Amy Castleberry

Managing Director
Ziegler
Chicago, IL
  • 40-C. Strategic Growth and Entrance Fee Alignment

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    40-C. Strategic Growth and Entrance Fee Alignment

    Every life plan community strives to develop growth plans that support the organization’s mission while maintaining profitability and marketability. Presenters of this session will argue that independent living entrance fees pose significant risks to achieving those goals. They’ll outline the widening gap between entrance fees and replacement costs, evaluate the long-term risks of outdated pricing strategies, and offer approaches to adjusting those fees while overcoming internal and external resistance to price increases. You’ll gain additional strategies including phased development plans and creative financing to help you strengthen your financial position, ensure operational success, and align projects with the preferences of current and future consumers.

  • 55-K. The Growth Imperative: If the Market is Ready, Why Aren’t We?

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

    55-K. The Growth Imperative: If the Market is Ready, Why Aren’t We?

    Independent living occupancy has surpassed 90% nationally, even as inventory growth has reached record lows. With demand projected to accelerate, life plan communities must ask a critical question: If the market is ready for growth, why aren’t we? This session will help you become more comfortable with organizational growth. Presenters will guide you in assessing when to grow, when to wait, and which indicators matter most. They’ll share step-by-step processes to build alignment on growth across your organization and show you how to reduce uncertainty and accelerate progress. Learn to differentiate between healthy risk awareness and counterproductive risk avoidance, and get ready to take meaningful action to grow your organization.

David Caudle

President & Partner
Tandem Senior Living Advisors
Gastonia, NC
  • 121-A. Tiny Home, Massive Lifestyle: Selling Studio Apartments

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

    121-A. Tiny Home, Massive Lifestyle: Selling Studio Apartments

    Does your life plan community have small studio apartments that it’s struggling to fill because they can’t be expanded or combined with larger units? This session may offer some solutions. A chief marketing officer, an interior designer, and a senior living advisor will share how they successfully marketed and quickly filled five studio apartments that had been sitting empty or used for storage. They did so by tapping into the current interest in stylish, functional tiny-home residences and giving the units a facelift with updated designs and size-appropriate furnishings. You’ll see before-and-after photos showing how the community redesigned and marketed the studio apartments as part of its successful “Tiny Home, Massive Lifestyle” campaign.

Verna Cavey

Resident/Educator
Clermont Park, CLC
Denver, CO
  • 22-J. Innovating Together: Working with Academic Health Partners

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    22-J. Innovating Together: Working with Academic Health Partners

    Partnering with academic health institutions can help your senior living organization unlock resources, foster innovation, and improve older adults’ quality of life. During this session, representatives from a university and a life plan community will describe their collaboration and explain how it created opportunities for both partners. Presenters will outline how the community gained access to cutting-edge medical research and health screenings, while university researchers collaborated with community team members and residents to co-create solutions to pressing challenges. You’ll learn how to identify and approach potential partners, bridge cultural gaps, navigate challenges, and sustain momentum. Get ready to connect aging and academia to deliver measurable benefits to all stakeholders.

Chet Chandler

Vice President of Strategic Accounts
Value First, Inc.
Minneapolis, MN
  • 76-B. Overcoming Supply Chain Hurdles in Senior Living

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    76-B. Overcoming Supply Chain Hurdles in Senior Living

    Nonprofit senior living organizations understand all too well how supply chain disruptions strain operations, leading to higher prices, operational disruptions, supply shortages, staff burnout, and dissatisfied residents. During this session, a representative from LeadingAge Gold Partner Value First will join LeadingAge members to share strategies for optimizing operations and overcoming supply chain hurdles. They’ll discuss the pros and cons of outsourcing operations; the impact of tariffs and workforce challenges; and how organizations can keep their supply chains open. Join the conversation to pinpoint supply chain and operational challenges and learn how your peers are tackling them.

Henna Chatterjee

R3 Wellness Coordinator
Simon C. Fireman Community
Randolph, MA
  • 13-A. Building Trust and Belonging in Diverse Housing Communities

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

    13-A. Building Trust and Belonging in Diverse Housing Communities

    As the older population becomes more diverse, resident services teams in affordable senior housing must adapt to meet a wide range of needs. This session will focus on a housing-based services model that provides care coordination, referrals, and on-site programming across 17 diverse housing communities. Presenters will outline the program’s features, discuss the team’s challenges and strategies for supporting culturally and linguistically diverse residents, and share lessons learned. A multilingual wellness coordinator will explain how cultural norms, religious practices, and communication preferences shape her daily interactions with residents. You’ll gain strategies to strengthen trust, communication, and quality of life across diverse senior housing populations.

Alisa Chestler

Shareholder
Baker Donelson
Baltimore, MD
  • 10-J. AI, Cybersecurity, and the Law: What You Need to Know

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    10-J. AI, Cybersecurity, and the Law: What You Need to Know

    Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming senior living and healthcare, offering unprecedented opportunities to improve care delivery, streamline operations, and enhance resident engagement. Unfortunately, AI can also heighten cybersecurity risks and create complex legal issues for your organization. This session will highlight privacy laws, liability risks, and contractual obligations that could affect your use of AI. Technology experts and a senior living provider will guide you through steps to evaluate AI opportunities and build a technology roadmap that minimizes risk and aligns innovation with compliance and security best practices. Join this session to explore evolving issues that senior living executives can’t afford to ignore.

Catherine Chiovaro

VP; Workforce Management
Otterbein SeniorLife
Lebanon, OH
  • 2-B. Build a Strategic Roadmap for AI Adoption

    • Sunday, October 25, 2026

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    2-B. Build a Strategic Roadmap for AI Adoption

    You’ve undoubtedly heard about the “transformative power” of Artificial Intelligence (AI). But what would an AI-fueled transformation look like for your organization, and what tools would you need to make it a reality? This session will guide you through a comprehensive, multi-week AI assessment to help your organization evaluate its technology maturity, identify quick wins, and build a realistic three-year AI roadmap. Three senior living providers will share strategies to help mid-size and smaller organizations use AI to manage change, expand internal capacity, and focus on outcomes for residents and staff. You’ll gain tools to adopt AI solutions gradually and in ways that fit your organization’s unique circumstances.

Hayley Christensen

Marketing Communications Lead
HealthyLifetime®
Ann Arbor, MI
  • 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.

Christopher Churchill

Chair Health Law
Barley Snyder
Lancaster, PA
  • 31-H. Affiliation Strategies that Balance Autonomy with Collaboration

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    31-H. Affiliation Strategies that Balance Autonomy with Collaboration

    Affiliation can help nonprofit senior living organizations achieve long-term sustainability, foster innovation, and remain true to their core mission and values amid today’s operational challenges. This session will explore the affiliation process that united two life plan communities under a shared governance structure while preserving their individual identities. Presenters will outline steps for building a successful affiliation, including establishing a robust legal and governance framework, drafting bylaws that reflect shared values and priorities, and addressing board composition and responsibilities. Whether you’re considering affiliation, engaged in partnership talks, or refining an existing relationship, you’ll learn how to build an affiliation that promotes stability, improves services, and ensures long-term success.

Verena Cimarolli

VP, Applied Research and Partnerships, LTSS Center
LeadingAge
Washington, DC
  • 115-G. Supporting Older Adults to “LivWell” in Affordable Housing

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    115-G. Supporting Older Adults to “LivWell” in Affordable Housing

    Residents of affordable senior housing communities face poor health outcomes and functional challenges linked to low incomes, advanced age, and racial and ethnic diversity. To address these urgent needs, two LeadingAge members Springpoint Senior Living and Parker Health Group created LivWell, an affordable-housing-based wellness initiative that supports quality of life, personal choice, lifelong development, and optimal well-being for more than 300 residents across 11 affordable housing communities. Presenters will discuss LivWell’s program design, governance structure, funding, and performance metrics. They’ll also share findings from a recent program evaluation by the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston.

Scott Code

Vice President, CAST
LeadingAge
Washington, DC
  • 6-F. Building an Integrated System for Resident Engagement

    • Monday, October 26, 2026

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    6-F. Building an Integrated System for Resident Engagement

    Life plan communities offer residents myriad opportunities to participate in rich programming across a range of digital platforms. But how can providers prevent technology saturation and uneven adoption? This session will highlight one provider’s technology-enabled engagement system, which integrates digital communication platforms, automation, data and analytics, and artificial intelligence tools. Presenters will describe the system’s components, including streaming, video libraries, and in-house digital channels; dashboards that help community leaders understand engagement patterns; and automation solutions that reduce manual tasks for program staff. You’ll return home with a framework for viewing resident engagement as a scalable system rather than a collection of disconnected tools.

Marc Cohen

Co-Director, LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston
UMass Boston Gerontology
Boston, MA
  • 17-E. Do Low Medicaid Payments Worsen Disparities in Nursing Homes?

    • Monday, October 26, 2026

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    17-E. Do Low Medicaid Payments Worsen Disparities in Nursing Homes?

    Do Medicaid payment levels affect quality and influence racial and ethnic disparities in individual nursing homes? This session will present findings from recent research on this previously unexplored question. Presenters will describe their analysis of a new national database containing facility- and resident-level data for nearly 9,500 nursing homes across 44 states. They’ll share findings on racial and ethnic disparities in nursing home quality and outcomes and examine whether these disparities are associated with Medicaid payment levels. Discover how Medicaid reimbursement shapes the association between a nursing home’s racial and ethnic composition, 5-star quality ratings, staffing levels, and resident-level quality outcomes.