Kashmira Narinesingh-Smith

HR Staff Development and Learning Manager
Kendal-Crosslands Communities
Kennett Square, PA
  • 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.

Billy Nelson

CEO
Fairview
Groton, CT
  • 32-I. Build a Team That Outperforms Expectations

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    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.

Jason Neman

Partner / CEO
Good Brand Company
Fort Mill, SC
  • 68-G. From Outsourced to In-House: Building a Creative Services Team

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    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.

Lydia Nguyen

Principal Researcher
LifeLoop
Greenwood Village, CO
  • 21-I. From Consumers into Empowered Citizens: Measuring the Culture Shift in Senior Living

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    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 Modelu00ae 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.

Elizabeth Nicely

HR Director
Friends House Retirement Community
Sandy Spring, MD
  • 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.

Zaina Niles

Attorney
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.

Paul Nordeman

Retiring President & CEO
Meadowood
Worcester, PA
  • 87-I. Strategic Habits of Successful Organizations

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    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.

Michelle Norris

Principal
N-Sights Consulting, LLC
Columbus, OH
  • 56-K. Preserving and Expanding your Affordable Housing Portfolio

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

    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.

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.