Bridget Bernhardt

Corporate Director of Learning and Development
Acts Retirement-Life Communities, Inc.
Fort Washington, PA, USA
  • 32-F. Building a Pathway to Success: Succession Planning for Mid-Level Managers

    • Monday, November 03, 2025

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    32-F. Building a Pathway to Success: Succession Planning for Mid-Level Managers

    Succession planning has long been recognized as an essential tool for maintaining talent continuity in an organization’s C-suite. However, as this session will demonstrate, it also plays a critical role in developing the skills of mid-level managers. Representatives from Acts Retirement-Life Communities will describe their mid-level succession planning program, which features internal leadership initiatives, undergraduate and graduate-level programs offered in partnership with local colleges, and a structured mentorship program. You’ll discover how to identify and assess high-potential managers, create personalized development plans, and align talent development with business objectives. Join this session to acquire the tools you need to identify, develop, and retain high-potential middle managers to help ensure organizational growth and stability.

Juliana Bilowich

Senior Director, Housing Operations & Policy
LeadingAge
Washington, DC, USA
  • 53-I. Strategic Partnerships for Developing Affordable Senior Housing

    • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    53-I. Strategic Partnerships for Developing Affordable Senior Housing

    Developing affordable housing has become increasingly complex in recent years, particularly for providers aiming to serve older adults with health conditions and unique cultural needs. This session will explore how mission-driven organizations can establish and maintain strong partnerships that can help bring affordable housing projects to life. Presenters will share tips for identifying the best partners, overcoming challenges, leveraging multiple funding sources, and staying focused on your organization’s mission and the well-being of residents. Whether you’re just starting out in the housing field or looking to expand your reach, this session will provide practical insights you can use to move your vision from concept to community.

  • 117-G. The Impact of Federal Reforms on Affordable Senior Housing

    • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    117-G. The Impact of Federal Reforms on Affordable Senior Housing

    How will systemic changes across federal programs impact the future of mission-aligned affordable housing for older adults? Attend this session to stay informed about the rapidly evolving landscape of affordable senior housing. Presenters will provide a comprehensive overview of funding freezes, regulatory changes, and modifications to the federal housing workforce. You’ll gain the knowledge and insights necessary to address current uncertainties and navigate the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

  • 118-H. Modernizing Your Approach to Affordable Housing Operations

    • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    118-H. Modernizing Your Approach to Affordable Housing Operations

    Affordable housing providers will soon be required to navigate significant changes in the rules governing who lives in federally subsidized communities, the federal rental assistance each household receives, and how providers communicate with, screen, and accommodate applicants and residents. This session will encourage you to view these upcoming changes as opportunities for modernization and optimization. Presenters will introduce effective practices to help you achieve the mission of affordable housing while adhering to new rules and policies. They will discuss mission-driven approaches to implementing the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act (HOTMA), recommend adjustments to criminal background screening, and help you foster positive resident outcomes and streamline workflows for housing staff.

Amanda Birch

SVP of Human Resources
Westminster Communities of Florida, Inc.
Orlando, FL, USA
  • 35-H. Breaking Barriers: The Journey of Women to C-Suite Success

    • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    35-H. Breaking Barriers: The Journey of Women to C-Suite Success

    During this must-attend session, women executives in aging services will discuss their professional journeys, challenges, and career-defining moments. Chief executive officers, chief operating officers, and vice presidents will share their stories of perseverance and innovation, offering lessons to help other women leaders navigate career transitions, overcome obstacles, and build resilience. Discover the leadership qualities that fueled their success and gain practical strategies for finding mentors, building professional networks, and cultivating confidence. Whether you’re an emerging leader, a mid-career professional, or a seasoned executive, you’ll leave this session with actionable insights to guide your career journey and create work environments that empower and support the advancement of women leaders.

Rachel Blumberg

President and CEO
Sinai Residences of Boca Raton
Boca Raton, FL, USA
  • 35-H. Breaking Barriers: The Journey of Women to C-Suite Success

    • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    35-H. Breaking Barriers: The Journey of Women to C-Suite Success

    During this must-attend session, women executives in aging services will discuss their professional journeys, challenges, and career-defining moments. Chief executive officers, chief operating officers, and vice presidents will share their stories of perseverance and innovation, offering lessons to help other women leaders navigate career transitions, overcome obstacles, and build resilience. Discover the leadership qualities that fueled their success and gain practical strategies for finding mentors, building professional networks, and cultivating confidence. Whether you’re an emerging leader, a mid-career professional, or a seasoned executive, you’ll leave this session with actionable insights to guide your career journey and create work environments that empower and support the advancement of women leaders.

  • 61-D. Master the Art of Storytelling to Shape the Media Narrative

    • Monday, November 03, 2025

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    61-D. Master the Art of Storytelling to Shape the Media Narrative

    Public relations professionals in aging services play two roles when sharing stories about their organizations with the media: they communicate relevant facts to reporters and assist those reporters in crafting compelling narratives that bring those facts to life. This session will introduce LeadingAge members to the art of storytelling. A panel of reporters and communications experts will help you understand journalistic concepts and public relations strategies. You’ll learn how to generate story ideas about your organization, pitch those ideas to the media, and engage with reporters. You’ll also gain tools and tactics to help you navigate damaging media storms or ride the exhilarating waves of favorable coverage.

Paul Blymire

Director, Purchasing & Materials Management
Masonic Villages of the Grand Lodge of PA
Elizabethtown, PA, USA
  • 72-B. Resolving Supply Chain Issues in Senior Living

    • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    72-B. Resolving Supply Chain Issues in Senior Living

    Senior living organizations often find it challenging to predict how the U.S. business climate will impact their supply chains for products and services. This uncertainty complicates the ability of providers to secure, sustain, and grow their businesses. During this session, you’ll meet representatives from Value First, a LeadingAge Gold Corporate Sponsor owned by LeadingAge and 25 state partners. Presenters will provide an overview of current purchasing issues and processes, and explain how Value First helps senior living organizations address those issues through discounted pricing and rebates on food, supplies, and capital equipment. You’ll learn how other LeadingAge members manage supply chain challenges and how vendor solutions can help resolve those issues.

Jennifer Boese, MS

Director of Health Care Policy & Innovation
CLA
Charlotte, NC, USA
  • 108-B. Medicare Disruptions: Adopting Strategies for Resilience

    • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    108-B. Medicare Disruptions: Adopting Strategies for Resilience

    The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) is pursuing a new strategic direction aimed at reducing healthcare costs, shifting more financial risk to providers, and modifying existing CMMI models. At the same time, Congress is discussing significant changes to Medicare Advantage that could dramatically impact provider revenue streams, contracting strategies, and payer mixes. During this session, you’ll gain insights into these federal policy shifts and how they could reshape revenue models and affect the financial stability of aging services organizations. Presenters will share strategic approaches to help you manage risk and adapt to a rapidly evolving payer landscape. Don’t miss this opportunity to stay ahead of the curve and ensure your organization’s long-term viability in a changing healthcare environment.

Alice Bonner

Senior Advisor for Aging
Institute For Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
Boston, MA, USA
  • 141-B. How Direct Care Supervisors Can Improve Employee Retention

    • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    141-B. How Direct Care Supervisors Can Improve Employee Retention

    Nursing supervisors in aging services play a critical role in motivating, teaching, and mentoring certified nursing assistants (CNAs) who provide direct care to nursing home residents. A strong, positive relationship between a nurse supervisor and a CNA boosts job satisfaction and reduces turnover. This session will explore actions that nursing supervisors can take to develop the leadership skills they need to work with CNAs so that the entire team can deliver high quality care. Presenters will also emphasize the critical role that a supportive organizational culture, aligned structures and policies, and consistent reinforcement from leadership play so that supervision strategies are effectively integrated into daily practice. Learn about programs that help nursing supervisors create a supportive workplace culture and become effective leaders of CNAs and teams.

Stephanie Boreale

National Director of Health Strategy
Watermark Retirement Communities
Tucson, AZ, USA
  • 3-B. Remote Monitoring: Transforming Care Across the Continuum

    • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    3-B. Remote Monitoring: Transforming Care Across the Continuum

    Remote patient monitoring (RPM) technologies can transform care delivery across the continuum. This session will showcase two types of RPM devices: contactless devices that track key clinical indicators like heart rate and respiratory changes, and connected devices like blood sugar monitors, blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters, and digital scales that collect vitals remotely. Presenters will explain how these technologies help prevent health complications and unnecessary emergency room visits by sending data to remote clinicians who can follow up with care teams as needed. Discover how RPM technology can help your organization reduce staff burden and improve resident/patient (and family) satisfaction. You’ll gain practical insights for selecting and deploying RPM solutions in your community.

Colleen Bottens

Vice President, Anywhere Care
EverTrue
St Louis, MO, USA
  • 46-D. Keep Your Brand Fresh While Preserving What Sets You Apart

    • Monday, November 03, 2025

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    46-D. Keep Your Brand Fresh While Preserving What Sets You Apart

    EverTrue, formerly Lutheran Senior Services, is proud of its 165-year legacy of caring for older adults. However, this legacy hasn’t prevented the nation’s 12th-largest nonprofit aging services provider from embarking on a transformative journey driven by innovation. This session will highlight how the St. Louis-based organization expanded housing options and in-home services to serve a broader demographic, implemented innovative service models like palliative care, diversified its revenue streams, adjusted its residential mix, embraced technology, and adopted systems to manage data more efficiently. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear the EverTrue management team discuss how they embraced the future while honoring their organization’s past. You’ll take home valuable tips for keeping your brand fresh while preserving what makes you special.

Denise Boudreau

President
Drive
Manasquan, NJ, USA
  • 148-H. How to Cultivate a Culture of Growth and Inclusivity

    • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    148-H. How to Cultivate a Culture of Growth and Inclusivity

    Studying the characteristics of senior living communities with healthy organizational cultures can help providers shape thriving workplaces of their own. This session will showcase how a two-year workforce-strengthening initiative at San Francisco’s Sequoia Living reduced turnover and enhanced resident satisfaction. Presenters will detail how the initiative encouraged residents and team members to embrace a growth mindset that respectfully challenges the status quo, foster an inclusive environment where all voices are heard, and exercise accountability and care to increase engagement and outcomes. You’ll discover how the initiative reduced Sequoia Living’s turnover to an all-time low of 17% and improved the “culture score” the organization receives from its employees.

Mary Boutette

Chief Operating Officer
Perley Health
Ottawa, ON, Canada
  • 73-C. International Perspectives: Driving Care Quality through Data Sharing

    • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    73-C. International Perspectives: Driving Care Quality through Data Sharing

    The Seniors Quality Leap Initiative (SQLI) is an international consortium established by North American and South African leading long-term care organizations. SQLI strives to enhance the quality of life and care for older adults by encouraging providers to share performance data and outcomes from their quality improvement initiatives with one another. During this session, SQLI leaders and members will showcase their efforts to improve providers’ benchmarking capacity, including ongoing research into developing an overall resident quality of life composite score and consistent employee engagement measures. Three aging services executives will discuss how SQLI participation has influenced their organization’s quality improvement efforts.

John Bowblis

Research Fellow
Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University
Oxford, OH, 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.