Danielle Webb

Vice President Marketing and Community Relations
Community First Solutions
Hamilton, 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.

Zoe Weinrobe

Chief of Real Estate Development
2Life Communities
Brighton, MA, USA
  • 123-L. Seeking Tax Credit Funding? Study Your State’s Allocation Plan
  • Wednesday, November 05, 2025

    11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

    123-L. Seeking Tax Credit Funding? Study Your State’s Allocation Plan

    The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program is the most significant federal source of financing for affordable housing. Join this interactive session led by the National Housing Trust and 2Life Communities to learn about the tax credit program and gain insights into how your state’s Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) outlines the criteria and priorities used to guide the selection of affordable senior housing projects for LIHTC funding. Presenters will draw on the National Housing Trust’s forthcoming examination of 53 allocation plans to explore how states are adapting their QAPs to meet the need for affordable senior housing. You’ll learn to leverage your state’s QAP to build, preserve, and protect affordable, climate-ready senior housing.

Carol Weir

Administrator
Tower Village
Saint Louis, MO, USA

Kayla Welch

Lead Talent Acquisition Specialist
Givens Communities
Asheville, NC, USA
  • 149-I. Talent Acquisition: A Game-Changer for Senior Living Success
  • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    149-I. Talent Acquisition: A Game-Changer for Senior Living Success

    Many older adults move to a senior living community, live there for years, and recommend it to friends because they have forged strong bonds with the organization’s team members. Are you struggling to find exceptional team members to fill these essential roles? This session will encourage you to hire a dedicated Talent Acquisition Specialist who can help you establish an efficient and reliable hiring process. Presenters will describe how this new position can alleviate the burden on your already-busy Human Resources Director while improving retention rates, reducing time-to-hire, and fostering team member growth and satisfaction. Discover how to establish and implement this new role and explore data to help you calculate your potential return on investment.

Melissa Wendland

Director of Strategic Initiatives
Common Ground Health
Rochester, NY, USA
  • 7-E. How Data Exchange Benefits Your Care and Your Business
  • Monday, November 03, 2025

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    7-E. How Data Exchange Benefits Your Care and Your Business

    Interoperable data exchange among health and service providers is becoming increasingly common nationwide. How can your organization maximize the business- and care-related benefits of data exchange? This session can help. Presenters will demonstrate how data exchange can support your organization’s work, whether you’re sending care plans and treatment goals to a resident’s healthcare providers, sharing diagnoses and medication management information during care transitions, or receiving alerts about a hospital discharge. They will also explore the unique considerations you should prioritize as you develop your data exchange ecosystem. You’ll learn how to influence national and state data security policies and address common challenges that might arise as you integrate new systems and practices into daily workflows.

Marsha Wesley Coleman

Senior Consultant
Praxis Consulting Group
Philadelphia, PA, United States
  • 17-B. Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Practical Tools to Address Bias
  • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    17-B. Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts: Practical Tools to Address Bias

    Addressing everyday stereotypes and biases can create a more respectful and inclusive culture in senior care organizations. This session will provide practical tools and strategies for fostering effective communication and navigating difficult conversations about bias. Presenters will help you identify subtle biases and stereotypes and respond to them constructively. Senior living leaders will share their experiences implementing bias workshops, and you’ll view a video demonstrating workshop best practices and techniques. Explore how culture change can help you challenge stereotypes and build stronger, more respectful relationships among team members and between staff and residents.

Bruce Whitaker, Jr.

Owner
The Millennium Group
New Britain, CT, USA
  • 44-C. Expanding an Affordable Housing Community to Reach the Middle Market
  • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    44-C. Expanding an Affordable Housing Community to Reach the Middle Market

    West Hartford Fellowship Housing is implementing a comprehensive campus expansion which will broaden its mission to meet the needs of middle-market consumers. Presenters will outline steps the Connecticut-based housing provider has taken to protect the rights of current residents and preserve existing lower rent structures while also serving a slightly different income demographic. They’ll share architectural design strategies that helped reduce the cost of new construction and a multi-source financing plan that incorporates Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and existing federal subsidies. Whether you’re a seasoned affordable housing provider or new to the field, this session will equip you to reach new middle- and lower-middle markets.

Asa Whitcomb

COO
Vermont Veterans’ Home
Bennington, VT, USA

Cynthia Wilkerson

Executive Director
LBFE Boston | Little Brothers -Friends of the Elderly
Boston, MA, USA
  • 6-E. Can Technology Foster Meaningful Relationships?
  • Monday, November 03, 2025

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    6-E. Can Technology Foster Meaningful Relationships?

    Social isolation puts many older adults at risk for declines in physical and mental well-being. In-person communication is the best antidote to this isolation, but it’s not always available to those who need it most. That’s why technology is playing an increasingly vital role in helping older adults connect with others. This session will describe how a Boston-based affordable housing provider and its community partner connected older housing residents with their peers while teaching them how to stay connected through technology. Presenters will share their experiences recruiting university students to teach technology skills to a diverse group of older adults. You’ll gain strategies for creating programming that fosters socialization and community-building by helping older adults use technology with confidence.

David Williams

Chief Executive
St. Monica Trust
Bristol, UK
  • 43-B. International Perspectives: Building Community-Integrated Care Settings
  • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    43-B. International Perspectives: Building Community-Integrated Care Settings

    Two solutions to improve services for older adults have emerged independently on opposite sides of the globe, and both will be showcased during this session. Presenters from St. Monica Trust in Bristol, United Kingdom, and Southern Cross Care in Queensland, Australia, will explain how they enhanced quality of life in aged care by listening to their communities, collaborating with trusted partners, and creating outward-facing, integrated care settings. Learn how St Monica Trust shaped The Chocolate Quarter design during 250 focus groups with residents and community stakeholders. Explore how Southern Cross Care Queensland’s Chinchilla Community Wellness Hub promotes provider interaction while reducing resident isolation. You’ll discover how to build integrated communities with older adults at their center.

Lisa Williams

Board Member
Pinnacle Living
Glen Allen, VA, USA
  • 34-H. Enhancing Your Board’s Financial Expertise
  • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    34-H. Enhancing Your Board’s Financial Expertise

    Good governance entails more than simply assembling a diverse group of board members with the skills and background necessary to advance your organization’s mission. It also requires organizational leaders to help board members fully grasp their fiduciary responsibilities. During this session, you’ll discover strategies for enhancing the financial acumen of board members, enabling them to develop a thorough understanding of your organization’s financial and operational health. This understanding will allow all board members to engage in strategic planning, participate in nuanced discussions about the ramifications of financial decisions, and make informed decisions. If your board is seeking ways to promote open, informed discussions that foster effective governance and accountability, this session is for you.

Mary Williams

Director of Outreach and Recruitment
United Negro College Fund (UNCF)
Washington, DC, 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.