Jessica Kraft

President
Lifestar Creative
Venice, FL
  • 66-F. Refresh Your Marketing Playbook

    • Monday, October 26, 2026

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    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.

David Kremer

Executive Director
Legacy Pointe at UCF
Orlando, FL
  • 80-E. Optimizing Dining Operations Amid Workforce Challenges

    • Monday, October 26, 2026

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    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.

Peter Kress

Innovation and Security Advisor
Acts Retirement-Life Communities, Inc.
Fort Washington, PA
  • 12-L. Beyond the Hype: AI’s Future in Aging Services

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

    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.

Brian Kuhns

Principal & Senior Project Architect
Noelker and Hull Associates, Inc.
Chambersburg, PA
  • 128-H. Brighten Up Your Community: Reimagining Outdated Spaces

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    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.

Kim LaFountain

Director of Health and Wellness
Dunwoody Village
Newtown Square, PA
  • 119-K. Easing Nursing Home Transitions for Residents and Families

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

    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.

Morgan Lamphere

Senior Director of Communications, Marketing, and Sales
The Kendal Corporation
Newark, DE
  • 62-B. Crafting Messages that Advance Age and Ability Inclusion

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    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.

Christin Lampkowski

Emerging Technologies Librarian
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Charlotte, NC
  • 4-D. Can Technology Advance Compassion in Hospice Care?

    • Monday, October 26, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    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
Lebanon, OH
  • 4-D. Can Technology Advance Compassion in Hospice Care?

    • Monday, October 26, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    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.

Brett Landrum

Founder & CEO
Procare HR
Minneapolis, MN
  • 97-D. Navigating M&A: The Critical Role of Insurance

    • Monday, October 26, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    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.

Whitney Lane

Vice President of Clinical Services
Brookdale Senior Living, Inc.
Brentwood, TN
  • 79-D. Future-Proof Your Organization with a Quality Framework

    • Monday, October 26, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    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.

Meg LaPorte

Co-Founder
Art Against Ageism
  • 62-B. Crafting Messages that Advance Age and Ability Inclusion

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    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.

James Larson

Managing Director – Healthcare Consulting
Forvis Mazars
Atlanta, GA
  • 37-A. Delivering a Successful Nursing Replacement Project

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

    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.