Ashley Wade

Executive Director
Broadview-Senior Living at Purchase College (UC)
Rye Brook, NY, US
  • 123-C. Imagining New Environments to Live, Work, and Play

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    123-C. Imagining New Environments to Live, Work, and Play

    Today’s older adults are living longer, staying healthier longer, and working longer. This shift is reshaping attitudes toward retirement and creating unprecedented opportunities for retirement communities to reinvent themselves. This session will examine how senior living organizations can support the evolving lifestyles of older adults by expanding services beyond community walls and designing surrounding neighborhoods to meet residents’ needs. Presenters will invite you to imagine how neighborhoods and residential communities might intersect, envision the possibilities for intergenerational or multigenerational environments within and around retirement communities, and consider how mixed-use settings might offer better living environments for today’s older adults. Explore the future of aging and be prepared to rethink your view of traditional retirement communities.

Jennifer Wade

Vice President of Real Estate, Senior Housing Partners
Presbyterian Homes & Services
Roseville, MN, United States
  • 49-H. Beyond the Continuum: Serving a Broader Spectrum of Older Adults

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    49-H. Beyond the Continuum: Serving a Broader Spectrum of Older Adults

    Leading nonprofit senior housing providers are expanding their missions to serve a broader spectrum of older adults with diverse lifestyles and affordability needs. During this session, you’ll meet representatives from one organization that built an active adult development one mile from its existing full-continuum campus, and from another that integrated low- to middle-income housing into its broader development strategy. You’ll take away tips for designing and financing a range of projects that fall outside the traditional continuum while complementing existing campus offerings. Here’s your chance to reflect on your growth and consider new projects that could strengthen your market position and advance your mission.

Craig Wagoner

Vice President of Operations
National Lutheran Communities & Services
Frederick, MD, US
  • 128-H. Brighten Up Your Community: Reimagining Outdated Spaces

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    128-H. Brighten Up Your Community: Reimagining Outdated Spaces

    Does your senior living community have dark interiors, underutilized spaces, and outdated dining areas? It may be time to reimagine your community to make it more appealing to consumers seeking modern design, diverse dining options, and vibrant spaces that foster social engagement. This session will show you how to keep pace with new developments by evaluating your campus space, identifying underused areas, and repurposing them to align with emerging trends and resident expectations. Presenters will share tips for taking a phased renovation approach that lets you exercise your imagination, maximize existing assets, and avoid significant debt. They’ll also offer tools to engage residents in the design process and turn them into project champions.

Janel Wait

Co-CEO
AgePop
  • 32-I. Build a Team That Outperforms Expectations

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    32-I. Build a Team That Outperforms Expectations

    Extraordinary outcomes depend on extraordinary teams, whether you’re leading an expansion, repositioning an existing campus, stabilizing occupancy, or launching a major operational initiative. This session tells the story of a life plan community that built a cross-functional team to deliver a successful expansion that many believed would not resonate with its intended audience. Presenters will describe how they improved performance across operations, culture, sales, brand, design, and development through strategic decisions, bold pivots, and mindset shifts that propelled a small nonprofit community to outsized success. You’ll walk away with a replicable framework for building team chemistry and enhancing execution, along with practical tips for shifting culture and inspiring optimism.

Abby Waldo

VP of Innovation and Project Implementation
Resthaven
Holland, MI, US
  • 110-B. Data-Driven Methods to Extend Independence and Healthspan

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    110-B. Data-Driven Methods to Extend Independence and Healthspan

    Many life plan communities implement robust wellness programs to help residents live independently longer and extend their healthspan. Yet these communities often overlook less visible but equally influential factors that affect residents’ long-term independence. This session will showcase a life plan community that uses data-driven, behaviorally informed methods to assess residents’ strengths and vulnerabilities, help residents interpret their assessment results, educate them about issues affecting independence, and enable them to co-design targeted interventions. Learn how to make data-informed programming decisions that meet residents’ needs, support independence, and align with organizational strategies to help residents live independently longer.

Daniel Waldron

General Manager, Strategy and Business Improvement
Mercy Health
Melbourne, VICTORIA, Australia
  • 94-E. International Perspectives: Embracing Holistic, Community-Centered Care Models

    • Monday, November 03, 2025

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    94-E. International Perspectives: Embracing Holistic, Community-Centered Care Models

    It’s time to rethink traditional care environments and embrace holistic, community-centered models that enhance older adults’ well-being and quality of life. That’s the message you’ll hear during this session, led by a leader from Mercy Health in Melbourne, Australia. The presenter will showcase innovative approaches to care, including small household living, dementia-specific programs, and intergenerational initiatives. You’ll learn about the benefits of creating self-contained environments called “precincts” that integrate aged care services, healthcare settings, housing, and community spaces to help older adults maintain independence, stay connected to a broader social fabric, and receive tailored healthcare support. Your organization will gain strategies for adopting integrated approaches that prioritize individual needs while encouraging engagement with the community.

Susan Wallace

President and CEO
LeadingAge Ohio
Columbus, OH, US
  • 87-L. How to Align Quality Improvement and Financial Success

    • Wednesday, November 05, 2025

    11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

    87-L. How to Align Quality Improvement and Financial Success

    A collaborative Quality Incentive Payment program implemented by an Ohio-based aging services provider resulted in a $14 million increase in Medicaid reimbursements and a 70% improvement in quality measure points. Attend this session to learn how the organization achieved this remarkable feat. Presenters will discuss the critical need to align clinical and financial goals, especially now that federal and state programs increasingly tie funding to quality outcomes. They will provide an overview of federal and state quality-based payment programs and show you how improved quality outcomes can drive clinical excellence and financial sustainability. You’ll learn how to navigate quality-based payment programs, implement evidence-based performance improvements, and leverage facility-specific data to create positive changes.

Mike Wallace

CEO and Partner
Tandem Senior Living Advisors
Gastonia, NC, United States
  • 70-I. Capturing Imaginations with Visual Storytelling

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    70-I. Capturing Imaginations with Visual Storytelling

    Is a picture really worth a thousand words? Many senior living organizations are counting on it. This session will feature an organization that used visual storytelling to attract a new market segment to its senior housing options and to build support for a campus expansion among current residents. Presenters will explain what visual storytelling entails, how it drives effective marketing, and how to assess the appropriate use of AI-generated imagery, architectural renderings, and video flythroughs. You’ll gain practical guidance on effective visual storytelling methods and a candid assessment of approaches that fall short.

Shay Wallace

Senior Director of Sales and Marketing
Pacific Retirement Services
Medford, OR, US
  • 61-B. Let Current Residents Help You Identify Future Residents

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    61-B. Let Current Residents Help You Identify Future Residents

    Life plan communities seeking new feeder markets beyond their local area need look no further than their own residents to identify ideal prospects. In this session, a panel of marketing experts will explain how a multisite senior living organization partnered with a marketing agency to improve outreach to local consumers and reach qualified prospects beyond its immediate area. Presenters will describe how the organization’s marketing team used information about current residents including their affiliations and personal passions to conduct targeted outreach to prospective residents with similar interests. You’ll learn how to boost lead quality by crafting innovative strategies to reach prospects seeking a new home where they genuinely belong.

Annmarie Wallis

Vice President of Marketing and Communications
EverTrue
Saint Louis, MO, US
  • 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.

Kristen Wanner

Quality Assurance Manager – Resident Services
HumanGood Inc.
Duarte, CA, US
  • 70-A. That Data You Collect for HUD? It Can Help Your Residents

    • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

    70-A. That Data You Collect for HUD? It Can Help Your Residents

    The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires service coordinators in affordable senior housing communities to submit periodic reports containing a wide range of data about housing residents and their needs for services and supports. This session will show you how to use this data to enhance your community’s service coordination program, forge partnerships with community partners, and advocate for residents. Presenters will introduce you to the service coordinator data guide recently released by the American Association of Service Coordinators. You’ll also meet the quality assurance manager of a LeadingAge member organization that uses the data it collects for HUD to maximize resident well-being outcomes and improve program effectiveness.

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.