Bryan Nowicki

Partner
Husch Blackwell LLP
Kansas City, MO
  • 105-J. Your Guide to Surviving External Audits and Reviews

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    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.

Steve Nygren

Founder and CEO
Serenbe
Chattahoochee Hills, GA
  • 129-I. Fostering Longevity and Active Aging

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    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.

Shanda O’Dennis

Learning and Development Associate
AQORD
Goshen, IN
  • 138-E. Unlock the Leadership Potential of Your Frontline Workforce

    • Monday, October 26, 2026

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    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.

Michael O’Neill

Global Practice Director of Enterprise Research
HKS
Chicago, IL
  • 124-D. Designing for Cognitive Health with Agentic AI

    • Monday, October 26, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    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.

Michael Oakes

Chief Philanthropy Officer
Springpoint Senior Living
Wall Township, NJ
  • 50-H. Raising Funds for Your Life Plan Community: Keys to Success

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    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.

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

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    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.

Douglas Olson

President/CEO
Vision Centre: Leadership Development for Aging Services
Dekalb, IL
  • 136-C. Promising Pathways to Aging Services Careers

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    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.

Hillary Owen

Principal, Studio Practice Leader
HKS
Chicago, IL
  • 124-D. Designing for Cognitive Health with Agentic AI

    • Monday, October 26, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    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.

Tom Paden

Director of Talent Acquisition
Transforming Age
Bellevue, WA
  • 140-G. The ROAD to Building Your Workforce Through Internships

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    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.

Poonam Paditar

Member
Mintz
Boston, MA
  • 44-E. Secure Your Future: Restructure and Reimagine

    • Monday, October 26, 2026

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    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.

Andy Page

Partner
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.

Fran Palma

Sr, VP of Digital Strategies
Covenant Living Communities and Services
Skokie, IL
  • 63-C. Sales, Marketing, and Beyond: AI in Senior Living

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    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.

Michelle M Pandolfi

VP, HCBS
Whitney Center, Inc.
Hamden, CT
  • 48-G. The New Frontier: Inside Continuing Care at Home (CCaH)

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    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.