Shewon Roper

Executive Vice President & COO
Cooperative Home Care Associates
Bronx, NY
  • 146-L. How a Universal Worker Model Boosts Satisfaction and Retention

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

    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.

Jeffrey Rose

Director of Special Initiaitves
Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) from AARP
Brooklyn, NY
  • 7-G. Building Digital Confidence among Older Adults

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    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.

Meghan Rose

General Counsel and Chief Government Affairs Officer
LeadingAge California
Sacramento, CA
  • 7-G. Building Digital Confidence among Older Adults

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    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.

Kevin Rose

Vice President – Risk/Safety/Compliance
EverTrue
Saint Louis, MO
  • 102-G. CCRC Statutes for Growth-Minded Multi-State Providers

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    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.

Mark Ross

Partner and National Healthcare Practice Leader
Baker Tilly
Wilkes-Barre, 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.

Uwe Rudnick

Regional Dining Director
Greystone
Irving, TX
  • 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.

Aline Russotto

Executive Director
Orchard Cove
Canton, MA
  • 25-B. A Dose of Inspiration: Servant Leaders Tell Their Stories

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    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.

Colleen Ryan Mallon

Vice President of Marketing and Advancement
Frasier
Boulder, CO
  • 47-G. Fostering a Culture of Philanthropy in Life Plan Communities

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    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.

Philippe Saad

Principal
DiMella Shaffer
Boston, MA
  • 25-B. A Dose of Inspiration: Servant Leaders Tell Their Stories

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    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.

  • 150-P. GAN Summit: Age Readiness: A Global Imperative

    • Saturday, October 24, 2026

    9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

    150-P. GAN Summit: 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.

Tatiana Sadak

Deputy Dean
Yale School of Nursing
Orange, CT
  • 117-I. From Fear to Action: Addressing the Root Causes of Dementia through Cognitive Wellness

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    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.

Frances Salinas

President & CEO
Wesley Willows
Rockford, 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.

Catherine Samatas

Director of Engagement and Innovative Programming
CJE SeniorLife
Chicago, IL
  • 15-C. Preserving Human Connections in Tech-Rich Care Settings

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    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.