Howard Braxton

Senior Vice President, Marketing, Sales and Communications
The Kendal Corporation
Kennett Square, PA
  • 74-A. Elevate Your Brand with Owned and Earned Communications

    • Sunday, October 27, 2024

    1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

    74-A. Elevate Your Brand with Owned and Earned Communications

    Two powerful communication tools can help position your senior living organization in a consistent, positive light and differentiate it from the competition. One is earned media, and the other is owned media. During this session, you’ll learn how to use both tools. Presenters will show you how to maximize the impact of earned news coverage and interview opportunities through media sources your audience trusts. They’ll also give you tips on making the most of the communication channels you own, including your website, social media channels, and email campaigns. Learn how to define and reach your most important audiences and determine the right mix of earned and owned communication to position your brand.

Tommy Brewer

Managing Director
Ziegler
Richmond, VA
  • 56-C. Do Life Plan Communities Need a Skilled Nursing Component?

    • Sunday, October 27, 2024

    4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

    56-C. Do Life Plan Communities Need a Skilled Nursing Component?

    Many life plan communities are looking for a different way to address the long-term care needs of their residents. Some organizations are reducing or eliminating their skilled care component or building new communities without skilled nursing. Others are re-building their long-term care products to be more consumer-friendly. This session will look closely at both options. Presenters will explore whether skilled nursing care is an essential part of a continuum in life plan communities, the steps involved in deciding whether to strengthen or dismantle a skilled nursing setting, and the financial implications of that decision. Learn about alternatives to including skilled care in the continuum and how to determine what your community needs.

Judy Brown

Lead Facilitator
Academy of Leadership
West River, MD
  • 48-I. Renew your Organization by Evolving your Leadership Style

    • Tuesday, October 29, 2024

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    48-I. Renew your Organization by Evolving your Leadership Style

    Looking to build your organizational capacity and allow team members to seize opportunities and respond to uncertainty? Consider adjusting the traditional hierarchy and structure of your organization. Through a podcast-like interview format, this session will reveal the leadership journeys of aging services leaders who came to a new understanding of their roles as CEO. They’ll explain how they inspired senior team members to give up power so others could be empowered. Discover how team members respond to a less-traditional organizational structure and how a new leadership approach empowered and motivated the entire staff.

Kenya Bryant

Executive Director
Ingleside at King Farm
Rockville, MD
  • 96-I. Guiding Residents through the Life Plan Continuum

    • Tuesday, October 29, 2024

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    96-I. Guiding Residents through the Life Plan Continuum

    Nonprofit life plan communities provide residents with peace of mind about their physical, emotional, and financial futures. So why do so many life plan community residents choose to age in independent living? This session will feature life plan communities that guide independent living residents through the continuum while valuing their right to decide where they will live. Presenters will review the elements of an Independent Living Transition Strategy featuring a structured resident review process, voluntary health assessments, collaboration with external professionals, and education sessions for prospective and current residents. Learn how to ensure that you can offer current residents the support they need to thrive, welcome new residents, and preserve the long-term sustainability of your care and services.

Natasha Bryant

Senior Director of Workforce Research & Development, LTSS Center
LeadingAge
Washington, DC
  • 28-C. Leadership Diversity: Welcoming Young People of Color

    • Sunday, October 27, 2024

    4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

    28-C. Leadership Diversity: Welcoming Young People of Color

    Increasing the diversity of your leadership team can help your organization improve its workplace culture and bolster its success. This session will show you how to help younger people from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups understand the opportunities available to them in the field of aging services. Learn about LeadingAge initiatives that can help you recruit and retain a diverse team and build the leadership skills of team members once they are hired. Leaders of color will be on hand to share their experiences working in aging services and to offer advice for building a diverse leadership team by opening doors for younger people of color and providing the support they need for a long and fulfilling career in our sector.

Meagan Buckley

President & CEO
Wake Robin
Shelburne, VT
  • 90-C. Saving the Planet One Life Plan Community at a Time

    • Sunday, October 27, 2024

    4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

    90-C. Saving the Planet One Life Plan Community at a Time

    Wake Robins, a life plan community in Shelbourne, VT, is committed to nurturing and protecting the environment. This session will provide an overview of how the community lives out that commitment in its daily operations and through resident engagement committees promoting climate change awareness. Presenters will showcase the community’s earth-friendly groundskeeping practices, which emphasize the use of native plants, herbicide-free care, a comprehensive forestry plan, and electric lawn maintenance. They’ll share the results of the Flexible Load pilot program Wake Robins is implementing with its local electric company and its strategies to reduce food waste through composting and biodigesters. You’ll hear about the community’s success stories, challenges, and lessons learned on its journey to environmental sustainability.

Jessica Buhler

Dir. Communications & PR
The Kendal Corporation
Newark, DE
  • 74-A. Elevate Your Brand with Owned and Earned Communications

    • Sunday, October 27, 2024

    1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

    74-A. Elevate Your Brand with Owned and Earned Communications

    Two powerful communication tools can help position your senior living organization in a consistent, positive light and differentiate it from the competition. One is earned media, and the other is owned media. During this session, you’ll learn how to use both tools. Presenters will show you how to maximize the impact of earned news coverage and interview opportunities through media sources your audience trusts. They’ll also give you tips on making the most of the communication channels you own, including your website, social media channels, and email campaigns. Learn how to define and reach your most important audiences and determine the right mix of earned and owned communication to position your brand.

Sarah Bujold

Marketing Manager
Westpath Institutional Investments
Glenview, IL
  • 60-E. Storytelling: A Bridge to Engage Multi-Generational Donors

    • Monday, October 28, 2024

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    60-E. Storytelling: A Bridge to Engage Multi-Generational Donors

    Nonprofit organizations must adapt to the changing landscape of donor engagement, and storytelling can help. This session will help your organization take a more inclusive approach to developing strong relationships with an increasingly diverse group of donors. A senior living executive and an institutional investment expert will show you how to craft narratives that resonate with individuals of varying backgrounds and ages, from Baby Boomers to Zoomers. Delve into the unique characteristics and preferences of today’s donors and learn how to tell stories that build emotional connections. Discover the power of videos, podcasts, and interactive digital platforms to convey your organization’s mission and impact.

Marcy Burach

Senior Director of Sales and Marketing
FellowshipLIFE Inc
Basking Ridge, NJ
  • 82-I. Pay Attention to Your Sales Team

    • Tuesday, October 29, 2024

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    82-I. Pay Attention to Your Sales Team

    Who’s working on the front lines, helping your organization maintain its resident census and remain financially healthy? It’s your sales team, and they deserve your attention. During this session, sales and marketing experts will share their experiences leading and motivating sales teams. Presenters will discuss strategies you can use to encourage your sales team to do its best work, such as offering compensation and incentive programs to motivate the team and implementing effective staffing practices that can improve productivity, increase lead-to-sale conversion rates, shorten sales cycles, and increase occupancy. Learn how to recruit and retain sales team talent and create a motivational work environment for the team working hard to help your organization succeed.

Alexis Burck

Senior Living Studio Leader
SmithGroup
San Francisco, CA
  • 24-K. AIA Design for Aging Review: Affordable Housing Merit Award Winners

    • Wednesday, October 30, 2024

    9:30 – 10:30 a.m.

    24-K. AIA Design for Aging Review: Affordable Housing Merit Award Winners

    Go behind the scenes of the American Institute of Architects 2023 Design for Aging Review to meet the designers of two award-winning affordable senior housing projects. Gramercy Senior Housing, built on the site of a former towing yard owned by the City of Los Angeles, provides much-needed housing to older adults who struggle to find affordable housing in one of America’s most expensive housing markets. Stonewall House in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood is the country’s largest LGBTQ-welcoming senior housing development. Presenters will explore how architecture and design foster inclusive communities, how affordability and sustainability coexist, and how integrating senior housing into the larger community improves residents’ quality of life.

Diane Burfeindt

Managing Principal
Trilogy Connect
Cogan Station, PA
  • 40-B. Do You Need Better Board Members or Better Board Processes?

    • Sunday, October 27, 2024

    2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

    40-B. Do You Need Better Board Members or Better Board Processes?

    How can senior living organizations help their boards lead in times of change? This session will help you investigate how new board processes, not necessarily new board members, could help your organization develop best-in-class governance. You’ll gain tips for maintaining the board’s strategic oversight, holding discussions that make the best use of board member skills, using committees to advance broader decision-making, and setting expectations to ensure board members remain connected to the organization. Let CEOs and board chairs tell you about the processes they’ve used to create high-quality boards, how to recognize the signs of declining board effectiveness, and how to attract effective board members.

Libby Bush

President and CEO
Deerfield Episcopal Retirement Community Inc
Asheville, NC
  • 67-H. Building Housing and Engagement through Partnerships

    • Tuesday, October 29, 2024

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    67-H. Building Housing and Engagement through Partnerships

    When Deerfield Episcopal Retirement Community decided to build affordable housing in its hometown of Asheville, NC, it didn’t go it alone. Instead, Deerfield forged an innovative partnership with Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity. Together, the two organizations coordinated the construction of 10 safe, affordable, well-built homes that received global recognition for design excellence. This session will highlight Deerfield’s innovative collaboration, how that collaboration promoted volunteerism and intergenerational engagement, and how the partners plan to continue impacting the Asheville community. You’ll take home actionable strategies for replicating this successful program and exploring the advantages of intergenerational and interfaith collaboration.