Tom Bowden

Senior Vice President
HJ Sims
Fairfield, CT, United States
  • 131-K. Acquiring and Repositioning to Meet Consumer Expectations

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

    131-K. Acquiring and Repositioning to Meet Consumer Expectations

    What does it take to successfully acquire, reposition, and transform a senior living community in today’s competitive market? This session will explore how a multisite organization repositioned a fifth campus to meet residents’ evolving needs, promote holistic well-being, and ensure long-term sustainability. Presenters will share how they identified the acquisition opportunity, partnered with a financial services firm to craft the winning bid, and developed a phased master plan that balances innovation, resident appeal, and operational sustainability. They’ll explain why the organization declined to acquire the new campus’s skilled nursing component and how it intentionally designed other parts of the campus to support physical, social, and intellectual wellness.

Nik Boyer

Manager, Data Analytics
CLA
Charlotte, NC, US
  • 15-L. Using Technology to Meet Immediate and Long-Term Goals

    • Wednesday, November 05, 2025

    11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

    15-L. Using Technology to Meet Immediate and Long-Term Goals

    Should aging services providers view technology as a strategic imperative that drives innovation and long-term growth, or as a tactical solution for addressing immediate operational challenges? This session will explore these questions, and the answers may surprise you. Presenters will suggest that the digital revolution presents an unprecedented opportunity for aging services organizations to integrate technology into their core vision, enabling them to transform operations, improve care quality, and ensure long-term sustainability. Additionally, these technologies can serve as tactical solutions that help organizations address specific operational challenges, resulting in immediate and measurable improvements. Discover how to take an integrated, strategic approach to deploying technology solutions that can support long-term transformation and innovation while meeting immediate needs.

Meredith Bradshaw

VP of Branding and Communications
Transforming Age
Bellevue, WA, US
  • 66-I. Building Your Organization’s Brand from the Inside Out

    • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    66-I. Building Your Organization’s Brand from the Inside Out

    Building a strong brand involves more than designing a logo and developing a catchy tagline. It’s also about creating an authentic emotional connection between your organization and its consumers, team members, and stakeholders. This session will show you how to cultivate your brand from within by engaging team members at all levels in defining and communicating your organization’s core values. Presenters will share a cross-departmental game plan for connecting team members to your organization’s vision and implementing an intentional workplace culture that unites everyone around a shared mission. You’ll take home a framework for ongoing storytelling that links team members to your brand and keeps them engaged through newsletters, events, and branded merchandise.

Janet Brady

Resident
Orchard Cove
Canton, MA, US
  • 85-J. Let Residents and Team Members Reimagine the Continuum

    • Wednesday, November 05, 2025

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    85-J. Let Residents and Team Members Reimagine the Continuum

    Orchard Cove, a life plan community in Canton, MA, began reimagining its continuum of care in early 2021 in response to sweeping changes in the field of aging, feedback from residents, and business priorities. This session will detail the organization’s planning and implementation process, led by a multidisciplinary group of team members and residents. Presenters will describe how the Orchard Cove team developed a health and well-being navigation program, actively promoted the well-being of residents and team members, reimagined skilled nursing, and introduced a new array of services to maximize independence and enhance quality of life. You’ll gain valuable insights to help you engage with stakeholders as you launch a similar process.

Karen Brandt

VP of People
Transforming Age
Bellevue, WA, US
  • 140-G. The ROAD to Building Your Workforce Through Internships

    • Tuesday, October 27, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    140-G. The ROAD to Building Your Workforce Through Internships

    Senior living communities seeking to strengthen their workforce must take deliberate steps to reach younger workers who may not yet view aging services as an attractive career path. This session will highlight a program that can help. The Rotational Operations and Development (ROAD) talent development model invites young interns to explore the full range of career opportunities in aging services through internship rotations across various departments such as operations, dining, marketing, resident services, and more. LeadingAge members who are using the ROAD model, along with interns who’ve participated in it, will share their experiences. You’ll gain the tools you need to attract Gen Z team members to your organization and to our field.

Tim Braunscheidel

Chief Operations Officer
CSI Support & Development Services
Warren, MI, US
  • 53-J. The Social Benefits of Embracing the Cooperative Housing Model

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    53-J. The Social Benefits of Embracing the Cooperative Housing Model

    Most of us are familiar with “co-ops,” multi-unit residential buildings collectively owned and democratically managed by their occupants. This session will examine how a nonprofit senior living organization adopted this commercial real estate model to empower “resident members” of its housing communities to govern themselves. Leaders of the organization will explain how residents participate in decision-making through councils and committees and volunteer to assist with or lead day-to-day operations in collaboration with the property manager. You’ll take home a structured outline of the cooperative housing management model and a new understanding of how this level of active participation helps resident members take pride in their housing and lead healthier, more enriched lives.

Tommy Brewer

Managing Director
Ziegler
Richmond, VA, United States
  • 137-K. Develop a Strategic Repositioning Plan for Your Community

    • Wednesday, November 05, 2025

    10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

    137-K. Develop a Strategic Repositioning Plan for Your Community

    Are you seeking ways to transform the challenges facing your senior living campus into opportunities to address local service gaps and shape a brighter future for your organization? This session will provide a roadmap to help you make that happen. Presenters will demonstrate how strategic design, financial planning, and market analysis can ensure your community’s long-term sustainability while creating a vibrant and welcoming environment that exceeds the expectations of older consumers. You’ll gain actionable strategies for exploring current trends and opportunities in senior living, aligning your existing spaces with emerging trends, and developing a strategic repositioning plan that balances resident needs, financial goals, and operational priorities.

Michelle L. Bridges

Senior Director of Business Development
Senior Options
Virginia Beach, VA, United States
  • 90-K. Navigating Obstacles to HCBS Growth, Quality, and Success

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

    90-K. Navigating Obstacles to HCBS Growth, Quality, and Success

    Most home and community-based service (HCBS) agencies cite regulation, staffing, and the growth of managed care as their primary obstacles to growth. While these issues are real, this session will show that most obstacles to HCBS growth, quality, and financial success are internal rather than external. Representatives of a life plan community’s HCBS subsidiary will share highlights from their decade of experience helping senior living communities develop and operate home care, home health, and hospice services. You’ll gain insights into the pitfalls senior living organizations encounter when starting and operating HCBS agencies and take home practical, proactive, and remedial strategies to optimize your operations.

Jennifer Brinckerhoff

Medical Director
Orchard Cove
Canton, MA, US
  • 85-J. Let Residents and Team Members Reimagine the Continuum

    • Wednesday, November 05, 2025

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    85-J. Let Residents and Team Members Reimagine the Continuum

    Orchard Cove, a life plan community in Canton, MA, began reimagining its continuum of care in early 2021 in response to sweeping changes in the field of aging, feedback from residents, and business priorities. This session will detail the organization’s planning and implementation process, led by a multidisciplinary group of team members and residents. Presenters will describe how the Orchard Cove team developed a health and well-being navigation program, actively promoted the well-being of residents and team members, reimagined skilled nursing, and introduced a new array of services to maximize independence and enhance quality of life. You’ll gain valuable insights to help you engage with stakeholders as you launch a similar process.

Anjie Britton

Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Life Enriching Communities
Loveland, OH, US
  • 72-K. Using Trapped Data to Understand What Consumers Want Most

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

    72-K. Using Trapped Data to Understand What Consumers Want Most

    Many senior living providers struggle to design communities that reflect older adults’ priorities because information about the factors shaping consumer decisions remains trapped in their data systems. This session will show you how to free that data. Presenters will explore how a multisite senior living organization unified its internal data including survey responses, referral information, and wellness engagement statistics to uncover the drivers of senior living decisions. They’ll share what the organization learned from its siloed data about consumer preferences, show you how to free your own data, and offer strategies for using it to design new programs and consumer outreach initiatives.

Amy Brodie

Senior Vice President of Client Experience
Love & Company, Inc.
Frederick, MD, United States
  • 71-J. How to Succeed Even When Expansion Presales Disappoint

    • Wednesday, October 28, 2026

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    71-J. How to Succeed Even When Expansion Presales Disappoint

    A solid reputation, high occupancy, and a long waitlist won’t guarantee presales success for your next major expansion. That’s the lesson of this session, which will tell the story of a successful life plan community whose expansion stalled unexpectedly. Instead of giving up, the organization and its marketing firm launched a three-month plan to boost leads and sales. Representatives from the community and the firm will discuss how they assessed the root causes of underperformance, developed collaborative action plans aligned with financial goals, refreshed the community’s brand to showcase its unique selling points, and made other adjustments and tough decisions. This cautionary tale with a happy ending could help you succeed in the face of future disappointments.

Erin Broghammer

Student
Metropolitan State University of Denver
Denver, CO, USA
  • 143-D. Experiential Learning: A Next-Generation Workforce Strategy

    • Monday, November 03, 2025

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    143-D. Experiential Learning: A Next-Generation Workforce Strategy

    Experiential learning that integrates education, mentorship, and hands-on practice represents a valuable opportunity to address workforce shortages while nurturing a new generation of compassionate and skilled caregiving professionals. This session will outline a comprehensive framework for developing experiential learning by offering internship, industry immersion, service-learning, capstone, volunteer, and job shadowing opportunities. You’ll gain insights into the benefits of enabling students and professionals to build their knowledge and skills through hands-on experience within your organization. Discover how to engage academic institutions, students, and community partners in designing and implementing opportunities that nurture the next generation of professionals in the aging services field.