Grant Warner

Owner
BKV Group, Inc.
Washington, DC, USA
  • 128-D. Weathering the Storm: Resilient Senior Living Design

    • Monday, November 03, 2025

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    128-D. Weathering the Storm: Resilient Senior Living Design

    Well-designed senior living communities provide a valuable and reassuring sense of stability to residents and team members. However, those feelings of security can be threatened, sometimes in an instant, by natural or human-made disasters that disrupt daily life and damage or destroy buildings. This session will showcase practical building design and emergency preparedness strategies to help your organization prepare for, adapt to, endure, and recover from adverse events. Presenters will familiarize you with the fundamental principles of resilient building design and guide you through proven methods to safeguard occupants and structures from natural disasters. They will also examine how evolving building codes, insurance requirements, and other factors influence resilient design.

Lisa Warnock

Founder and Principal
Glow Interior Designs
Portland, OR, USA
  • 133-G. Integrating Intergenerational Principles into Your Projects

    • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    133-G. Integrating Intergenerational Principles into Your Projects

    Intergenerational connections can enhance both the design and operation of senior living environments. This session will offer practical strategies to help you create meaningful and sustainable multigenerational environments that give owners, developers, and designers a competitive edge in today’s evolving market. Presenters will share a roadmap developed by the Joint Intergenerational Task Force convened by SAGE, AIA Design for Aging, and the Center for Health Design. They will unveil the task force’s new findings, case studies, and actionable strategies. You’ll gain valuable insights into the challenges you may encounter as you integrate intergenerational principles into your projects and operations. You’ll also gain strategies that can lead to successful outcomes.

Anne Weaver

Resident
North Hill
Needham, MA, USA
  • 19-D. Enhancing Inclusion through English Language Training

    • Monday, November 03, 2025

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    19-D. Enhancing Inclusion through English Language Training

    After conducting a campus-wide inclusion survey in July 2024, North Hill in Needham, MA, enlisted the help of life plan community residents to develop an English as a Second Language (ESL) program for team members with limited English proficiency. This session will focus on the inclusion survey and the ESL program it inspired. Presenters will describe how trained resident volunteers provide language instruction to team members during work hours, helping North Hill invest in employee skills, reduce turnover, enhance engagement, and foster a culture of inclusion and respect. Residents and ESL trainees will share their experiences working together in an individualized ESL program tailored to each student’s unique communication level, job, and learning needs.

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.