Cathy Schweiger

Director, Health Care and Life Sciences
CLA
Charlotte, NC, USA
  • 33-G. Engaging, Strengthening, and Compensating Board Members

    • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    33-G. Engaging, Strengthening, and Compensating Board Members

    Creating a high-performing nonprofit board of directors entails more than simply selecting individuals to serve. Organizations must also strive to enhance the impact of board members once they are recruited. This session will examine the holistic Board Lifecycle Program implemented by Sun Health Communities in Surprise, AZ. Presenters will describe program features, including strategic recruitment aligned with effective board engagement, an onboarding process designed to help new board members contribute and thrive, and a board rotation policy that encourages fresh perspectives while maintaining institutional knowledge. The Board Lifecycle Program also features board compensation to boost recruitment, raise expectations, and enhance engagement. Get ready to access practical tools that will help you develop a high-impact board.

Allison Sekuler

President and Chief Scientist
Center for Aging + Brain Health Innovation
North York, ON, Canada

Joe Serrano

Senior Sales Specialist
UST
Oxnard, CA, United States
  • 150-I. Workforce Solutions to Lower Unemployment Expenses

    • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    150-I. Workforce Solutions to Lower Unemployment Expenses

    Nonprofit providers of aging services strive to use their budgets to fulfill their missions to serve older adults. However, these organizations may be surprised to learn that operational expenses, including those related to unemployment costs, can drain their budgets of valuable funds that could be better utilized in other areas. During this session, UST Workforce Solutions u2013 a LeadingAge Gold Corporate Partner u2013 will present a unique approach and demonstrate how you can streamline your human resource processes, ensure regulatory compliance, and create operational efficiencies so your team can direct more resources toward serving your community. You’ll learn about various unemployment funding options, including a little-known federal exemption that can lower unemployment costs while building a financial asset that benefits your organization.

Krishna Shah

LTC Director of Social Services
Bergan New Bridge Medical Center
Paramus, NJ, USA
  • 91-C. Cultivate Well-Being for Residents, Staff, and Families

    • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    91-C. Cultivate Well-Being for Residents, Staff, and Families

    Are you interested in learning how to help residents, team members, and families develop a deeper appreciation for life and a greater ability to move forward after setbacks and trauma? This session will introduce you to an award-winning program designed to help everyone in your senior living community achieve these goals. Presenters will describe the SOARING Into Resilience workshop they developed and share research documenting the program’s success in helping staff, residents, and their families experience a heightened sense of belonging, connection with peers, meaning, and purpose. They’ll also offer you an opportunity to participate in immersive exercises aimed at enhancing individual, organizational, and communal well-being.

Nzinga (Zing) Shaw

President & CEO
Attack the Glass, LLC
Atlanta, GA, USA
  • 37-I. Workforce Development: Join the Leadership Fellowship Program

    • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    37-I. Workforce Development: Join the Leadership Fellowship Program

    The Leadership Fellowship Pilot Program, a collaboration between LeadingAge and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), aims to raise awareness about careers in aging services by inviting high-potential, mid-level leaders to spend a year working in non-clinical roles at LeadingAge provider organizations. This session will explore the pilot program’s strategic approach to workforce development in aging services, explain how UNCF recruits prospective fellows for provider-specific positions, and review the program’s curriculum, which introduces fellows to the field of aging services. You’ll hear from providers and fellows about their experiences in the program and learn about the mentoring support fellows receive as they prepare to pursue promising careers in aging.

Carie Shingleton

Designer/Sr. Associate
SFCS Architects
Roanoke, VA, United States
  • 124-A. Up Your Game: Join the Dining Revolution

    • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

    124-A. Up Your Game: Join the Dining Revolution

    Senior living providers recognize the need for dining programs that offer enjoyable, social experiences in sophisticated environments. Yet, an attractive dining room or a casual cafu00e9 are no longer enough to distinguish your dining program from the competition. Instead, it’s time to consider introducing restaurant styles typically found in urban downtown areas and designing eating spaces where innovative elements and distinctive themes are reflected in menus, artwork, and dining accessories. If this feels a bit overwhelming, you’ll want to attend this session. Presenters will help you understand the latest trends in senior living dining, explore renovation projects currently underway in life plan communities, and review the outcomes of multiple resident and prospective resident focus groups.

Laura Shirer

VP of Human Resources
Presbyterian Communities of South Carolina
Columbia, SC, USA
  • 144-E. It’s Time to Rethink Your Training Strategies

    • Monday, November 03, 2025

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    144-E. It’s Time to Rethink Your Training Strategies

    Senior living communities excel at developing “compliance” training programs to meet legal requirements. However, they often overlook the need for “learning and development” training programs that emphasize employee engagement, service excellence, and clinical outcomes. This session will challenge the status quo by recommending that providers adopt a more intentional training strategy. Presenters will share examples of aging services organizations that have used learning and development strategies to redesign an employee orientation program, create an award-winning customer service program, and develop an in-house leadership academy. You’ll gain tools to evaluate your organization’s learning and development offerings and find inspiration to rethink your training approach.

David Siegelman

Senior Vice President of Quality and Corporate Compliance
Hebrew Home at Riverdale – RiverSpring Living
Bronx, NY, USA
  • 13-J. Value-Based Payments: Using Technology to Ensure Success

    • Wednesday, November 05, 2025

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    13-J. Value-Based Payments: Using Technology to Ensure Success

    Is your care setting working to improve resident outcomes through value-based payment models that prioritize high-quality, cost-effective, personalized, and data-driven care? A variety of technology solutions could ensure your success. This session will describe how artificial intelligence can help you reduce hospital readmissions and improve care quality by identifying at-risk residents, predicting potential health complications, and tailoring interventions accordingly. Presenters will also describe technology platforms that lower costs by supporting continuous monitoring and virtual healthcare visits. You’ll even learn how to use robotics to streamline repetitive and labor-intensive tasks, allowing staff to concentrate on intensive therapy services. Join this session to discover how technology solutions can help you improve your services and bottom line.

Cara Silletto

President and Chief Retention Officer
Magnet Culture, formerly Crescendo Strategies
Jeffersonville, IN, USA

Elizabeth Simpson

Doctoral Candidate
UMass Boston Gerontology
Boston, MA, USA
  • 105-A. Nursing Home Quality: The Role of Medicaid Payment Rates

    • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

    105-A. Nursing Home Quality: The Role of Medicaid Payment Rates

    Medicaid is the largest source of funding for nursing home care in the United States. However, the program’s reimbursement rates cover only a portion of nursing homes’ costs. This session will present findings from three studies exploring the relationship between Medicaid payment policies and the quality of care in nursing homes. Presenters will share insights from studies examining how payment rates and payment-to-cost ratios impact nursing homes’ five-star ratings, the connection between Medicaid rates and staffing levels across different ownership types, and how nursing home staffing levels and expenditures relate to their reliance on Medicaid. Don’t miss this opportunity to examine the connection between nursing home quality and Medicaid payment rates.

Melissa Smalley

Senior Strategist
Marketing Essentials, LLC
New Bremen, OH, USA
  • 58-B. Communicating Through Change: Marketing Your Acquisition

    • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    58-B. Communicating Through Change: Marketing Your Acquisition

    Marketing and communication can’t pause when your organization begins preparing for an acquisition. Quite the opposite! This session will demonstrate how your organization’s marketing team can effectively navigate a change in ownership by ensuring that communication and marketing messages remain ongoing, clear, carefully worded, and reassuring to all stakeholders. Presenters will teach you how to maintain customer trust, brand strength, and market momentum by positioning your organization’s acquisition as a strategic growth opportunity. You’ll learn essential lessons to help you develop a strategic marketing plan that effectively engages stakeholders as you promote your company’s acquisition.

Katie Smith Sloan

President and CEO & Executive Dir. The Global Ageing Network
LeadingAge
Washington, DC, US