACE Canada
• Philippe Saad, Principal, DiMella Shaffer
• Salvatore Petronella, Policy & Public Affairs Lead, Labor Mobility Partnerships (LaMP)
• Mansur Dalal, Chairman, Common Age Association
• Brian Van Weele, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Buck Institute for Research on Aging
• Vic Rayner, Chair of the Global Ageing Network and CEO, National Care Forum
• Joseph Musgrave, CEO, Home & Community Care Ireland
• Donald Macaskill, Chief Executive, ScottishCare

1-A. Using AI to Measure Resident Well-Being

Community engagement teams at aging services organizations prioritize the resident experience because they know residents’ voices help shape their communities. Unfortunately, not every resident speaks up. That’s where “Happy Aging” comes in. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), the survey-driven prediction tool measures 23 observed indicators of resident well-being. This session will focus on the experiences of two life plan communities that engaged residents in a two-year research project to co-develop the “Happy Aging” tool. Presenters will describe the technology’s development process and residents’ participation in it. You’ll discover how objective behavioral data, when paired with AI, can accurately predict resident well-being and enable engagement teams to plan timely interventions.

• Jessica Bourque, Director of Vitality & Well Being, The Sharon at SouthPark
• Melissa Johnson, Senior Director of Marketing and Sales, Galloway Ridge, Inc.
• Lizzy Evens, Director of Strategic Projects, Cubigo

13-A. Building Trust and Belonging in Diverse Housing Communities

As the older population becomes more diverse, resident services teams in affordable senior housing must adapt to meet a wide range of needs. This session will focus on a housing-based services model that provides care coordination, referrals, and on-site programming across 17 diverse housing communities. Presenters will outline the program’s features, discuss the team’s challenges and strategies for supporting culturally and linguistically diverse residents, and share lessons learned. A multilingual wellness coordinator will explain how cultural norms, religious practices, and communication preferences shape her daily interactions with residents. You’ll gain strategies to strengthen trust, communication, and quality of life across diverse senior housing populations.

• Rachel Kogan, Program Manager, Hebrew SeniorLife
• Mimi Lewis, R3 Program Director, Simon C. Fireman Community
• Henna Chatterjee, R3 Wellness Coordinator, Simon C. Fireman Community

24-A. Measures that Matter: Helping Boards Focus on Quality

Given the complexity of life plan communities and the scope of management responsibilities, boards of directors often focus primarily on their financial and fiduciary duties. This session offers a different approach. Presenters will unpack the board’s responsibility to dig deeper into compliance measures to understand what they reveal about a life plan community’s quality of care and quality of life. These insights will help the board participate in developing person-centered solutions that advance the organization’s mission. You’ll learn how a governance approach grounded in accountability, learning, and compassion fosters transformative collaboration among organizational leaders and how that collaboration can enhance the quality of life for older adults.

• Jennifer Shropshire, Board Member, Presbyterian Senior Living
• Robyn Stone, Strategic Advisor, LeadingAge

36-A. Building In-Home Services through Acquisition and Innovation

Many providers of aging services are interested in new ways to deliver high-quality support in the home, especially for middle-market consumers. This session will explore how one multisite sponsor of affordable housing and life plan communities expanded its at-home services through a strategic mix of acquisitions, program innovation, and affiliations with home and community-based service providers. Presenters will also highlight two new programs they designed to serve life plan community residents and the broader community: a concierge care navigation and coaching service, and an at-home support program for older adults with incomes just below traditional private-pay thresholds. Gain concrete ideas for building or expanding scalable in-home services to serve current residents and the price-sensitive middle market.

• Colleen Bottens, Vice President, Anywhere Care, EverTrue
• Rachel Little, Vice President, Health and Wellbeing, EverTrue
• Bethany Goff, Director of EverTrue Answers, EverTrue
• Courtny Brooks, Director of Home Health, EverTrue

37-A. Delivering a Successful Nursing Replacement Project

With thoughtful planning, senior living communities can integrate skilled nursing into their growth strategies. That’s the primary message of this session, which will showcase a life plan community that built a financially sustainable, consumer-focused replacement for its skilled nursing and memory care building. Community representatives will discuss how they planned, designed, and constructed the new building, which features 32 memory care apartments, 68 long-term nursing units, and a 32-unit short-term rehabilitation center. You’ll learn how to combine financial planning metrics, innovative design, and proactive management to deliver high-quality nursing care that aligns with your organization’s mission and economic expectations.

• James Larson, Managing Director u2013 Healthcare Consulting, Forvis Mazars
• Lynne Kerrison, EVP/CFO, Bishop Gadsden
• Andy Page, Partner, Forvis Mazars
• Sarah Tipton, President & CEO, Bishop Gadsden

59-A. From Blah to Brilliant: Transforming Senior Living Marketing

Senior living consumers have evolved, but many life plan community marketing programs haven’t kept pace. Until now. This session will showcase an innovative, multi-layered marketing and communications strategy that uses technology, personalization, and relationship-building to deliver a standout prospect experience. Presenters from a life plan community will describe their outreach to prospective residents, including customer relationship management, AI-driven content development, website behavior tracking, personalized emails, and follow-up systems. They’ll report how these innovations have increased prospect engagement, built trust, and delivered tailored messages that address individual fears, motivations, and readiness stages. Don’t miss this opportunity to apply a proven model to boost conversions and occupancy.

• Ann Collette, VP Strategy, Masonicare
• Marie Jablonski, Corporate Director, Marketing, Masonicare Health Center
• Debbie Howard, CEO, Senior Living Smart

60-A. Elevating Your Success with a Compelling Foundation Brand

Life plan communities often focus on their organization’s brand, leaving their foundation’s brand undeveloped and unclear. This session will offer an alternative that could dramatically elevate your philanthropic success. Presenters will explain how a compelling, well-articulated foundation brand can build donor trust, signal your organization’s competence, and clarify its impact. They will examine how foundation branding influences donor behavior and outline practical steps to align your foundation’s identity with your organization's purpose. You’ll take home strategies to secure larger corporate sponsorships, deepen donor engagement, and encourage more consistent giving by building a foundation brand that reflects your community’s heart and mission.

• Ezra Hall, Director of Philanthropy and Engagement, The Woodlands at Furman
• Amy Estridge, Director of Account Services, 3rd3rd

74-A. Electrify Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow

Is your senior living organization feeling pressure from rising utility costs, aging infrastructure, accelerating climate regulations, and residents who expect to live in an environmentally responsible community? It may be time to electrify. This session will share details of a life plan community’s three-year transition from near-total reliance on fossil fuels, such as natural gas and direct steam, to a system that uses electricity to supply 50% of the community’s heat and domestic hot water. Presenters will introduce you to a replicable electrification master plan that organizations of any size can implement, even with aging buildings, limited internal engineering capacity, or constrained capital budgets.

• Sean McMahan, Chief Engineer, Horizon House
• Brian Byers, Associate Director of Operations, Horizon House

92-A. Updates on Federal Funding and Policy

Are you seeking up-to-date information on how federal funding and policy decisions are likely to affect your service lines? Or are you simply curious about the broader policy landscape shaping the aging services field? Either way, you’ll leave satisfied after attending this speed round of Washington updates. The LeadingAge Policy Team will be on hand to fill you in on the latest developments affecting Medicare and Medicaid, workforce policy, affordable housing, and the federal legal landscape. You’ll also receive advocacy tips to ensure your voice is heard in Washington, DC.

• Linda Couch, Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, LeadingAge
• Nicole Fallon, VP, Integrated Services and Managed Care, LeadingAge
• Juliana Bilowich, Vice President, Housing Policy, LeadingAge
• Jodi Eyigor, VP of Health Policy, LeadingAge
• Mollie Gurian, VP, Policy & Government Affairs, LeadingAge
• Amanda Mead, Director, Workforce Policy, LeadingAge

109-A. Supporting Human Connection through Intimacy Policies

Many organizations recognize the importance of honoring residents’ rights, yet few have clear guidelines for supporting intimate expression, especially when decision-making capacity is impaired. This session will introduce you to a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to developing an intimacy and sexuality policy. Presenters will highlight how one nursing home worked with a medical ethicist, staff, residents, and families to develop a framework that safeguards vulnerable adults while affirming their fundamental human need for connection, companionship, and intimate expression. You’ll take away information to help you support residents’ intimacy responsibly and compassionately, honor individual rights, and enhance overall quality of life, all while complying with regulations.

• Asa Whitcomb, COO, Vermont Veterans' Home
• Christina Cosgrove, Director of Social Services, Vermont Veterans' Home
• Aisling Taft, Social Worker, Vermont Veterans' Home

121-A. Tiny Home, Massive Lifestyle: Selling Studio Apartments

Does your life plan community have small studio apartments that it’s struggling to fill because they can’t be expanded or combined with larger units? This session may offer some solutions. A chief marketing officer, an interior designer, and a senior living advisor will share how they successfully marketed and quickly filled five studio apartments that had been sitting empty or used for storage. They did so by tapping into the current interest in stylish, functional tiny-home residences and giving the units a facelift with updated designs and size-appropriate furnishings. You’ll see before-and-after photos showing how the community redesigned and marketed the studio apartments as part of its successful “Tiny Home, Massive Lifestyle” campaign.

• Jennifer Bartscht, Chief Marketing Officer, ThriveMore
• Carolyn Weaver, Interior Designer, SFCS Architects
• David Caudle, Executive Creative Director, Tandem Senior Living Advisors

133-A. Smarter Compensation Design for Senior Living

A senior living organization’s leadership compensation model must reflect its unique financial capacity, organizational maturity, leadership philosophy, and culture. This session will help you choose a model that meets these requirements. Presenters will describe three compensation models that provider organizations have used effectively: a mission-driven model for service-oriented team members; a performance-driven model that uses goal-setting and market data to determine compensation levels; and a retention-focused model that supports leadership stability during expansions or retirements. You’ll receive the guidance you need to build or enhance your current compensation practices, using the model that works best for your organization.

• Matt Leach, Principal and Senior Consultant, Total Compensation Solutions
• Thomas Mackey, Analyst, Total Compensation Solutions

134-A. From Turnover to Trust: Building High-Performing Teams

Looking to lead your team from low performance and instability to high performance and sustained retention? This session is for you. Presenters will blend reassurance with disruption to teach you how to stabilize a struggling team. They’ll show you how to encourage team members to speak up, take risks, and grow; how to hold employees to clear performance and behavioral expectations without creating fear, resentment, or disengagement; and how to shift from reacting to problems to consistently and clearly addressing patterns. You’ll return home prepared to create the conditions that enable employees to stay, grow, and perform at their best.

• Lori Stohs, Chief Talent & Culture Officer, Frasier

2-B. Build a Strategic Roadmap for AI Adoption

You’ve undoubtedly heard about the “transformative power” of Artificial Intelligence (AI). But what would an AI-fueled transformation look like for your organization, and what tools would you need to make it a reality? This session will guide you through a comprehensive, multi-week AI assessment to help your organization evaluate its technology maturity, identify quick wins, and build a realistic three-year AI roadmap. Three senior living providers will share strategies to help mid-size and smaller organizations use AI to manage change, expand internal capacity, and focus on outcomes for residents and staff. You’ll gain tools to adopt AI solutions gradually and in ways that fit your organization’s unique circumstances.

• Vipin Bhardwaj, CEO, NuAIg
• Mark Lenhard, President/CEO, United Methodist Communities
• Evon Bergey, Vice President of Operations/ COO, Landis Communities
• Catherine Chiovaro, VP; Workforce Management, Otterbein SeniorLife

14-B. Serving Aging Veterans: Let’s Close the Information Gap

Nearly half of U.S. veterans are 65 or older. Yet most aging services professionals lack training to address this population’s unique needs, and aging-focused resources rarely address them. This session aims to fill those gaps. Presenters will explain how military culture, trauma, service-related injuries, and the complexity of benefit eligibility shape veterans’ needs as they age. They will also discuss cultural and trauma-informed approaches to supporting veterans across housing, health, and social-service settings, including a pilot program that helps high-acuity veterans with low incomes age in place. You’ll gain insights into the program’s implementation and early outcomes and take home lessons you can adapt to your care and service settings.

• Cindy Borden, Director Training and TA, National Coalition for Homeless Veterans
• Amy Fairweather, Policy Director, Swords to Plowshares
• Janet Stringfellow, President & CEO, Volunteers of America Florida

25-B. A Dose of Inspiration: Servant Leaders Tell Their Stories

Strong leaders persuade, anticipate the future, and guide their organizations toward results. Strong “servant leaders” also build and nurture trust, deepen relationships, and develop team members so they can make a lasting impact. This session will feature servant leaders working to improve the field of aging services and the lives of older adults. Panelists will describe their involvement in a variety of movements, including dementia inclusion, LGBTQ+ affordable housing, and age-friendly cities. They’ll share how they apply their talents and wisdom to promote equity, access, and inclusion within and beyond their organizations. Join this session for a dose of inspiration and leave feeling motivated to consider your own mission and legacy.

• Paul Winkler, Volunteer/Senior Advisor, Age-Friendly Greater Pittsburgh
• Philippe Saad, Principal, DiMella Shaffer
• Pat Sprigg, Instructor, Carol Woods Retirement Community
• Aline Russotto, Executive Director, Orchard Cove

38-B. Capital-Efficient Pathways to Meet Needs and Advance Mission

Nonprofit providers of aging services must scale their organizations to serve an older population that continues to grow each year. But how can growth be achieved when land options are limited, and expansion appears cost-prohibitive? This session will showcase a group of single-site and multisite organizations exploring capital-efficient pathways to meet local needs and advance their missions. Presenters will provide an inside look at how these organizations developed new campuses, implemented phased expansions, engaged in adaptive reuse of existing buildings, and established satellite communities. Learn how successful organizations use disciplined planning and evaluation to identify opportunities and mitigate risk. Get the guidance you need to achieve sustainable growth and capital-efficient expansion in constrained markets.

• Kathleen Rogers, CFO, Village On The Isle
• Jim Maxwell, President and CEO, Rockwood Retirement Communities
• Joel Holmes, First Vice President, Greystone
• Stuart Jackson, Executive Vice President, Greystone

61-B. Let Current Residents Help You Identify Future Residents

Life plan communities seeking new feeder markets beyond their local area need look no further than their own residents to identify ideal prospects. In this session, a panel of marketing experts will explain how a multisite senior living organization partnered with a marketing agency to improve outreach to local consumers and reach qualified prospects beyond its immediate area. Presenters will describe how the organization’s marketing team used information about current residents—including their affiliations and personal passions—to conduct targeted outreach to prospective residents with similar interests. You’ll learn how to boost lead quality by crafting innovative strategies to reach prospects seeking a new home where they genuinely belong.

• Candice Yagmin, Owner, Chief Strategy Officer, Rally
• Teri Lock, Senior VP of Revenue, Pacific Retirement Services, Pacific Retirement Services
• Dana Compagnone, Director, Strategy, Rally
• Shay Wallace, Senior Director of Sales and Marketing, Pacific Retirement Services

62-B. Crafting Messages that Advance Age and Ability Inclusion

Senior living marketing and communications professionals often rely on unrealistic stock photos and messaging that idealize “super agers” while ignoring the diverse realities of aging. These choices, whether intentional or not, reinforce narrow, often damaging stereotypes about how older adults should look, live, and behave. This session will examine the drivers of ageist and ableist messaging and the risks these biases pose to older adults and the aging services field. Presenters will share strategies and practical tools to help you audit your current communications materials, identify and correct harmful biases, and build campaigns rooted in authenticity, respect, and representation. You’ll learn to craft messages that resonate more deeply with your target markets.

• Meg LaPorte, Co-Founder, Art Against Ageism
• Morgan Lamphere, Senior Director of Communications, Marketing, and Sales, The Kendal Corporation
• Adrienne Mansfield, Co-Founder, ADage Marketing Group
• Jordan Evans, Director of Engagement and Communications, Keswick
• Robin Visser, Director of Marketing and Digital Strategies, Christian Living Communities

75-B. From Minutes to Medicine: Protecting Your Reimbursement

Medicaid’s Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) has shifted reimbursement away from therapy minutes and toward documented clinical complexity. As a result, many organizations are seeing their Case Mix Index decline and Medicaid rates compress because resident acuity, the model’s focus, is not fully documented in the record or captured in the Minimum Data Set (MDS). This session offers a practical playbook to restore payment accuracy and audit defensibility by replacing “minutes” with “medicine.” A healthcare consultant will recommend engaging specialty physicians to confirm active diagnoses, document how conditions affect daily care, and classify diseases to improve MDS precision. You’ll discover ways to protect reimbursement while improving care for complex, long-stay residents.

• Melissa Brown, Chief Operating Officer, Gravity Healthcare Consulting

76-B. Overcoming Supply Chain Hurdles in Senior Living

Nonprofit senior living organizations understand all too well how supply chain disruptions strain operations, leading to higher prices, operational disruptions, supply shortages, staff burnout, and dissatisfied residents. During this session, a representative from LeadingAge Gold Partner Value First will join LeadingAge members to share strategies for optimizing operations and overcoming supply chain hurdles. They’ll discuss the pros and cons of outsourcing operations; the impact of tariffs and workforce challenges; and how organizations can keep their supply chains open. Join the conversation to pinpoint supply chain and operational challenges and learn how your peers are tackling them.

• Ke'o Velasquez, Corporate Director of Operations, Forefront Living
• Mario DeLuca, Vice President of Resident Experience, Westminster Communities of Florida, Inc.
• Chet Chandler, Vice President of Strategic Accounts, Value First, Inc.
• Paul Blymire, Director, Purchasing & Materials Management, Masonic Villages of the Grand Lodge of PA
• Sabrina Montes, Director of Masonic Outreach, Masonic Home of Covina

93-B. Affordable Senior Housing: The Federal Outlook

The affordable housing crisis is intensifying across America. This session will focus on the challenges and opportunities facing mission-driven housing providers seeking to support older adults with low incomes who want to age in the community. Presenters will offer insights into the ever-changing landscape of federal affordable housing programs for older adults. They’ll also review developments in subsidized multifamily housing, including significant new federal funding for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, potential threats to federal rental assistance programs, and reductions in funding for supportive services and benefits. Let LeadingAge housing experts guide you as you work to achieve your affordable housing mission.

• Juliana Bilowich, Vice President, Housing Policy, LeadingAge

94-B. Best Practices in Home Health and Hospice

What strategies, structures, and processes distinguish high-performing home health and hospice organizations across the United States? This session will address that question by reviewing findings from the 2026 National Healthcare at Home Best Practices Study. Presenters will translate the study’s national findings into practical, actionable insights and share best practices for care transitions, referral management, visit utilization, symptom management, and end-of-life care planning. You’ll learn how evidence-based practices influence quality outcomes, patient experience, staff retention, and financial performance, and how external factors—such as workforce shortages, payment reform, and regulations—are shaping the adoption of best practices nationwide.

• Lindsay Doak, Vice President of Data and Research, Netsmart

110-B. Data-Driven Methods to Extend Independence and Healthspan

Many life plan communities implement robust wellness programs to help residents live independently longer and extend their healthspan. Yet these communities often overlook less visible but equally influential factors that affect residents’ long-term independence. This session will showcase a life plan community that uses data-driven, behaviorally informed methods to assess residents’ strengths and vulnerabilities, help residents interpret their assessment results, educate them about issues affecting independence, and enable them to co-design targeted interventions. Learn how to make data-informed programming decisions that meet residents’ needs, support independence, and align with organizational strategies to help residents live independently longer.

• Susan Butterworth, PhD, Co-Founder, HealthyLifetimeu00ae
• Abby Waldo, VP of Innovation and Project Implementation, Resthaven
• Hayley Christensen, Marketing Communications Lead, HealthyLifetimeu00ae

122-B. Cultivating Connection: Designing for Holistic Aging

What happens when you pair a life plan community with a multi-use space serving the wider community? This session will answer that question. Presenters will share the story of Pleasant View Communities in Manheim, PA, which transformed a farm adjacent to its campus into a community center featuring public space for educational programs, outdoor activities, public events, and a municipal library. Discover how life plan community residents find purpose and value in the community center through educational programs, gardening, and volunteer opportunities. You’ll see how land use and architectural master planning, along with local and regional partnerships, can help create innovative shared spaces that meet the needs of all stakeholders.

• Jonathan Hollinger, CEO/President, Pleasant View Retirement Community
• Michael Allen-Hall, Principal, Noelker and Hull Associates, Inc.

135-B. Build Your Workforce by Improving the Employee Experience

Senior living organizations are navigating a workforce environment marked by staffing shortages, rapid onboarding, rising recruitment costs, and shifting expectations among new and seasoned team members. This session will explore how thoughtful experience design and strategic technology use can reshape the employee experience and foster lasting commitment. Presenters will share workforce-strengthening strategies that adapt customer-experience methods to the aging services workplace. They’ll outline the advantages of treating employees as “internal customers” by offering internships, mentoring programs, community-building initiatives, data-driven coaching tools, and streamlined career pathways. You’ll learn practical steps to reduce turnover and make workforce investments more predictable and measurable, even with resource constraints.

• Amy Dore, Professor & Program Director, Aging Services Leadership, Metropolitan State University of Denver
• Angela Green Urbaczewski, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community (VMRC)
• Paula Rathgaber Gomez, VP Sales and Marketing, Sequoia Living

3-C. Unlocking the Power of Interoperability

As the country's healthcare system becomes more interconnected, the need for interoperable data exchange across care settings has never been more critical. Yet interoperability is often hindered because its meaning and benefits are unclear to the providers who could gain the most from it. This session will clear up the confusion. Presenters will demonstrate the practical advantages of interoperability and help you assess your organization’s readiness to implement it. They’ll also offer practical strategies for connecting data systems, enabling seamless data exchange with other care settings, and supporting integrated workflows. You’ll learn how one organization used interoperability to transform its operations, boost staff morale, and strengthen referral networks.

• Chris Pugliese, Head of Interoperability, MatrixCare
• Tracy Fluhr, EHR Clinical Resource Specialist, Nazareth Home
• Benjamin Little, Strategic Relationship Specialist, McKesson Medical-Surgical

15-C. Preserving Human Connections in Tech-Rich Care Settings

Smart technology systems can improve your organization’s efficiency and outcomes, but they can’t replace human interaction or the need for empathy in care settings. That’s why senior living and healthcare leaders must work relentlessly to preserve meaningful human connections, even as they expand their use of artificial intelligence, automation, and digital systems. This session will use storytelling, case studies, and audience exercises to show how empathy strengthens communication, restores residents’ dignity, improves perceptions of care, and reduces readmissions. You’ll take home strategies for integrating empathy into workflows, onboarding, leadership practices, and technology-driven environments. Don’t miss this opportunity to help your organization preserve the human experience even as it pursues innovation.

• Catherine Samatas, Director of Engagement and Innovative Programming, CJE SeniorLife
• Paisley Valentincic, VP and Chief Marketing Officer, CJE SeniorLife

26-C. Leveraging Your Leadership Team to Move the Needle on Benevolence

Everyone is a fundraiser. That’s the message of this session, which will help you support key strategic priorities in your senior living community by connecting donors, both emotionally and programmatically, to specific activities or divisions on your campus. Presenters will show you how to leverage the strategic vision of your board, executive team, divisional leaders, and key frontline staff to move the needle on benevolence. You’ll learn to build relationships with diverse team leaders across all care levels and lifestyle divisions, then work together to prioritize fundraising opportunities that align with donor interests and your strategic plan.

• Sarah Malchow, Chief Administrative Officer, Cedar Community
• Nicole Pretre, President & Chief Executive Officer, Cedar Community
• Jen Fullhart, VP of Assisted Living, Cedar Community

39-C. The Housing Challenge: Building Resilience in Complex Times

Affordable housing developers often struggle to fulfill their missions as funding sources evolve, interest rates fluctuate, and compliance requirements grow more complex. This session will help providers navigate the challenges and opportunities shaping the sector today, including new federal initiatives, financing hurdles, and sustainability imperatives. Presenters will share insights into emerging financial trends reshaping project feasibility, long-term asset management, and organizational sustainability. They’ll offer practical strategies for responding to capital market shifts, restructuring deals, and leveraging new funding while maintaining transparency. You’ll be reminded that resilience in affordable housing requires both innovation and a firm purpose—and you’ll gain the tools to achieve both.

• Vidhi Anderson, Vice President of Development, HumanGood PA
• Juliana Bilowich, Vice President, Housing Policy, LeadingAge
• John Ardovini, Vice President of Business Development, Hampden Park Capital & Consulting, LLC

40-C. Strategic Growth and Entrance Fee Alignment

Every life plan community strives to develop growth plans that support the organization’s mission while maintaining profitability and marketability. Presenters of this session will argue that independent living entrance fees pose significant risks to achieving those goals. They’ll outline the widening gap between entrance fees and replacement costs, evaluate the long-term risks of outdated pricing strategies, and offer approaches to adjusting those fees while overcoming internal and external resistance to price increases. You’ll gain additional strategies—including phased development plans and creative financing—to help you strengthen your financial position, ensure operational success, and align projects with the preferences of current and future consumers.

• Jamie Timoteo, Partner, Plante Moran
• Amy Castleberry, Managing Director, Ziegler
• Scott Miller, Chief Marketing Officer, Garden Spot Village

63-C. Sales, Marketing, and Beyond: AI in Senior Living

Interested in leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) but concerned about maintaining a disciplined focus on privacy, legal compliance, and ethical safeguards? In this session, you’ll learn how a multisite senior living organization is achieving these goals—and how you can too. Presenters will show you how AI-generated video, messaging, and design templates can expand your marketing team’s capabilities while maintaining consistent brand quality. They’ll also explain how AI can work across your organization to streamline workflows, accelerate decision-making, enhance new-hire onboarding, and support personalized learning. You’ll leave this session with a clearer understanding of how AI expands organizational capacity when implemented with intentional guardrails and a human-first philosophy.

• Fran Palma, Sr, VP of Digital Strategies, Covenant Living Communities and Services
• Cory Kallheim, General Counsel, Covenant Living Communities and Services
• Catherine Griffin, Project Manager, Marketing, Covenant Living Communities and Services

77-C. Building a Culture of Quality: The ELITE Quality Program

A growing number of aging services organizations are building systems to consistently improve outcomes and experiences for the older adults they serve and their families. This session will showcase the ELITE Quality Program, a national initiative that helps organizations strengthen leadership alignment, embed continuous improvement practices, and build a strong culture of quality. Presenters will share how ELITE provides the foundational framework organizations need to proactively identify risks, improve quality and safety, and strengthen stakeholder confidence. You’ll gain practical insights from leaders who are implementing the program and learn strategies you can use to build sustainable systems that support exceptional care.

• Julie Apold, VP of Quality and Performance Excellence, LeadingAge Minnesota
• Jordan Kirchgessner Lollar, Associate Director, State Relations, LeadingAge
• Dillon Beck, Services Manager, LASPS, LeadingAge

95-C. Program Integrity: Get Ready for Ongoing Scrutiny

Federal oversight of programs funded by Medicaid, the Older Americans Act, and other programs has intensified in recent years as regulators and policymakers sharpen their focus on program integrity in home and community-based settings. This session will provide an overview of evolving federal compliance expectations and how they shape state expectations. Presenters will offer insights into emerging compliance themes across agencies, the operational implications of policy and enforcement trends, and proactive measures to strengthen your compliance infrastructure. You’ll leave with strategies to enhance internal controls, align training and governance practices, and build a culture of accountability that can withstand evolving federal and state oversight.

• Mollie Gurian, VP, Policy & Government Affairs, LeadingAge
• Georgia Goodman, Director, Medicaid, LeadingAge

96-C. Are Policy and Legal Requirements Impeding Your Mission?

An aging service provider must ensure it has both the funding and the personnel to fulfill its important mission to serve older adults. Unfortunately, recent policy and legal developments threaten the capacity of provider organizations to employ the workforce needed to carry out their missions, secure federal funds to support their work, and preserve their tax-exempt status. This session will review the new requirements providers must meet and the uncertainties that challenge their operations. Presenters will address how these requirements and uncertainties may impact your organization and what steps you can take to mitigate potential risks.

• Clarette Yen, Vice President, Legal Affairs, LeadingAge

111-C. Combining Physical and Cognitive Training for Brain Health

Cognitive health is a key predictor of independence, quality of life, and long-term care use among older adults. Yet many senior living communities still rely on passive brain-health approaches that lack measurable outcomes. This session will present results from a recent study showing that older adults who combined physical movement with cognitive processing in a single, interactive intervention achieved significant cognitive gains. Presenters will review the study’s findings, which suggest that even low-frequency, consistent training can yield measurable benefits. They’ll also offer tips for integrating cognitive-motor training into your wellness programs, reimbursement models, and population health strategies.

• Sue Paul, Senior Director of Well-being and Brain Health, Asbury Communities, Inc.
• Ryan Glatt, MS, CPT, NBC-HWC, Senior Brain Health Coach & FitBrain Director, Pacific Neuroscience Institute and Foundation

123-C. Imagining New Environments to Live, Work, and Play

Today’s older adults are living longer, staying healthier longer, and working longer. This shift is reshaping attitudes toward retirement and creating unprecedented opportunities for retirement communities to reinvent themselves. This session will examine how senior living organizations can support the evolving lifestyles of older adults by expanding services beyond community walls and designing surrounding neighborhoods to meet residents’ needs. Presenters will invite you to imagine how neighborhoods and residential communities might intersect, envision the possibilities for intergenerational or multigenerational environments within and around retirement communities, and consider how mixed-use settings might offer better living environments for today’s older adults. Explore the future of aging—and be prepared to rethink your view of traditional retirement communities.

• Soo Im, Market Leader, Gensler
• Katherine Kirchhoff, Managing Director, Cain Brothers a division of KeyBanc Capital Market
• Jason Jorgenson, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Development, LCS
• Ashley Wade, Director Of Development Planning, Life Care Services LLC

136-C. Promising Pathways to Aging Services Careers

Young people pursue various pathways to launch careers in aging services. Which of these pathways work well, and where are the gaps? This session will offer evidence-based answers to those questions. Presenters will share findings from new national research on academic programs, internships, mentorships, and Administrator-in-Training (AIT) programs that have helped students pursue careers in aging services and gerontology. They’ll also share strategies and case studies to help you create similar programs. You’ll hear success stories about how organizations with modest budgets have attracted new talent. You’ll also take home a clear, customizable framework to reduce vacancies, strengthen career pathways, and develop the next generation of aging services leaders.

• Douglas Olson, President/CEO, Vision Centre: Leadership Development for Aging Services
• Amy Dore, Professor & Program Director, Aging Services Leadership, Metropolitan State University of Denver
• Diana Delgado, President & CEO, Eaton Senior Communities, Inc.
• Matt Mauthe, CEO, Illuminus

4-D. Can Technology Advance Compassion in Hospice Care?

The quality of hospice care depends heavily on caregivers’ relational skills. Yet hospice caregivers often face emotional fatigue, communication challenges, and varying levels of preparedness. This session will explore how hospice staff training can leverage emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR), to enhance caregiver empathy, strengthen communication and connection with patients and families, and improve the patient experience. Presenters will share a case study of one hospice agency’s journey from technology exploration to implementation. You’ll learn how to create a technology implementation roadmap, explore evidence-based strategies for using AI and VR, and consider ethical concerns and safeguards for deploying technology in sensitive care settings.

• Cheryl Lampkowski-Sowle, AVP Home Health and Hospice, Otterbein SeniorLife
• Christin Lampkowski, Emerging Technologies Librarian, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

16-D. Can the C-Suite Influence Workplace Culture and Retention?

A thriving workplace culture begins with an engaged and supported staff. But how does that culture evolve, and how can C-Suite leaders foster it? This session will explore how C-Suite leadership behaviors and organizational practices directly affect workforce satisfaction and retention. A nurse leader in the post-acute care sector will share strategies to help C-Suite executives support staff well-being and professional growth by aligning operational priorities and strategic planning with a people-first culture that drives performance, quality of care, and financial stability. You’ll leave with the tools to build a sustainable, high-performance environment that reflects your organization’s mission, vision, and values.

• Amy Stewart, Chief Nursing Officer, American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing (AAPACN)

27-D. Build a Better Board with Better Meetings

Keeping senior living board members aligned can be challenging in this age of competing priorities. Many boards struggle with fragmentation, uneven engagement, or unfocused conversations, even as organizational leaders face unprecedented challenges. During this session, you’ll learn how to build a more effective board by designing meetings that surface the right insights, promote shared understanding, and encourage strategic questions. Discover how to reinforce the board’s strategic focus between meetings, frame discussions during meetings, and avoid having to reset the conversation every quarter. Here’s your chance to get everyone on the same page—and keep them there—as your organization’s operating landscape evolves.

• Diane Burfeindt, Managing Principal, Trilogy Connect
• Glen Lewis, CEO, RoseVilla Senior Living

41-D. Design Strategies for Transformational Repositioning

Senior living providers share a common mission to serve the aging population, yet their approaches to repositioning their communities to meet that goal can vary widely. This session will feature two organizations that considered similar campus expansions but took very different paths after conducting collaborative design processes that incorporated the voices of diverse user groups. One community chose a campus refresh with renovations and new construction, while the other reallocated space on its urban site to meet immediate market demands while preparing for future construction. Join team members from both organizations to learn how their teams balanced financial constraints with stakeholder input and built consensus for final plans that suited each community.

• Hailey Schwobe, Senior Associate, AG Architecture
• Ted Bolles, Project Development Manager, LCS
• Jordan Morrow, Executive Director, Greenwood Village South
• Lindsey Viegut, Associate Executive Director, Eastcastle Place

42-D. Underdog Strategies for Single-Site Life Plan Communities

To affiliate … or not to affiliate? That is the question many single-site life plan communities are asking. This session will appeal to mavericks who prefer to remain independent yet recognize they must improve at every level to thrive in a consolidating market. Leaders from successful single-site communities will share how they resisted affiliation by strengthening operations, culture, and finances. They’ll also recommend strategies to keep communities stable and future-ready. Whether you’re committed to independence or considering affiliation, this session will offer fresh perspectives on how a strong single-site brand can enhance market perception, attract mission-aligned staff, and build trust among residents, prospects, and referral sources.

• Shirley Turner, Director of Sales & Marketing, Hillcrest
• Donald Lilly, CEO, Still Hopes
• Cynthia Thurlow Cruver, President, 3rd3rd
• Amy Estridge, Director of Account Services, 3rd3rd

64-D. Turning Stories into Sales: How Media Coverage Can Help

Senior living professionals are familiar with traditional sales tactics but often lack experience using earned media as a strategic touchpoint with prospective residents. This session fills that knowledge gap by introducing a communication approach that builds relationships with prospects through media coverage that validates a community’s strengths, highlights resident experiences, and reinforces trust at key decision points in the prospect’s decision-making journey. Presenters will teach you the fundamentals of developing strong story ideas, pitching them to the media, and integrating media coverage into sales strategies. You’ll take home tools to help your community kick-start or enhance its media relations programs, improve conversions, and accelerate prospects’ decision-making.

• Laura Jones, Senior Vice President, Operations, Pinnacle Living
• Angelica Flynn, Vice President, AKCG – Public Relations Counselors

78-D. Foster Aging in Community by REACHing Out to Residents

How can affordable housing providers help older residents age well in the community? This session will introduce the Residents Engaging in Authentic Conversations on Health (REACH) interview tool, which helps staff in affordable housing communities collect residents’ health and wellness information and use it to connect residents to appropriate services. Eaton Senior Communities in Lakewood, CO, developed the tool with researchers at the University of Denver and is now analyzing and sharing 10 years of resident wellness data with housing providers, healthcare programs, and payers. This session will examine the project’s implementation, early results, and best practices for promoting healthy, affordable aging.

• Diana Delgado, President & CEO, Eaton Senior Communities, Inc.
• Bobbie Kite, Dean, College of Professional Studies, Professor of Healthcare Informatics, University of Denver
• Rachel Rogers, Director of Continuing Education and Workforce Development, Wor-Wic Community College

79-D. Future-Proof Your Organization with a Quality Framework

Investing in quality can future-proof your aging services organization against regulatory, reimbursement, and demographic changes. The reason is simple: Discerning consumers assess providers based on whether their quality is trustworthy and measurable. This session will highlight the quality metrics that matter most to consumers and families when selecting aging services providers. You’ll learn how to use a standardized quality framework to strengthen workforce culture, improve recruitment, and reduce turnover. You’ll also discover how your organization’s quality performance can set it apart in the marketplace, build robust referral pipelines, and expand partnerships. This is your chance to transform quality from a compliance requirement into a growth strategy.

• Marlena del Hierro, Director of Operational Growth, CareScout Powered by Genworth
• Jeremy Sawvel, Regional Vice President, CareScout Powered by Genworth
• Dina Frauwirth, Seniorly Premier Advisor, Adult Care Advisors
• Sean Purser, Chief Quality Officer, Atria Senior Living
• Whitney Lane, Vice President of Clinical Services, Brookdale Senior Living, Inc.

97-D. Navigating M&A: The Critical Role of Insurance

As mergers and acquisitions (M&A) continue to reshape the senior living landscape, organizations need specialized knowledge and tools to navigate these complex transactions. During this session, a representative from LeadingAge Gold Partner EPIC Senior Living will review the M&A due diligence process and highlight the critical role insurance plays in protecting buyers and sellers by uncovering hidden liabilities and ensuring coverage continuity throughout the transaction lifecycle. Whether your organization is expanding, consolidating, or exploring strategic partnerships, this session will help you make informed decisions that safeguard your mission, residents, and financial future.

• Walter Constantine, Vice President, EPIC Senior Living
• Tad Melton, Managing Director, Ziegler
• Brett Landrum, CEO, Procare HR

98-D. Growing the Domestic Workforce: Federal Policy Developments

Federal policy is increasingly focused on strengthening the domestic workforce to address persistent recruitment and retention challenges across the aging services continuum. This session will provide an overview of key workforce policy developments, including those affecting training and education pathways, worker supports, funding opportunities, and emerging regulatory requirements. Presenters will explain how these changes are likely to affect aging services organizations and where new challenges may arise. Join us for a timely, balanced conversation about how federal policy is shaping—and at times complicating—the future of the aging services workforce. You’ll take away practical tips to help you engage in the national conversation.

• Amanda Mead, Director, Workforce Policy, LeadingAge

112-D. Fostering Connection Through Open Storytelling

During a recent campus expansion, a life plan community’s pastoral team strengthened campus connections by organizing a series of panels featuring open storytelling on topics such as change, purpose, love, grief, and caring for others. This session will explore how the pastoral team identified topics that resonated with residents and guided panelists through months of discussions before selecting each panel’s topic. Resident panelists will explain how honest storytelling strengthens connections and encourages self-reflection, especially during periods of growth or change. You’ll learn about the vital role pastoral care teams play in life plan communities and gain tools to help you create your own open storytelling program.

• Faith Fitzgerald, Director of Pastoral Care, Westminster Canterbury Richmond
• Jay Morgan, Chaplain, Westminster Canterbury Richmond

124-D. Designing for Cognitive Health with Agentic AI

More than 7.2 million older Americans live with Alzheimer’s disease, and 42% of those over 55 are likely to develop dementia. Fortunately, environmental design can support these individuals by promoting brain health, enhancing cognition, reducing care costs, and increasing resident satisfaction. This session will introduce “Senior Brain,” an artificial intelligence-powered system that evaluates community spaces to identify cognitive “hot spots” and recommend design improvements. Presenters will explore how the system leverages neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to change through learning and experience—to create environments that protect brain health. You’ll learn how a life plan community used the Senior Brain system during a recent renovation.

• Hillary Owen, Principal, Studio Practice Leader, HKS
• Michael O'Neill, Global Practice Director of Enterprise Research, HKS
• Frances Salinas, President & CEO, Wesley Willows

137-D. Intergenerational Housing Could Strengthen Your Workforce

Looking for a housing option that meets older adults’ needs while attracting young workers to help them live independently? This session will introduce an intergenerational housing model that addresses the aging services workforce crisis, the affordable housing shortage, and the loneliness epidemic affecting young and old alike. Presenters will describe a unique intergenerational community model that provides affordable housing to older adults, and hires young people who have “aged out” of the foster care system to work in the community. They’ll review market trends driving the growth of intergenerational living, its potential to strengthen your workforce, and architectural guidelines to help you bring this housing option to your campus.

• Mary Munoz, Founder, Foster Connections
• Leslie Moldow, Principal, Perkins Eastman
• John Thorhauer, President and CEO, Glencroft Center for Modern Aging

5-E. Maximize the Benefits of Bidirectional Data Exchange

Bidirectional data exchange—the process of sending and receiving data across organizations and care sectors—is increasingly common nationwide thanks to federal interoperability initiatives. This session will show how aging services providers can maximize the benefits of this exchange for care delivery and business operations. Presenters will discuss how their life plan communities use health information exchanges to support coordinated care during care transitions, enhance emergency preparedness, and better serve older adults with multiple chronic conditions. You’ll also learn how data exchange supports health plan contract negotiations, population outcome reporting, and point-of-care interventions.

• Denise DiNoto, Senior Director, Partner Engagement, Intrepid Ascent
• Travis Masonis, CIO & Vice President of Information Technology, Jewish Home
• Keith Kasin, Chief Operating Officer, Hillcrest

17-E. Do Low Medicaid Payments Worsen Disparities in Nursing Homes?

Do Medicaid payment levels affect quality and influence racial and ethnic disparities in individual nursing homes? This session will present findings from recent research on this previously unexplored question. Presenters will describe their analysis of a new national database containing facility- and resident-level data for nearly 9,500 nursing homes across 44 states. They’ll share findings on racial and ethnic disparities in nursing home quality and outcomes and examine whether these disparities are associated with Medicaid payment levels. Discover how Medicaid reimbursement shapes the association between a nursing home’s racial and ethnic composition, 5-star quality ratings, staffing levels, and resident-level quality outcomes.

• Edward Miller, Professor and Chair, Department of Gerontology, UMass Boston Gerontology
• Elizabeth Simpson, Doctoral Candidate, UMass Boston Gerontology
• Marc Cohen, Co-Director, LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston, UMass Boston Gerontology
• John Bowblis, Research Fellow, Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University

28-E. Drive Growth by Aligning Governance, Operations, and Sales

Does your organization’s board focus on stewardship and risk, while your leaders handle operations, your marketers oversee branding, and your sales teams focus on conversions? Organizations struggle when stakeholders follow separate pathways, pursue siloed priorities, and tell different stories. This session will help you align governance, operations, marketing, and sales into a unified, credible narrative. Presenters will show you how to connect boardroom decisions to sales outcomes; what boards need to know about brand and sales; how leadership behaviors influence the brand promise; and how misalignment affects growth. You’ll learn to break down organizational silos, manage tensions, and build trust so that external messaging feels authentic and consistent.

• Colleen Hollestelle, President & CEO, Santa Marta
• Susan Bogan, Co-CEO, AgePop
• Joe Ewert, President, Aging Research Institute (ARI)
• Andy Schmidt, Board Member, Santa Marta

43-E. Community Partnerships to Enhance Giving, Engagement, and Occupancy

No senior living organization is an island—at least not if it wants to succeed. This session will offer strategies to break down silos and foster collaboration within and beyond your organization. Presenters will show you how your sales, marketing, life enrichment, and philanthropy teams can work together to improve the resident experience and drive organizational growth. They’ll also explore the importance of engaging external partners to attract charitable support, enrich resident life, and position your organization as a trusted resource. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how to unlock growth, deepen stakeholder engagement, and increase community impact by building bridges at home and across the broader community.

• Nora Hannah, Chief Engagement Officer, Sun Health Communites
• Z. Allen Abbott, Vice President of Philanthropy, Baptist Senior Family
• Claudia Vazquez, Associate Vice President of Philanthropy, Sun Health Communites

44-E. Secure Your Future: Restructure and Reimagine

Executive teams update their strategic plans annually to refine the traditional continuum model they’ve offered for decades. These organizations now face unprecedented challenges as more for-profit developers enter the field, consumer preferences shift, and government payments decline. Tweaking the continuum won’t be enough to secure the future. Instead, this session will show you how to restructure your organization and reimagine the continuum. Presenters will offer guidance on selling or repurposing assets to advance your mission, collaborating with and learning from investors, restructuring your debt, and addressing your legal issues. Let a turnaround manager and an investment banker help you develop an achievable restructuring plan that will appeal to investors and secure your organization’s future.

• David Lawlor, Chief Financial Officer and President, Management & Consulting Division, Masonicare
• David Fields, Managing Director, Raymond James & Associates, Inc.
• Poonam Paditar, Member, Mintz
• Mary Jane Minier, Head of Opportunistic Credit Strategy, Invesco

65-E. Early Advantage Programs: Put Your Wait List to Work

Innovative service models are gaining traction as life plan communities navigate shifting consumer expectations and competitive pressures. This session will examine one such model: Early Advantage programs that allow waitlisted individuals to become “residents” before moving in. Two providers, an actuary, and a strategic consultant will describe these programs, which often charge consumers a fee in exchange for priority waitlist placement or early access to healthcare services. Presenters will explore how these programs benefit providers and the challenges related to pricing, operations, and policy-setting. You’ll learn what motivates prospective residents to join these programs, lessons learned by providers, and risk factors for boards to consider.

• Brad Paulis, Partner, CCRC Actuaries, LLC dba Continuing Care Actuaries
• Cathy Schweiger, Director, Health Care and Life Sciences, CLA
• Peter Fleming, COO, The Hill at Whitemarsh
• Tracy Biesecker, CFO, Carol Woods Retirement Community

80-E. Optimizing Dining Operations Amid Workforce Challenges

A senior living community’s dining program shapes residents’ daily experience and signals organizational stability and operational efficiency. Unfortunately, high staff turnover, driven by low compensation, often leads to inconsistent service quality and undermines resident satisfaction. This session will provide practical tools to maintain your dining program’s quality, consistency, and service standards. Presenters will share management practices—including coaching frontline supervisors and standardizing expectations—that build resilience in dining departments. You’ll also learn to improve the dining experience through menu innovations, structured leadership training, outcome measurement, and operational systems that sustain quality. Make your dining experience a reliable, mission-critical touchpoint despite ongoing workforce challenges.

• David Kremer, Executive Director, Legacy Pointe at UCF
• George Barker, Executive Director, Edgewood Summit
• Andrew Leech, Corporate Vice President, Greystone
• Uwe Rudnick, Regional Dining Director, Greystone

81-E. Medicare Advantage: Tips for Maximizing Reimbursement

The rules and processes governing managed care continue to evolve as more beneficiaries enroll in Medicare Advantage plans each year. This session will bring you up to date on the program’s latest policy developments, so you’re ready to strengthen your organization’s internal processes and maximize your reimbursement. LeadingAge provider members and a managed care contracting and billing expert will be on hand to update you on Medicare Advantage policies related to prior authorization, appeals, and the complaint process for reporting noncompliance. They’ll also show you how to improve your first-pass prior authorization accuracy and accelerate clean claim submissions. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how to succeed in managed care.

• Nicole Fallon, VP, Integrated Services and Managed Care, LeadingAge
• Francesca Muterspaw, CEO, Simple Solution Consulting

99-E. SNF Regulations: Get the Clarity You Need to Succeed

Regulatory changes and survey trends affect all skilled nursing facilities nationwide. During this session, two attorneys will review and evaluate significant regulatory developments from the past year. They will also examine current survey trends by analyzing the top citations issued at the regional and national levels. Throughout the session, you’ll be encouraged to discuss common regulatory challenges and share best practices for staying current with regulatory developments and survey trends. You’ll also learn to anticipate and prepare for future regulatory developments and surveys.

• Maddie Spearman, Attorney, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings
• Sean Fahey, Attorney, Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman PC (IN Office)

113-E. Improving Dementia Care with AI-Powered Pain Assessment

Pain is often underrecognized and undertreated in older adults with dementia, many of whom cannot reliably self-report their discomfort. This communication barrier leads caregivers to rely on subjective observations, resulting in inconsistent assessments and missed opportunities for intervention. This session will explore how AI-powered pain assessment tools combine automated facial recognition with structured digital checklists to accurately and consistently identify pain-related behaviors in nonverbal individuals. Presenters will demonstrate how to use these tools to improve clinical decision-making and reduce falls, frailty, and inappropriate drug use. Join this session to discover how technology and human care can work together to ensure a pain-free future for older adults.

• Karah Santos, RN, Medical Records / Employee Health Nurse, Jewish Home at Rockleigh
• David Allsopp, General Manager, North America, PainChek
• Eric Riguerra, RN, Director of Nursing Services, Jewish Home at Rockleigh

125-E. Co-Locating Affordable and Middle-Income Housing

Providers of affordable senior housing have long aimed to serve both low- and middle-income older adults. This session will showcase a housing project that achieved both goals by co-locating a new middle-income life plan community with an existing affordable housing community and linking the buildings through a shared amenity space. Presenters will explain how the shared campus fosters a more equitable community and offers services and staff that go beyond what either community could provide independently. You’ll discover the architectural and spatial implications of building an income-inclusive community and learn why the local market was receptive to this new concept.

• Emily Pierson-Brown, Practice Area Leader – Senior Living, Perkins Eastman
• Amy Schectman, Saul and Gitta Kurlat Chief Executive Officer, 2Life Communities
• Sharon Adams Brooks, Opus Marketing, 2Life Communities
• Stephanie Moresco, Opus Project Manager, 2Life Communities

138-E. Unlock the Leadership Potential of Your Frontline Workforce

Frontline caregivers are the heart of every aging services organization, yet most have limited opportunities to develop their leadership skills. During this session, a panel of human resources and leadership development professionals from LeadingAge member organizations will highlight promising programs that harness the leadership potential of the frontline workforce, enhance organizational culture, increase retention, and help caregivers contribute more effectively to their organizations. Presenters will share learning modules that have resonated with frontline learners and offer tips for adapting them to diverse learning needs and day-to-day operational challenges. You’ll gain practical strategies for launching or strengthening a frontline leadership program that benefits all levels of your organization.

• Marsha Wesley Coleman, Principal, Marsha Wesley Colean Consulting, LLC
• Shanda O'Dennis, Learning and Development Associate, AQORD
• Kashmira Narinesingh-Smith, HR Staff Development & Learning Manager, Kendal-Crosslands Communities
• Elizabeth Nicely, HR Director, Friends House Retirement Community

6-F. Building an Integrated System for Resident Engagement

Life plan communities offer residents myriad opportunities to participate in rich programming across a range of digital platforms. But how can providers prevent technology saturation and uneven adoption? This session will highlight one provider’s technology-enabled engagement system, which integrates digital communication platforms, automation, data and analytics, and artificial intelligence tools. Presenters will describe the system’s components, including streaming, video libraries, and in-house digital channels; dashboards that help community leaders understand engagement patterns; and automation solutions that reduce manual tasks for program staff. You’ll return home with a framework for viewing resident engagement as a scalable system rather than a collection of disconnected tools.

• Dusanka Delovska-Trajkova, CIO, Ingleside
• Ed Balkovich, Resident, Ingleside at King Farm
• Scott Code, Vice President, CAST, LeadingAge
• Liz Keller, Resident Technology Engagement Manager, Ingleside

18-F. How Residents and Caregivers Perceive Inclusive Dementia Care

Aging services providers recognize the benefits and challenges of enabling residents with varying cognitive abilities to live together, rather than segregating residents with dementia in memory care areas. Yet few studies have examined the care delivered in inclusive residential settings. This session will help fill that gap. Presenters will share their research on how residents and team members perceive inclusive living environments; residents' perceptions of their well-being and experiences of care; and the extent to which professional caregivers feel supported in problem-solving and collaboration. Join this session to see inclusive long-term care settings through the eyes of those who live and work there.

• Jen Wilson, Vice President of Well-Being, Carol Woods Retirement Community
• Sheryl Zimmerman, Associate Dean and Distinguished Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Walter Moczygemba, Manager, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

29-F. Strengthen Your Board Through Planned Enrichment

Knowledgeable, experienced, and engaged board members are essential to the success of senior living organizations. Yet few board members arrive at their first board meeting with all the knowledge needed to fulfill their roles. This session will explore how one organization expanded board members' capacity by dedicating the first 60-90 minutes of its bimonthly board meetings to a wide range of enrichment activities. Presenters will outline how they implemented the revised board agenda and how it improved the board’s effectiveness. You’ll learn strategies for assessing board members’ current knowledge and addressing gaps. Discover how enrichment sessions can strengthen your board and help its members become confident change agents and change makers.

• Louis Prues, MBA, DMin, PhD, Immediate Past Board Chair, Presbyterian Villages of Michigan
• Roger Myers, President & CEO, Presbyterian Villages of Michigan
• Kenneth Hollowell, Board Chair, Presbyterian Villages of Michigan
• Jane Mack, Owner, Jane Mack Consulting

45-F. Affiliate or Go It Alone? Forming Bonds Across Faith Traditions

The decision to affiliate is among the most consequential and strategic choices a board of directors can make. For faith-based organizations considering a merger with a ministry from a different faith background, the decision can be especially daunting. This session will feature three leaders from faith-based organizations that successfully affiliated with partners from different religious backgrounds. Presenters will describe their founding traditions and the key drivers behind their decision to pursue affiliation. They’ll explain how they approached the affiliation process and how they weighed religious affinities and differences when identifying and evaluating potential partners. You’ll leave this session better equipped to engage in conversations about strategic partnerships while maintaining your unique faith identity.

• Tim Webster, CEO, Kintura
• Adriene Iverson, President & CEO, Elder Care Alliance
• Karen Lehman, President & CEO, AQORD
• Lynn Daly, Executive Vice President, HJ Sims

46-F. Bringing PACE to Affordable Housing: Benefits and Approaches

Are you struggling to meet the complex medical and social needs of residents in your standalone affordable housing community? The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) may offer a solution. PACE enables older adults to age safely in the community by providing comprehensive medical care, social services, and care coordination. During this session, you’ll hear from On Lok, which founded the PACE model, and from On Lok PACEpartners, which guides housing providers interested in launching and scaling their own PACE programs. Presenters will explain the PACE approach and its benefits for housing residents. They’ll also outline strategies for co-locating PACE with housing and share a framework to help you begin your PACE exploration.

• Sanford Rodgers, Director of On Lok PACEpartners, On Lok PACEpartners
• Grace Li, CEO, On Lok

66-F. Refresh Your Marketing Playbook

Senior living marketers and sales professionals are navigating a rapidly changing landscape as consumer behaviors shift, digital expectations rise, and artificial intelligence reshapes how prospects find and evaluate senior living options. During this session, a LeadingAge member and a marketing consultant will team up to share simple, replicable strategies to help teams overcome today’s marketing challenges. Presenters will show you how small adjustments can yield measurable improvements in your outreach and help you invigorate your current marketing plan to generate more qualified leads. You’ll gain a toolkit of practical strategies you can implement immediately to increase your visibility in the marketplace, improve engagement, and nurture conversion-ready prospects.

• Kristen Myers, Vice President, Membership Sales, Convivial Jacaranda Trace
• Jessica Kraft, President, Lifestar Creative

82-F. Early Warning: Using Proactive Risk Awareness to Delay Decline

Providers of aging services face increasing pressure to help residents and clients maintain their highest level of wellness in the most appropriate, lowest-cost setting. Unfortunately, subtle health and functional changes often go unnoticed until decline triggers care transitions. This session will show you how to delay residents' decline by shifting from reactive care management to proactive risk awareness. Presenters will explain how everyday observations, care documentation, and caregiver insights can help care teams identify emerging health issues and intervene earlier to prevent unnecessary transitions. They’ll also offer strategies for managing unavoidable care transitions more effectively. You’ll understand why earlier risk awareness is becoming a foundational capability for sustainable, person-centered care.

100-F. What Just Happened? Making Sense of Nursing Home Policy Shifts

Recent actions by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and Congress have reshaped expectations for nursing home staffing, oversight, enforcement, and quality standards. This session will review key developments in federal nursing home policy and explore what providers can expect next. Join us to connect government decision-making to your daily operations and identify ways to advocate for policies that promote high-quality, person-centered care.

• Jodi Eyigor, VP of Health Policy, LeadingAge

101-F. Surviving Uncertainty to Fulfill the Home Health Promise

Home health agencies have faced significant financial, regulatory, and program integrity challenges for years. At the same time, demand for home-based services among Medicare beneficiaries has grown exponentially, straining the already limited capacity of home health providers. This session will explore how we reached this point. Presenters will examine threats to the sector’s sustainability, including the declining number of home health providers, the six-month nationwide moratorium on new Medicare enrollments for home health agencies, and ongoing negative payment adjustments. You’ll gain a clearer understanding of these threats and learn about new policy opportunities that could spur a reimagination of the home health benefit.

• Mollie Gurian, VP, Policy & Government Affairs, LeadingAge
• Katy Barnett, Director, Home Care & Hospice Operations and Policy, LeadingAge
• Lindsay Doak, Vice President of Data and Research, Netsmart

114-F. Creative Programs That Connect Generations

Intergenerational programs and community partnerships can enhance the well-being of older adults across care settings. This session will introduce purpose-driven engagement options that improve residents’ quality of life and enable them to share their wisdom with younger generations. Presenters will describe a summer camp for teens and older adults that offers opportunities for connection and storytelling; a LEGO-based engagement initiative; and a classroom experience that enables college students to conduct research informed by older adults. You’ll learn how to develop and scale these purpose-driven practices by identifying the right community partners, tailoring engagement strategies to residents with diverse cognitive and physical abilities, and integrating engagement into daily life.

• Kim Beasley, Director of Communications and Outreach, A.G. Rhodes
• Sonya Williams, Recreational Therapist, A.G. Rhodes Cobb

126-F. Reimagining Outdoor Space as a Healthy Aging Infrastructure

Traditional wellness and therapy spaces often fall short of meeting the needs of older adults, especially those with mobility limitations or cognitive decline. Fortunately, that’s changing. This session will explore how SeniorScapes, Inc., is creating environments that help older adults move, socialize, and thrive outdoors with dignity and safety. Presenters will showcase the nonprofit’s flagship project at Asbury Communities in Frederick, MD, and explain how it supports fitness, mobility, and brain health. You’ll learn which design and program elements to include in age-friendly public spaces and explore the broader role of parks as social infrastructure that promotes connection and equity for older adults.

• Sue Paul, Senior Director of Well-being and Brain Health, Asbury Communities, Inc.
• Tom Bartlett, Senior Associate + Managing Landscape Architect, THW Design

139-F. Protect Your Mission by Lowering Unemployment Expenses

As a nonprofit aging services provider, you aim to use your budget to serve older adults. You may be surprised to learn that operational expenses, including unemployment costs, can drain valuable funds and impede your mission-driven work. During this session, representatives from UST Workforce Solutions, a LeadingAge Gold Partner, will explore cost-effective workforce strategies to streamline your human resources processes, ensure regulatory compliance, and improve operational efficiency. You’ll learn how nonprofit organizations are leveraging artificial intelligence to boost productivity without reducing staff, and how certain unemployment funding options, including a little-known federal exemption, can reduce unemployment costs for 501(c)(3) organizations while helping them build a valuable long-term financial asset.

• Olivia Alvarado, Enrollment Specialist, UST

7-G. Building Digital Confidence among Older Adults

Many senior living organizations are adept at implementing new technology solutions and devices to improve older adults’ daily lives. Yet these organizations often overlook an important truth: the success of any new technology depends not on a high-tech device but on the user’s confidence and ability to use it. That’s where digital literacy comes in. This session will show you how to foster curiosity rather than hesitation among older adults, enabling them to learn the digital skills needed for meaningful engagement with technology. Presenters will provide strategies to help you design digital literacy programs that empower older adults and ensure they are not left behind in the digital age.

• Jeffrey Rose, Director of Special Initiaitves, Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) from AARP
• Alison Mitisek, Director of Life Enrichment, Eaton Senior Communities, Inc.
• Meghan Rose, General Counsel and Chief Government Affairs Officer, LeadingAge California
• Davis Park, VP of Transformation, Front Porch

19-G. A Resident-Led Model for Purpose and Partnership

By empowering residents to serve others, life plan communities can strengthen their organizational culture, enhance engagement, and support leadership development. That’s the lesson one community learned when it established a resident-directed Community Connections Team to plan, promote, and evaluate outreach initiatives. This session will explore the community’s service model, which inspires residents and team members to contribute more than 1,000 hours of service each year to hunger initiatives, intergenerational reading partnerships, and other outreach efforts. Presenters will share practical strategies for generating outreach ideas, evaluating service projects, collaborating across campus, and involving the Foundation as a vital partner in funding initiatives and growing a culture of community partnership. Learn how to deepen resident engagement within your community and across your region.

• Laura Powell, Director of Life Enrichment & Volunteer Services, Bridgewater Retirement Community
• Annie Frazier, VP of Development & Community Relations, Bridgewater Retirement Community

30-G. Leading and Communicating with Clarity in Uncertain Times

The ability to lead with clarity and communicate with intention has never been more essential or more challenging for senior living organizations navigating expansion, contraction, repositioning, or affiliation. This session will help. A senior living executive and a strategic communications counselor will share strategies for guiding teams and communities through uncertainty and staying mission-steady amid sector-wide fluctuations. They’ll show you how to communicate consistently, choose communication methods wisely, align the leadership team to prevent inconsistent messaging, and balance transparency with openness to build trust without triggering fear and confusion. You’ll gain strategies to strengthen your leadership presence and build goodwill among teams, residents, families, and other key partners.

• Mike Gross, President, AKCG – Public Relations Counselors
• Vassar Byrd, President and CEO, The Kendal Corporation

47-G. Fostering a Culture of Philanthropy in Life Plan Communities

Faith-based senior living organizations can no longer rely solely on congregational support for financial sustainability. Instead, they must build internal fundraising capacity by fostering a culture of philanthropy among residents, many of whom don’t realize their monthly fees don’t cover all expenses. During this session, a life plan community’s chief growth officer will share how their organization and its foundation built relationships with key stakeholders and improved donor engagement. Presenters will explain why their fundraising efforts succeeded and how they plan to enhance them. You’ll discover how resident engagement, a strong gift structure, and AI-powered technology boosted their fundraising—and could do the same for your organization.

• William McMorran, Sr. Partner, Green Oak Consulting Group
• Colleen Ryan Mallon, Vice President of Marketing and Advancement, Frasier

48-G. The New Frontier: Inside Continuing Care at Home (CCaH)

As the desire to age in place grows among older adults, Continuing Care at Home (CCaH) programs are emerging as an innovative alternative to traditional senior living. In return for an entrance fee and monthly dues, CCaH members receive comprehensive long-term care services while remaining in their own homes. During this session, three CCaH providers will compare CCaH models, detailing their financial structures, membership designs, and operational approaches. Presenters will help you identify which CCaH model best aligns with your organization’s mission, market, and strategic goals. You’ll discover key factors that contributed to the success of organizations that have launched and grown CCaH programs, as well as the challenges they faced along the way.

• Amanda Young, Director of Business Development, Edenwald
• Michelle M Pandolfi, VP, HCBS, Whitney Center, Inc.
• Jen Egizi, Executive Director, Vibrance by Garden Spot, Garden Spot Village

67-G. Marketing Data for CEOs: What are All These Numbers Telling Me?

Marketing and sales teams often provide CEOs and senior living executives with a range of data to support their conclusions about how effectively their organization is attracting, engaging, and converting consumers. But what do these numbers mean, and how can you use them to ask the right questions, generate new inquiries and increase sales? This session is designed for executive leaders who want a clearer understanding of the difference between an inquiry and a lead, what a conversion rate is and isn’t, and how to act on this information. Presenters will also explain the difference between marketing and sales teams and how they should work together to maximize results. You’ll leave prepared to make informed decisions that will boost your organization’s performance.

• Wes Meltzer, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Springpoint Senior Living
• Marissa Burkhardt, Chief Strategy Officer, Fountain Digital
• Cliff Karklin, VP of Performance and Analytics, Fountain Digital

68-G. From Outsourced to In-House: Building a Creative Services Team

External creative consultants often deliver results for senior living communities, but at the expense of consistency, responsiveness, and organizational alignment. This session will show you how to transform your organization’s creative vision from an outsourced service into an in-house team that drives brand excellence, fosters innovation, and delivers measurable impact. Presenters will prepare you to assess the value of internalizing creative services, assemble the right talent, define workflows, and integrate creative operations into your organizational strategy. You’ll gain practical tips to improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance brand consistency.

• Laura Jones, Senior Vice President, Operations, Pinnacle Living
• Jason Neman, Partner / CEO, Good Brand

83-G. Improve Your Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Score

Ask home health providers what keeps them up at night, and many will cite the risk of a negative score under the expanded Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model, which adjusts Medicare payments based on quality performance. This session may ease their concerns. A home health provider and consultant will share how they turned a negative HHVBP score and financial penalty into a positive payment adjustment. They’ll show you how to interpret HHVBP scorecards, review data sources, and design and implement an improvement strategy. They’ll also offer tips for aligning key operational areas to improve HHVBP measurement outcomes.

• Melinda Gren, VP Performance and Operations, HCBS, Goodwin Living
• Francesca Muterspaw, CEO, Simple Solution Consulting

84-G. Operationalize ADR Management to Protect Your Resources

Nursing homes and post-acute care providers face heightened scrutiny when Medicare and other payers issue Additional Documentation Requests (ADR) or conduct targeted medical reviews and post-payment audits. Delays in responding to these requests can lead to improper payment findings against the provider. This session will help leaders shift from reactive, one-claim-at-a-time ADR responses to a structured, collaborative approach. Presenters will outline common review triggers, explain how documentation gaps and fragmented communication pose financial and compliance risks, and review each step of an ADR, from request through appeal. Learn how to operationalize ADR and denial management to support quality and financial stability.

• Kristy Brown, Director of SNF Strategy, Assembly Health
• Wendy Strain, Director of Consulting, Polaris Group
• Peggy Connorton, AVP, Healthcare Regulation, Compliance, Quality, Covenant Living Communities and Services

102-G. CCRC Statutes for Growth-Minded Multi-State Providers

Looking to expand your organizational footprint by establishing life plan communities in multiple states? Your success will depend on how well you understand each new state’s life plan community statutes. This session will outline the benefits and risks of expanding across state lines to establish life plan communities. An expert panel of multi-state executives, financial experts, and LeadingAge state partners will discuss the strategic, practical, and legal requirements of multi-state expansion and guide you in assessing each new state’s receptivity to life plan communities. A review of existing state laws and legislative trends will round out the session. You’ll gain access to LeadingAge tools and resources to inform your decision-making.

• Dee Pekruhn, Senior Director, Life Plan Communities and CCaH, LeadingAge

115-G. Supporting Older Adults to “LivWell” in Affordable Housing

Residents of affordable senior housing communities face poor health outcomes and functional challenges linked to low incomes, advanced age, and racial and ethnic diversity. To address these urgent needs, two LeadingAge members—Springpoint Senior Living and Parker Health Group—created LivWell, an affordable-housing-based wellness initiative that supports quality of life, personal choice, lifelong development, and optimal well-being for more than 300 residents across 11 affordable housing communities. Presenters will discuss LivWell’s program design, governance structure, funding, and performance metrics. They’ll also share findings from a recent program evaluation by the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston.

• Michael Oakes, Chief Philanthropy Officer, Springpoint Senior Living
• Verena Cimarolli, VP, Applied Research and Partnerships, LTSS Center, LeadingAge
• Donna Silbert, Chief Strategy Officer, Parker Health Group, Inc.

127-G. Beyond Memory Care: Designing Brain-Healthy Communities

Do current dementia care approaches reinforce separation in senior living communities, or do they position brain health as a unifying priority for all residents? This session will highlight one organization committed to the latter. Organization leaders will describe how their community invited people living with cognitive change to co-design the environments, services, and operational decisions that define its campus. They’ll examine how this approach shifted the community’s design to support autonomy, normalcy, and shared community life while challenging assumptions about risk, elopement, and safety. Join this session to broaden your understanding of how evidence-based brain health practices can inform senior living campus design.

• Maley Hunt, COO & Residential Services Administrator, LiveWell
• Michael Smith, President and CEO, LiveWell
• Max Winters, Senior Designer, RLPS Architects

140-G. The ROAD to Building Your Workforce Through Internships

Senior living communities seeking to strengthen their workforce must take deliberate steps to reach younger workers who may not yet view aging services as an attractive career path. This session will highlight a program that can help. The Rotational Operations and Development (ROAD) talent development model invites young interns to explore the full range of career opportunities in aging services through internship rotations across various departments such as operations, dining, marketing, resident services, and more. LeadingAge members who are using the ROAD model, along with interns who’ve participated in it, will share their experiences. You’ll gain the tools you need to attract Gen Z team members to your organization and to our field.

• Pam Aldahondo, HR Director, Skyline
• Tom Paden, Director of Talent Acquisition, Transforming Age
• Karen Brandt, SVP of People, Transforming Age
• Jasmine Banks, Executive Director, Tradition Senior Living Community

8-H. Can Technology Improve Health Outcomes in Senior Housing?

The future of senior housing depends on its ability to support residents' health through rigorous data collection and analysis, accurate measurement of health outcomes, and responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI). This session will showcase how an affordable senior housing community used data from three interventions—telehealth, AI-enhanced fall detection, and remote patient monitoring—to help residents manage chronic diseases, avoid emergency transfers, and improve access to services. Presenters will show you how to capture data and build dashboards so clinical and operational teams can track residents’ health and take timely action. You’ll learn to evaluate AI tools for safety and bias and to establish practices that ensure consent, privacy, and transparency.

• Eric Luster, Chairman, Waymark Gardens

20-H. Flip the Script on Accountability

Most organizational leaders unknowingly sabotage their teams by treating accountability as punishment. This fear-based approach to managing teams carries hidden costs, including stifled innovation, talent exodus, and decision-making paralysis. This session will introduce you to a growth-oriented alternative called “Supportive Accountability,” which encourages team members to make voluntary commitments to an organization based on intrinsic satisfaction, curiosity, or enjoyment—rather than fear of punishment. Presenters will examine why traditional accountability approaches fail and explore the science behind what truly drives responsibility. You’ll return home with a 10-step guide to implementing a supportive accountability system that builds trust, accelerates growth, and creates thriving teams.

• Kevin Davis, Executive Coach, Phoenix Performance Partners
• Thomas Willis, Partner & Co-Founder, Phoenix Performance Partners
• Stephen Fetyko, President & CEO, Brio Living Services

31-H. Affiliation Strategies that Balance Autonomy with Collaboration

Affiliation can help nonprofit senior living organizations achieve long-term sustainability, foster innovation, and remain true to their core mission and values amid today’s operational challenges. This session will explore the affiliation process that united two life plan communities under a shared governance structure while preserving their individual identities. Presenters will outline steps for building a successful affiliation, including establishing a robust legal and governance framework, drafting bylaws that reflect shared values and priorities, and addressing board composition and responsibilities. Whether you’re considering affiliation, engaged in partnership talks, or refining an existing relationship, you’ll learn how to build an affiliation that promotes stability, improves services, and ensures long-term success.

• David Swartley, President & CEO, Unitas Communities
• Alisa Miller, President and CEO, Kairos Health Systems
• Brian Black, Partner and Senior Consultant, North Group Consultants
• Christopher Churchill, Chair Health Law, Barley Snyder

49-H. Beyond the Continuum: Serving a Broader Spectrum of Older Adults

Leading nonprofit senior housing providers are expanding their missions to serve a broader spectrum of older adults with diverse lifestyles and affordability needs. During this session, you’ll meet representatives from one organization that built an active adult development one mile from its existing full-continuum campus, and from another that integrated low- to middle-income housing into its broader development strategy. You’ll take away tips for designing and financing a range of projects that fall outside the traditional continuum while complementing existing campus offerings. Here’s your chance to reflect on your growth and consider new projects that could strengthen your market position and advance your mission.

• Jennifer Sodo, Senior Living Market Leader, Eppstein Uhen Architects
• Polly Gretzinger, Executive Director of Campus Operations, Bay Area Lutheran Homes, Inc.
• Jennifer Wade, Vice President of Real Estate, Senior Housing Partners, Presbyterian Homes & Services
• Aaron Schroeder, SVP, Public Finance, Colliers Securities LLC

50-H. Raising Funds for Your Life Plan Community: Keys to Success

Life plan communities face unique challenges and opportunities when running comprehensive fundraising campaigns. This session will provide practical guidance to help development professionals craft a compelling fundraising appeal that resonates with distinct stakeholder groups, including residents, family members, board members, and vendors. Fundraising professionals will show you how to set ambitious yet realistic campaign goals and recruit the right volunteers and staff leaders. A resident and a campaign donor will share their motivations for giving, discuss the campaign themes that resonated with them, and describe their experiences as fundraising volunteers. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how to adapt traditional fundraising strategies to the unique environment of life plan communities.

• Michael Oakes, Chief Philanthropy Officer, Springpoint Senior Living
• Bridget Murphy, Chief Growth Officer, Graham-Pelton
• Christopher Hansen, Regional Director of Major & Planned Gifts, Springpoint Senior Living
• Elly Silberman, Resident, Springpoint Senior Living

69-H. Customizing Apartment Design Within Timelines and Budgets

Imagine your organization is building a large-scale independent living project for clients with discerning tastes. You know residents want to customize their new apartments. But how do you offer a wide range of options while ensuring a smooth, timely process? This session will provide a blueprint for success. Presenters will outline key elements of a successful customization process, including standardized procedures for engaging residents, technology-enabled tools to support the design process, transparent pricing and deadlines, and clear roles for project team members. You’ll return home with strategies for balancing your desire to provide a personalized experience with the need to maintain project timelines and budgets.

• Ashley Allman, Vice President of Marketing & Development, Westminster Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay
• Casey Kinner, Senior Vice President, Project & Development Services, JLL

85-H. Primary Care Partnerships: How They Work, Why They Matter

Is your senior living organization aiming to improve residents’ health outcomes but unsure how to proceed? This session will offer a practical solution: establish a partnership with an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) and a primary care medical group to deliver enhanced clinical services to residents. Presenters will describe how their multisite organization’s primary care team partnered with an ACO to establish a Medicare Shared Savings Program. You’ll learn about the partnership’s operational and financial benefits, including better care, fewer avoidable hospitalizations, longer resident stays, and lower turnover. Discover how these partnerships work, why they matter, and the steps providers can take to implement them effectively.

• Angie Hoff, VP of Operations, Primary Care, National Church Residences Home and Community Services
• Jacob Swint, Vice President of Strategic Growth and Operations Support, National Church Residences
• Margaret Gibson, Vice President, Sales, National Church Residences

86-H. Measuring Quality in Assisted Living: Lessons from Minnesota

As assisted living continues to grow, person-centered approaches to measuring its quality remain scarce. This session will explore how Minnesota addressed this gap by developing an electronic report card that rates assisted living communities on a 5-star scale, using state inspection data and surveys of residents and family members. Presenters will share key findings from the report card’s 2024 statewide implementation, which captured consumer feedback on autonomy, staff relationships, environment, food, and engagement across the state’s assisted living communities. You’ll review tools for measuring resident quality of life and family satisfaction in assisted living, and learn strategies for integrating person-reported measures into quality improvement.

• Tetyana Shippee, Professor, University of Minnesota
• Rachel Shands, Deputy Director, Aging and Adult Services Division, Minnesota Department of Human Services

103-H. Long-Term Care Financing Reform: Has the Moment Arrived?

Medicaid cuts, the aging of the baby boomer generation, and the escalating caregiving crisis are compelling states and the federal government to confront a long-ignored issue: how Americans will pay for long-term care. It remains uncertain whether a lasting solution will come from the states, Congress, or both. But presenters in this session will argue that the opportunity for meaningful discussions about long-term care financing is finally here. Join them to explore why more people are discussing financing reform, what proposals are under consideration, and the distinct coverage, cost, and access trade-offs each entails. You’ll learn how to lend your voice to long-term care financing conversations at the state and federal levels.

• Mollie Gurian, VP, Policy & Government Affairs, LeadingAge

116-H. Measuring the Impact of Resident Engagement

Older adults increasingly seek purpose, autonomy, and connection in their daily lives. Engagement activities in senior living communities must reflect these desires by moving beyond entertainment to include experiences that support physical, emotional, social, intellectual, and spiritual well-being. This session will explore shifting engagement preferences and introduce you to tracking and assessment methods for measuring the impact of engagement activities, demonstrating their value to stakeholders, and empowering staff to deliver more intentional, resident-centered experiences. You’ll leave with actionable strategies to reframe your engagement efforts, strengthen the link between programming and resident well-being, and communicate success in ways that resonate with stakeholders.

• Kelly Stranburg, Vice President of Healthy Aging and Longevity, Westminster Communities of Florida, Inc.
• Antonio Galvan, VP of Resident Experience, Covenant Living Communities and Services

128-H. Brighten Up Your Community: Reimagining Outdated Spaces

Does your senior living community have dark interiors, underutilized spaces, and outdated dining areas? It may be time to reimagine your community to make it more appealing to consumers seeking modern design, diverse dining options, and vibrant spaces that foster social engagement. This session will show you how to keep pace with new developments by evaluating your campus space, identifying underused areas, and repurposing them to align with emerging trends and resident expectations. Presenters will share tips for taking a phased renovation approach that lets you exercise your imagination, maximize existing assets, and avoid significant debt. They’ll also offer tools to engage residents in the design process and turn them into project champions.

• Brian Kuhns, Senior Associate & Senior Project Architect, Noelker and Hull Associates, Inc.
• Craig Wagoner, Vice President of Operations, National Lutheran Communities & Services
• Susan Dailey, Resident Board Member, National Lutheran Communities & Services

141-H. What if You Could Prevent Employees from Leaving Their Jobs?

In today’s labor-constrained environment, senior living organizations need more than hindsight. They need actionable foresight. This session will showcase a tool that LCS built that can help. You’ll hear about Retention Radar, a predictive workforce intelligence solution that identifies departments with employees most at risk of leaving their jobs and recommends targeted, practical interventions to support engagement and stability. By analyzing indicators such as benefits participation, scheduling alignment, supervisor stability, and PTO utilization, this innovative tool helps community leaders focus their efforts where they can have the greatest impact. Presenters will explain how Retention Radar equips Executive Directors, Administrations, Human Resources teams, and other operations leaders to interpret workforce trends and make data-informed decisions. Users of the tool will share strategies for translating predictive analytics into targeted retention interventions and explain how Retention Radar is helping to reduce turnover while enhancing the resident experience.

• Baylie Panzi, VP, Human Resources, LCS
• Jacob Elliott, Director of Operations Management, LCS
• Rick Westermann, SVP, Chief Marketing Officer, LCS

142-H. A Collaborative Strategy for Developing the CNA Workforce

Educators, providers, policymakers, and workforce leaders nationwide are rethinking how aging services providers recruit, train, support, and retain frontline caregivers. This session will highlight this collaborative effort. Presenters will describe a recent national meeting that examined the potential for multi-state collaboration to standardize certified nursing assistant (CNA) career pathways through state-based Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Programs. They’ll share lessons learned from convening stakeholders across education, workforce development, aging services, finance, policy, and care delivery systems to discuss workforce solutions. You’ll discover how stakeholder collaboration can drive system-wide changes in policy, practice, and workforce development.

• Molly Carpenter, Director, Workforce Strategy and Development, LeadingAge
• Alice Bonner, Senior Advisor for Aging, Institute For Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
• Robyn Stone, Strategic Advisor, LeadingAge

9-I. A Mission-Aligned Roadmap for Artificial Intelligence

Are you intrigued by the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) but concerned about adopting it responsibly? Let representatives from a life plan community walk you through the process they used to deploy AI while staying true to their nonprofit values. This session’s presenters will describe how they launched a structured, mission-aligned AI initiative to enhance the resident experience, improve workforce efficiency, and strengthen operational resilience. You’ll learn how they conducted visioning workshops, cross-departmental discovery sessions, and data-readiness assessments, and how they addressed governance, ethics, and long-term sustainability. By the end of this session, you’ll feel empowered to launch an ongoing, measurable, and responsible AI transformation at your organization.

• John Bassounas, President, Varsity
• Derek Dunham, President, Varsity
• Kevin DeAcosta, President & CEO, The Highlands at Wyomissing

21-I. From Consumers into Empowered Citizens: Measuring the culture shift in senior living

Christian Living Communities in Englewood, CO, has spent 15 years developing its Citizenship Model® to encourage residents to see themselves not only as consumers of housing and services but as active, empowered citizens of their senior living community. This session will present research on developing and validating a practical framework that measures this model across four key domains: purpose, inclusion, empowerment, and interpersonal connection. Presenters will offer guidance on implementing the model, discuss the development of assessment tools, share research findings, and demonstrate how organizations can use the results to advance meaningful, measurable culture change.

• Jill Vitale-Aussem, President and CEO, Christian Living Communities
• Lydia Nguyen, Principal Researcher, LifeLoop

32-I. Build a Team That Outperforms Expectations

Extraordinary outcomes depend on extraordinary teams, whether you’re leading an expansion, repositioning an existing campus, stabilizing occupancy, or launching a major operational initiative. This session tells the story of a life plan community that built a cross-functional team to deliver a successful expansion that many believed would not resonate with its intended audience. Presenters will describe how they improved performance across operations, culture, sales, brand, design, and development through strategic decisions, bold pivots, and mindset shifts that propelled a small nonprofit community to outsized success. You’ll walk away with a replicable framework for building team chemistry and enhancing execution, along with practical tips for shifting culture and inspiring optimism.

• Billy Nelson, CEO, Fairview
• Brad Straub, President, Greystone
• Janel Wait, Co-CEO, AgePop
• Eric Harrmann, Chief Design Officer, AG Architecture

51-I. Surviving the HCBS Squeeze: Sustainability Solutions

Sixty percent of home and community-based service (HCBS) providers have faced negative margins or program closures over the past three years because of stagnant reimbursement rates and rising costs. This session will offer several solutions to help your HCBS program survive the squeeze. Presenters will share how their agency navigated severe reimbursement challenges, made tough program decisions, and used innovative practices to restore its financial health. Discover how they implemented geographic clustering of clients to improve staffing efficiency and leveraged a remote global administrative workforce to reduce overhead. You’ll gain strategies to right-size your agency, maximize your bottom line, and better support clients and communities amid funding challenges.

• Julian Reisenthel, Home Care Director, Full Life Care
• David Richart, Executive Director, Full Life Care
• Heather Harper, Human Resources Director, Full Life Care

52-I. Jump-Start Holistic Wellness with Part B Medicare

In 2024, Medicare added new fee-for-service codes to address health-related social needs and to cover services that help beneficiaries navigate the healthcare system. The new Part B codes may create payment opportunities for services you already offer at no charge. This session will outline the components and benefits of holistic wellness programs and explain how they improve health outcomes for residents and clients. Presenters will describe Part B programs that cover holistic wellness services and identify innovative technologies and practices that support service delivery. You’ll take home summaries of all relevant Part B programs, a pro forma revenue calculator for Part B income, and samples of assessments and care plans.

• Michael Hughes, Vice President, Strategic Growth and Partnerships, LeadingAge
• Jim Lydiard, Founder and CEO, Centered Care
• Simone Pena, Vice President of Operations, Brickford Senior Living

70-I. Capturing Imaginations with Visual Storytelling

Is a picture really worth a thousand words? Many senior living organizations are counting on it. This session will feature an organization that used visual storytelling to attract a new market segment to its senior housing options and to build support for a campus expansion among current residents. Presenters will explain what visual storytelling entails, how it drives effective marketing, and how to assess the appropriate use of AI-generated imagery, architectural renderings, and video flythroughs. You’ll gain practical guidance on effective visual storytelling methods and a candid assessment of approaches that fall short.

• Mandy Stamper, COO, Presbyterian Communities of South Carolina
• Mike Wallace, CEO and Partner, Tandem Senior Living Advisors
• Mitchell Elliott, Principal, RDG Planning & Design

87-I. Strategic Habits of Successful Organizations

Financial performance isn’t the only measure of organizational health. This session will introduce common attributes that go beyond balance sheets and revenue streams to drive sustainable performance improvement in senior living organizations. Presenters will share a performance-improvement framework developed by Baker Tilly, an advisory, tax, and assurance firm. They’ll help you assess how effectively your organization builds governance structures, maintains leadership stability, fosters a supportive workplace culture, pursues proactive capital planning, ensures financial and operational alignment, and engages residents. Representatives from single-site and multisite organizations will share strategies to achieve operational excellence, long-term sustainability, and resilience.

• Paul Nordeman, President & CEO, Meadowood
• Susan Ahern, Chief Financial Officer, Acts Retirement-Life Communities, Inc.
• Mark Ross, Partner and National Healthcare Practice Leader, Baker Tilly

88-I. Service Coordination: The Cornerstone of Senior Housing

As partnerships among housing, healthcare, and community-based service providers deepen, service coordinators have become the cornerstone of affordable housing for older adults. This session will trace the evolution of service coordination and its role in helping older adults age well in the community. Presenters will provide an overview of the profession’s roots, its proven value, trends reshaping the field, and opportunities to elevate its role. Join this session to explore how emerging models, technology, and data tools are expanding the service coordinator role and how evolving funding approaches can sustain and strengthen this work. A LeadingAge member provider will describe an innovative service coordination program and share lessons for replication.

• Melissa Harris, Director of Government Affairs, American Association of Service Coordinators
• Terry Spitznagel, Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, United Church Homes

104-I. Hospice Under Scrutiny: The Impact of Federal Oversight

Hospice programs nationwide have been singled out this year as examples of fraud in the Medicare program. This session will review federal efforts to strengthen regulatory safeguards in the hospice field and share LeadingAge’s position on the need to address fraud while reducing the burden on legitimate providers who deliver essential services. Presenters will examine how fraud concerns have impacted the ability of high-quality hospice providers to expand and serve the most vulnerable older adults. They’ll detail the challenges facing nonprofit hospice agencies, highlight bright spots in the fight against fraud, and describe promising efforts to preserve a meaningful hospice benefit.

• Mollie Gurian, VP, Policy & Government Affairs, LeadingAge
• Katy Barnett, Director, Home Care & Hospice Operations and Policy, LeadingAge

117-I. From Fear to Action: Addressing the Root Causes of Dementia through Cognitive Wellness

Dementia ranks among the most feared chronic conditions of later life. Yet emerging evidence suggests that up to 45% of dementia cases worldwide could be delayed or prevented by addressing its root causes. This session will focus on a Cognitive Wellness Clinic embedded in a senior living community specializing in dementia care. Presenters will describe how the clinic conducts early cognitive wellness assessments and provides clients with personalized recommendations to modify dementia-related risk factors and adopt lifestyle strategies that build confidence, engagement, and well-being. You’ll gain practical strategies for adapting this model within your organization and positioning aging services providers at the forefront of brain health innovation.

• Tatiana Sadak, PhD, PMHNP, MAH, RN, FAAN, FNYAM, FGSA, Deputy Dean, Yale School of Nursing
• Jennifer Terray, Director of Nursing, LiveWell

129-I. Fostering Longevity and Active Aging

Today’s older adults reject the idea that retirement means being sidelined or confined to predetermined service models. They want to shape their experience and stay connected. In this session, Steve Nygren will discuss Serenbe, a senior living community he founded on the principle that access to nature, meaningful social interaction, and physical connection to the broader community are essential to well-being. Nygren will show you how Serenbe’s design aligns with Blue Zone principles to promote longevity and active aging, and how its unbundled concierge service model enables residents to customize their retirement experience. You’ll leave with architectural principles and service delivery models to help future-proof your offerings in a highly competitive market.

• Steve Nygren, Founder and CEO, Serenbe

143-I. From Fragmented to Focused: Centralizing Talent Acquisition

A centralized talent acquisition framework consolidates hiring operations under a single Human Resources (HR) team and helps your organization transform recruitment into a proactive, data-driven strategy. This session will show you how centralized recruitment models enable HR teams to conduct higher-quality candidate assessments and enhance the candidate experience through consistent communication, streamlined touchpoints, and clear expectations. Presenters will share strategies to help you assess and redesign your current recruitment operations, streamline workflows, and leverage technology to drive higher returns on investment. You’ll see how a centralized approach can lower vacancy rates, improve outcomes, strengthen workforce stability, and reduce your organization’s compliance and legal risk.

• George Akopyan, Chief People Officer, Front Porch
• Yvette Zelaya, Director of Talent Acquisition, Front Porch

10-J. AI, Cybersecurity, and the Law: What You Need to Know

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming senior living and healthcare, offering unprecedented opportunities to improve care delivery, streamline operations, and enhance resident engagement. Unfortunately, AI can also heighten cybersecurity risks and create complex legal issues for your organization. This session will highlight privacy laws, liability risks, and contractual obligations that could affect your use of AI. Technology experts and a senior living provider will guide you through steps to evaluate AI opportunities and build a technology roadmap that minimizes risk and aligns innovation with compliance and security best practices. Join this session to explore evolving issues that senior living executives can’t afford to ignore.

• John DiMaggio, CEO, BlueOrange Compliance
• David Finkelstein, CIO, RiverSpring Living
• Alisa Chestler, Shareholder, Baker Donelson

22-J. Innovating Together: Working with Academic Health Partners

Partnering with academic health institutions can help your senior living organization unlock resources, foster innovation, and improve older adults’ quality of life. During this session, representatives from a university and a life plan community will describe their collaboration and explain how it created opportunities for both partners. Presenters will outline how the community gained access to cutting-edge medical research and health screenings, while university researchers collaborated with community team members and residents to co-create solutions to pressing challenges. You’ll learn how to identify and approach potential partners, bridge cultural gaps, navigate challenges, and sustain momentum. Get ready to connect aging and academia to deliver measurable benefits to all stakeholders.

• Jodi Waterhouse, Director, Strategic Partnerships & Programs, University of Colorado
• Verna Cavey, Resident/Educator, Clermont Park, CLC

33-J. Aligning Executive Compensation with Strategic Priorities

Today’s nonprofit senior living organizations must balance mission-driven care with financial sustainability, address workforce shortages, and meet evolving resident expectations. Strategic planning can help organizations address these and other challenges, but it is not a standalone solution. Organizations must also align short- and long-term goals with executive compensation so that top leaders are rewarded for achieving desired outcomes. This session will show you how. A senior living executive and board chair will share how they adopted a strategic plan that aligned multiple compensation elements with specific strategic goals. You’ll learn to map goals to compensation levers and develop a pay structure that balances short-term execution with long-term mission impact.

• Martin Zorn, Board Chair, Arcadia Family of Companies
• Suzie Schulberg, President & CEO, Arcadia Family of Companies
• Cathy Schweiger, Director, Health Care and Life Sciences, CLA

53-J. The Social Benefits of Embracing the Cooperative Housing Model

Most of us are familiar with “co-ops,” multi-unit residential buildings collectively owned and democratically managed by their occupants. This session will examine how a nonprofit senior living organization adopted this commercial real estate model to empower “resident members” of its housing communities to govern themselves. Leaders of the organization will explain how residents participate in decision-making through councils and committees and volunteer to assist with or lead day-to-day operations in collaboration with the property manager. You’ll take home a structured outline of the cooperative housing management model and a new understanding of how this level of active participation helps resident members take pride in their housing and lead healthier, more enriched lives.

• Tim Braunscheidel, Chief Operations Officer, CSI Support & Development Services
• Isa Woods, Regional Operations Manager, CSI Support & Development COOP (California)
• Stacey Phelps, Regional Operations Manager, Arlington Estates Co-op

54-J. Proven Strategies for Life Plan Community Expansion

Growth can enhance a life plan community’s mission, diversify its revenue, expand its market reach, and enable it to serve more older adults. But it also carries significant financial, operational, and reputational risks. In this session, two life plan community leaders and a marketing strategist will demystify the expansion process. They’ll share how they make growth decisions by assessing organizational readiness, aligning boards, securing financing, analyzing competitors, and building demand before opening. Let these experienced leaders give you confidence and a practical roadmap for pursuing strategic expansion that balances mission-driven decision-making with business imperatives.

• Jonathan Cook, President/CEO, LifeSpire of Virginia
• Alex Patterson, President & CEO, Presbyterian Homes of Georgia, Inc.
• Rob Adams, CEO, 10Next

71-J. How to Succeed Even When Expansion Presales Disappoint

A solid reputation, high occupancy, and a long waitlist won’t guarantee presales success for your next major expansion. That’s the lesson of this session, which will tell the story of a successful life plan community whose expansion stalled unexpectedly. Instead of giving up, the organization retrenched to update its brand, reposition all lead generation materials, and turbo charge sales. The retrenching culminated with a three-month plan to reach its financing goals. Representatives from the community and the firm will discuss how they assessed the root causes of underperformance, developed collaborative action plans aligned with financial goals, refreshed the community’s brand to showcase its unique selling points, and made other adjustments and tough decisions. This cautionary tale with a happy ending could help you succeed in the face of future disappointments.

• Erica Thrash-Sall, CEO, Horizon House
• Rob Love, President & CEO, Love & Company, Inc.
• Amy Brodie, Senior Vice President of Client Experience, Love & Company, Inc.

89-J. Validation: Engaging Residents Living with Cognitive Change

Can providing good care lead to operational gains for your senior living organization? This session’s presenters will answer with a categorical “yes.” They’ll describe the Validation method, a caregiving strategy that fosters engagement between caregivers and residents living with cognitive change. A Validation trainer and a LeadingAge member will explain how the method uses centering, attunement, emotion matching, and other simple practices to emphasize the care recipient’s reality rather than imposing facts. You’ll hear evidence that Validation increases cooperation, reduces the use of as-needed medication, and improves staff confidence and retention. You’ll gain simple tools to help your teams embed Validation in their standard work.

• Tamorra Sims, Executive Director, Validation Training Institute, Inc.
• Jerilyn Iacono, Director of Life Enrichment, Kendal-Crosslands Communities

105-J. Your Guide to Surviving External Audits and Reviews

External audits and reviews affect every facet of an aging services organization, whether conducted by federal agencies such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, state Medicaid departments, or managed care organizations. Understanding how these reviews will affect your organization can help you prepare for, respond to, and address enforcement outcomes. This session will help you leverage your organization’s resources and personnel—including your leadership, finance, clinical, compliance, and legal teams—to navigate external audits and reviews. Presenters will show you how to form an audit response team, assess the business, financial, clinical, and compliance risks associated with an external review, and develop strategies to manage those risks.

• Bryan Nowicki, Partner, Husch Blackwell LLP
• Zaina Niles, Attorney, Husch Blackwell LLP

106-J. Identifying Risk and Strengthening Compliance

Identifying your organization’s fraud and abuse risks and building effective programs to mitigate them can be challenging. Fortunately, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services can help. This session will review a set of voluntary, nonbinding resources the OIG compiled to help providers strengthen their compliance programs, understand their fraud and abuse risks, and prepare for new compliance expectations. Presenters will review OIG’s general compliance guidance, examine its sector-specific guidance for skilled nursing and managed care, and discuss hospice guidance currently being updated. You’ll gain practical insights to help your organization enhance the quality of care, strengthen internal controls, and foster a culture of organizational integrity.

• Mollie Gurian, VP, Policy & Government Affairs, LeadingAge
• Katy Barnett, Director, Home Care & Hospice Operations and Policy, LeadingAge

118-J. Turn Your Dining Venue into a Wellness Engine

When Baby Boomers and members of Gen X arrive at your community’s dining venue, they’ll likely bring new expectations to the table. How will you measure up? This session will report on consumer preferences for culinary programs that deliver flavor, cultural relevance, agency, and a sense of community connection. Presenters will help you meet those preferences with a new culinary framework pioneered by the International Council on Active Aging's Culinary, Nutrition & Hospitality Network. You’ll learn to reframe senior living dining venues as strategic wellness engines that support physical health, cognitive vitality, and social connection. Get the support you need to rethink how food environments can foster purpose, engagement, and wellness for today’s older adults.

• Colin Milner, Founder/CEO, International Council on Active Aging
• Sandy Webster, VP Culinary, Nutrition & Hospitality, International Council on Active Aging
• Kevin Bunn, Vice President of Dining Services at Erickson Senior Living, Erickson Senior Living

130-J. Design with Data: Reducing Loneliness in Senior Housing

Social architecture deliberately designs environments to shape human behavior and foster meaningful connections. This session will show how a senior housing development used this approach to design a 30,000-square-foot ground-floor renovation. Presenters will explain how they tracked residents’ engagement and support needs using a customized, artificial intelligence-enabled platform, then applied proxemics—the study of how humans use physical space and distance to communicate—to determine hallway widths, select furniture, and set seating capacity. You’ll learn the science behind the community’s planning process and consider how isolation measurement tools might help you design spaces that encourage connection.

• Jesse Wescott, Associate Vice President, The Towers at Tower Lane
• Gustave Keach-Longo, President/CEO, The Towers at Tower Lane

144-J. Rural Life Plan Communities Can Address Provider Shortages

Accessing quality and consistent primary care is increasingly difficult for older adults in rural areas, largely due to challenges associated with contracting, credentialing, workforce shortages, and sustaining geriatric-focused primary care. This session will explore how a life plan community addressed these challenges by establishing an on-site primary care clinic that integrates care across all its service levels. Presenters will outline the clinic's development and explain how it addresses provider shortages and payer complexities, and enhances resident wellness. You’ll take away practical strategies for designing sustainable, resident-centered healthcare models that strengthen and improve access, continuity, and satisfaction. You’ll also appreciate the critical role partnerships play in supporting sustainable, resident-centered healthcare.

• Melissa Preston, Associate Executive Director, Rogue Valley Manor
• Sydney Amundsen, Health Center Administrator, Holladay Park Plaza

11-K. Let’s Stop Talking about AI—and Start Using It

Tired of talking about Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Ready to start using AI to improve care, empower staff, and drive better outcomes? This session is for you. Two senior living executives will outline how AI is already helping their organizations streamline operations, make smarter decisions, and enhance the resident experience. They’ll also discuss how AI is likely to shape senior living over the next five years. Discover how providers can use AI for automated clinical documentation, medication and fall-risk detection, workforce scheduling, and more. You’ll learn how to prepare your data environments for AI, scale AI adoption, and ensure your technology investments align with organizational goals.

• Adam Arker, Managing Director, Hartman Executive Advisors
• Robert Mosquera, Chief Information & Innovation Officer, Parker Health Group, Inc.
• Marissa Marsico Picchini, President & CEO, Luthercare

23-K. How Residents with Dementia Transform a Community’s Culture

A dementia diagnosis can heighten stigma and withdrawal, leading older adults to experience social isolation and a loss of purpose. This session will explore how a life plan community developed an innovative adult day program that encourages residents living with dementia to plan twice-weekly volunteer initiatives that draw on their strengths. You’ll learn how the program fosters belonging by integrating support from other residents and offering adult day participants meaningful service opportunities, such as creating artwork for Alzheimer’s research, preparing meals for unhoused people, and arranging flowers for hospice patients. Discover how inclusion initiatives can transform campus culture and how residents can empower one another to build connection and campus-wide unity.

• Julie Hieshetter, Memory Support Manager, North Hill
• Susan Downey, Director of Healthcare, North Hill
• Harriet Tolpin, Resident, North Hill
• David Donohue, Resident, North Hill

34-K. Let’s Talk: Adding Communications to Your Strategic Planning Process

Strategic planning often falters when stakeholders don’t understand their role in the process or feel their voices aren’t being heard. This session will propose a powerful yet often-overlooked solution: supporting the strategic planning process with a robust communications plan. Presenters will share case studies of organizations that have led transparent, forward-thinking strategic planning processes by communicating effectively with residents, families, staff, board members, and community partners. You’ll learn how to implement collaborative planning approaches, determine the timing and depth of stakeholder involvement, build trust, and sustain momentum. Whether you’re preparing for your next strategic planning cycle or managing organizational change, this session will help you use clear communication to lead with clarity and confidence.

• Wendy Scott, Principal, Chief Strategy Officer, Blue Blaze Associates
• Sara Marcq, Manager, Baker Tilly
• Tyler Kendall, President and CEO, Westminster-Canterbury of the Blue Ridge

55-K. The Growth Imperative: If the Market is Ready, Why Aren’t We?

Independent living occupancy has surpassed 90% nationally, even as inventory growth has reached record lows. With demand projected to accelerate, life plan communities must ask a critical question: If the market is ready for growth, why aren’t we? This session will help you become more comfortable with organizational growth. Presenters will guide you in assessing when to grow, when to wait, and which indicators matter most. They’ll share step-by-step processes to build alignment on growth across your organization and show you how to reduce uncertainty and accelerate progress. Learn to differentiate between healthy risk awareness and counterproductive risk avoidance, and get ready to take meaningful action to grow your organization.

• Daniel Godfrey, Partner, RLPS Architects
• Adam Marles, President & CEO, EverTrue
• Anita Adkins, Vice President Business Strategy, Westminster Canterbury Richmond
• Amy Castleberry, Managing Director, Ziegler
• Diane Burfeindt, Managing Principal, Trilogy Connect

56-K. Preserving and Expanding your Affordable Housing Portfolio

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development no longer funds the development and construction of new housing communities for older adults with the lowest incomes. This shift in the funding environment makes preserving the existing affordable housing stock even more critical in today’s expanding low-income senior market. This session will help providers become more creative, resourceful, and sophisticated as they expand their missions and housing portfolios. Presenters will introduce a core set of financing tools to help you preserve, build, and acquire new affordable housing, and present a case study that details the ups and downs of preservation and expansion initiatives.

• Gates Kellett, Managing Principal, Gates Development Group, LLC
• Michelle Norris, Principal, N-Sights Consulting, LLC

72-K. Using Trapped Data to Understand What Consumers Want Most

Many senior living providers struggle to design communities that reflect older adults' priorities because information about the factors shaping consumer decisions remains trapped in their data systems. This session will show you how to free that data. Presenters will explore how a multisite senior living organization unified its internal data—including survey responses, referral information, and wellness engagement statistics—to uncover the drivers of senior living decisions. They’ll share what the organization learned from its siloed data about consumer preferences, show you how to free your own data, and offer strategies for using it to design new programs and consumer outreach initiatives.

• Anjie Britton, Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Life Enriching Communities
• Adam Bai, Chief Strategy Officer & Chief Client Officer, Panoplai

90-K. Navigating Obstacles to HCBS Growth, Quality, and Success

Most home and community-based service (HCBS) agencies cite regulation, staffing, and the growth of managed care as their primary obstacles to growth. While these issues are real, this session will show that most obstacles to HCBS growth, quality, and financial success are internal rather than external. Representatives of a life plan community’s HCBS subsidiary will share highlights from their decade of experience helping senior living communities develop and operate home care, home health, and hospice services. You’ll gain insights into the pitfalls senior living organizations encounter when starting and operating HCBS agencies and take home practical, proactive, and remedial strategies to optimize your operations.

• Emily Legner, President of Senior Options and Westminster Canterbury at Home, Westminster Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay
• Michelle L. Bridges, Senior Director of Business Development, Westminster Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay

107-K. Immigration Policy: A Key to Mission-Driven Aging Services

Immigration policy has become increasingly important to aging services providers, shaping both the immediate availability and the long-term sustainability of the caregiving workforce. This session will feature a panel presentation and an interactive exchange that explore immigration’s key role in helping providers meet the service and support needs of older adults. Presenters will examine how immigration policy affects providers' ability to attract and retain essential caregiving talent. They’ll also explore specific policies that could help address current and future workforce needs. You’ll leave this session equipped with strategies to make your immigration-related advocacy as effective as possible.

• Shane Myers, Associate Director, Immigration Advancement, LeadingAge

119-K. Easing Nursing Home Transitions for Residents and Families

The Transitional Care Model (TCM) is an evidence-based intervention that reduces rehospitalizations and prevents recurring nursing home admissions among high-risk older adults. This session will explain how a life plan community adapted TCM to support residents’ transitions to long-term care. Presenters will describe the community’s transition team, which identifies residents who meet transition requirements and delivers a customized experience through time-sensitive touchpoints and care conferences with residents and their families. They will explain how the process prevents confusion, unclear expectations, care disruptions, and poor outcomes. Learn how TCM can improve care transitions in your life plan community, enrich the resident and family experience, and enhance communication across care levels.

• Allison Dent, Director of Nursing, Dunwoody Village
• Kim LaFountain, Director of Health and Wellness, Dunwoody Village
• Doren Van Luvender, Personal Care Administrator, Dunwoody Village

131-K. Acquiring and Repositioning to Meet Consumer Expectations

What does it take to successfully acquire, reposition, and transform a senior living community in today’s competitive market? This session will explore how a multisite organization repositioned a fifth campus to meet residents' evolving needs, promote holistic well-being, and ensure long-term sustainability. Presenters will share how they identified the acquisition opportunity, partnered with a financial services firm to craft the winning bid, and developed a phased master plan that balances innovation, resident appeal, and operational sustainability. They’ll explain why the organization declined to acquire the new campus’s skilled nursing component and how it intentionally designed other parts of the campus to support physical, social, and intellectual wellness.

• Tracey Jennings, Chief Operating Officer, LifeSpire of Virginia
• Emily Jimerson, Principal, SFCS Architects
• Michael Matthews, President, Matthews Development Company
• Tom Bowden, Senior Vice President, HJ Sims

145-K. Growing From Within: The Power of Career Coaching

When team members see a future for themselves at your organization, they will stay, grow, and thrive. This session will show you how in-house career coaching makes that possible by establishing clear career pathways, building trust-based coaching relationships, and supporting skill development. Presenters will outline a scalable career-coaching model used by a life plan community to foster workforce engagement, increase retention, and improve organizational culture. You’ll gain tools to build your own coaching program, including strategies for identifying champions, defining success metrics, and embedding coaching into everyday workflows. Don’t miss this opportunity to create a future where every team member thrives.

• Robert Dirscherl, Training & Development Director, Givens Estates
• Keith Robinette, Career Coach, Givens Communities

12-L. Beyond the Hype: AI's Future in Aging Services

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is gaining recognition worldwide. But what is AI’s real impact on aging services providers today, and how could it shape the future of care? This session will cut through the hype to answer the questions on every provider's mind: Which parts of AI are real? Which are a waste of resources? A panel of senior living leaders will share how they’ve used AI to improve operational efficiency, support team members, and engage residents more effectively. They’ll also explain how AI helps them manage data security, integrate organizational systems, and enhance operations and services. You’ll discover AI’s transformative possibilities and learn how to develop your own AI implementation plan.

• Katie Griffith, Principal CEO, Bright Solutions
• Peter Kress, Innovation and Security Advisor, Acts Retirement-Life Communities, Inc.
• Scott Collins, CEO, Link-age Solutions
• Jonathan Jedeikin, Chief Information Office and Chief Privacy Officer, The Kendal Corporation

35-L. Thriving Amid the Turbulence by Managing Change

The aging services sector is facing upheaval that will inevitably affect the services we offer, the settings where we provide care, and the structure of our organizations. In response, we must be willing to abandon old approaches and rely on creativity, perseverance, and stakeholder engagement to chart a new course. During this lively, interactive discussion, two senior living leaders will introduce you to change management models and offer guidance on applying them in various situations. You’ll hear about organizations that couldn’t let go of the past and those that have made significant changes with meaningful results. Discover how to thrive amid the turbulence by understanding the changes and opportunities ahead and learning to manage them at a rapid pace.

• Carol Silver-Elliott, President & CEO, Jewish Home Family
• Daniel Reingold, Board Vice Chair, RiverSpring Living

57-L. It’s All About the Outlook: Navigating Rating Directions

Interested in where credit quality for life plan communities may be headed in the near future? This session will translate Fitch Ratings' published criteria into practical guidance on the factors driving outlook changes for these communities. Presenters will clarify the difference between outlooks and ratings and explain why outlooks matter. They’ll also highlight specific Fitch criteria that merit your attention, including operating performance, occupancy drivers, sales pipeline quality, entrance fee refunds, liquidity, and debt mix. Life plan community financial officers will present case studies of organizations that stabilized and improved their outcomes despite an unstable outlook. Learn how to identify the factors triggering outlook shifts and translate outlook signals into positive management actions.

• Margaret Johnson, Senior Lead Senior Living, Fitch Ratings
• Jamie Spencer, CFO, Ingleside
• Katrina Bywater, VP of Accounting, Pacific Retirement Services

58-L. CMMI Models: Can Your Organization ELEVATE, ACCESS, and LEAD?

Three new value-based payment models from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) are reshaping how aging services providers deliver and finance care for older adults. This session will introduce you to ELEVATE, ACCESS, and LEAD and explain how providers can use these models to advance chronic care management, dementia care, prevention strategies, and technology-enabled solutions that improve outcomes for residents and clients. Presenters will help you prepare your organization to participate in these emerging models and explain what they could mean for the future of aging services.

• Nicole Fallon, VP, Integrated Services and Managed Care, LeadingAge

73-L. Putting Marketing at the Forefront of Everything You Do

The marketing function at senior living communities isn’t just for the sales team. Communities seeking a competitive edge must put marketing at the forefront of everything they do, including employee recruitment, resident events, and fundraising. This session will focus on how a multisite senior living organization created an internal marketing agency that operates independently while supporting the organization’s sales function. Presenters will explain how the agency built its capacity to support every internal function and how its four-person team uses artificial intelligence to handle tedious tasks, freeing team members to focus on advancing the organization’s mission. You’ll leave this session with a roadmap to expand marketing support across your organization and leverage technology to boost your efforts.

• Alexandria Rohrbaugh, Director of Marketing and Communications, The Ohio Masonic Home

91-L. Want to Engage Your Teams? Write a Living Strategic Plan

Do team members’ eyes glaze over when you mention your organization’s strategic plan? Or is the plan a living document that guides their day-to-day work? If you’re experiencing the first scenario but hoping for the second, this session is for you. Presenters will introduce you to EOS, a strategic planning model designed for weekly use and quarterly updates. Follow a multisite organization’s journey to implement EOS by defining its mission, vision, and values, addressing barriers to progress, and measuring weekly performance. You’ll learn to distill your strategic plan into a one-page document, use data to make decisions, and involve every team member in achieving organizational goals.

• Lisa Kalla, Chief Operating Officer, Saint Therese
• Jessica Gier, VP of Clinical Operations and Reimbursement, Saint Therese

108-L. Identify and Address Risks Before the Survey Team Arrives

The survey environment for long-term care providers is growing more complex as federal and state agencies refine guidance, raise expectations, and adjust priorities. This complexity often turns annual recertification and complaint surveys into disruptive, high-stress events that expose gaps in practice, documentation, and oversight. Using QAPI as a framework, this session will equip organizational leaders with the tools to stay survey-ready every day. Presenters will review emerging national and state survey trends and highlight common citations and surveyor priorities. They’ll show you how to focus on high-risk processes, develop performance improvement projects, and monitor corrective actions. You’ll get the support you need to build day-to-day practices that identify and address risks before the survey team arrives.

• Wendy Strain, Director of Consulting, Polaris Group
• Peggy Connorton, AVP, Healthcare Regulation, Compliance, Quality, Covenant Living Communities and Services
• Bridget Williams, AVP, Quality and Clinical Excellence, Vi at Highlands Ranch

120-L. Fostering Stability and Dignity in Affordable Housing

Affordable housing communities promote stability, prevent displacement, and uphold the dignity of older adults by reducing evictions, addressing lease violations, and helping residents navigate housing-related challenges. During this session, an affordable housing provider will outline how early intervention, service coordination, and wellness programs can prevent housing crises. They’ll share strategies for engaging residents when violations occur and showcase innovative programs that deliver meaningful outcomes with limited resources. You’ll learn to identify early warning signs of a housing crisis and prevent lease violations from escalating into eviction notices, all while helping residents feel respected and supported.

• Jennifer Truppa, Director of Social Services and Quality Assurance, Embrace Living Communities
• Alina Serban, Chief of Staff, Embrace Living Communities

132-L. Satellite Options: Could an Off-Site Location Work for You?

It’s no secret that the next generation of older adults seeks flexibility, lifestyle, and choice. Satellite campuses—smaller, independent-living-focused communities near a flagship campus—can help life plan communities meet these preferences and expand into desirable markets without building an on-site continuum of care. This session will explore the satellite campus trend, explain the strategic rationale for satellite developments, and assess their benefits and risks. Presenters will outline steps for evaluating satellite locations and assessing a project’s feasibility and market demand. You’ll learn how to leverage your organization’s brand, culture, and expertise across multiple sites, potentially opening new pathways to growth, revenue diversification, and enhanced market positioning.

• David Knight, EVP of Strategy and Partnerships, Transforming Age
• Daren Bell, Director, Ziegler
• John Shoesmith, Principal, Perkins Eastman

146-L. How a Universal Worker Model Boosts Satisfaction and Retention

Direct care professionals face persistent challenges, including high turnover, low wages, and limited opportunities for career advancement. This session will showcase a promising solution: the Universal Direct Care Workforce Initiative. This career advancement model features immersive training for new hires, specialty training in dementia and behavioral health, and a “Care Integration Senior Aide” who documents and reports clients’ clinical conditions to the care team. A representative from PHI, a national workforce organization, will share data from the initiative’s first year, and a home care partner will describe evidence-based practices implemented through the program. You’ll learn how this model improves the quality of care and boosts workforce satisfaction and retention.

• Jenna Kellerman, Senior Director, Workforce, PHI National
• Shewon Roper, Executive Vice President & COO, Cooperative Home Care Associates