Wendy Scott

Principal, Chief Strategy Officer
Blue Blaze Associates
Newark, DE
  • 34-K. Let’s Talk: Adding Communications to Your Strategic Planning Process

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

    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.

Alina Serban

Chief of Staff
Embrace Living Communities
Oak Brook, IL
  • 120-L. Fostering Stability and Dignity in Affordable Housing

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

    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.

Rachel Shands

Deputy Director, Aging and Adult Services Division
Minnesota Department of Human Services
  • 86-H. Measuring Quality in Assisted Living: Lessons from Minnesota

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    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.

Paul Sharman

Founder of PACE Canada
PACE Canada
Vancouver, BC
  • 150-P. Age Readiness: A Global Imperative

    • Saturday, October 24, 2026

    9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

    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.

Tetyana Shippee

Professor
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN
  • 86-H. Measuring Quality in Assisted Living: Lessons from Minnesota

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    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.

John Shoesmith

Principal
Perkins Eastman
Redmond, WA
  • 132-L. Satellite Options: Could an Off-Site Location Work for You?

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

    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.

Jennifer Shropshire

Board Member
Presbyterian Senior Living
Dillsburg, PA
  • 24-A. Measures that Matter: Helping Boards Focus on Quality

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

    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.

Elly Silberman

Resident
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.

Donna Silbert

Chief Strategy Officer
Parker Health Group, Inc.
Highland Park, NJ
  • 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.

Carol Silver-Elliott

President & CEO
Jewish Home Family
Rockleigh, NJ
  • 35-L. Thriving Amid the Turbulence by Managing Change

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

    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.

Elizabeth Simpson

Doctoral Candidate
UMass Boston Gerontology
Boston, MA
  • 17-E. Do Low Medicaid Payments Worsen Disparities in Nursing Homes?

    • Monday, October 26, 2026

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    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.

Tamorra Sims

Executive Director
Validation Training Institute, Inc.
Pleasant Hill, OR
  • 89-J. Validation: Engaging Residents Living with Cognitive Change

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    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.