Donna Cutting

Founder & CEO
Red-Carpet Learning Worldwide
Dunedin, FL, USA
  • 144-E. It’s Time to Rethink Your Training Strategies
  • Monday, November 03, 2025

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    144-E. It’s Time to Rethink Your Training Strategies

    Senior living communities excel at developing “compliance” training programs to meet legal requirements. However, they often overlook the need for “learning and development” training programs that emphasize employee engagement, service excellence, and clinical outcomes. This session will challenge the status quo by recommending that providers adopt a more intentional training strategy. Presenters will share examples of aging services organizations that have used learning and development strategies to redesign an employee orientation program, create an award-winning customer service program, and develop an in-house leadership academy. You’ll gain tools to evaluate your organization’s learning and development offerings and find inspiration to rethink your training approach.

Lynn Daly

Executive Vice President
HJ Sims
Fairfield, CT, United States
  • 127-C. Refresh and Expand Your Independent Living Offerings
  • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    127-C. Refresh and Expand Your Independent Living Offerings

    Enhancing the independent living options on your campus could help keep your organization competitive in today’s market. This session will show you how. The chief administrative officer of a multi-site organization will discuss how their organization is diversifying its independent living offerings to include standalone ranch homes, duplexes, converted loft residences, and conventional apartments. An architect will review design trends and considerations for various price points. A financing expert will outline how to model and evaluate different independent living options. Whether you’re facing low occupancy in older inventory or exploring new options to meet growing demand, you’ll leave this session with fresh ideas for strategic campus planning.

Martin Damian

Vice President
Sabra Health Care REIT
Hopkinton, MA, USA
  • 11-H. Achieve Long-Term Wellness with Real-Time Service Coordination
  • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

    11-H. Achieve Long-Term Wellness with Real-Time Service Coordination

    Senior living communities aspire to help older residents and clients maintain the highest level of wellness for as long as possible. This session will explore how real-time service coordination can help. Representatives of PointClickCare, a cloud-based healthcare software platform, will describe a technology tool that puts comprehensive information about a resident’s condition into the hands of caregivers so they can recognize and respond swiftly to the first signs of changing needs. Presenters will outline how timely information can help senior living organizations proactively prevent falls, hospitalizations, and move-outs. They will also offer strategies for collaborating with providers of outpatient therapy, home health care, and pharmacy services to improve care coordination.

Michelle Daniel

CEO
The Eden Alternative
Rochester, NY, USA
  • 92-C. Placing Individuals with Dementia at the Head of the Table
  • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    92-C. Placing Individuals with Dementia at the Head of the Table

    Have you ever participated in a meeting between a healthcare provider and a person living with dementia or mild cognitive impairment? You may have noticed an unsettling practice. The healthcare professional likely spoke to the caregiver instead of addressing the person with lived experience. This session will offer strategies to ensure that individuals with dementia always sit at the head of the table during discussions about them. Presenters who are living with dementia and mild cognitive impairment will help you understand how they lost, and eventually regained, decision-making authority after a dementia diagnosis. Representatives from the Dementia Action Alliance will offer tips for providing genuine, person-directed care that engages individuals with dementia at every step.

C. Norwood Davis

Wesleyan Investment Foundation, President
KSH Consulting
USA
  • 39-K. Navigating Transition: The Providence Place Acquisition Story
  • Wednesday, November 05, 2025

    10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

    39-K. Navigating Transition: The Providence Place Acquisition Story

    Providence Place, a retirement community in High Point, NC, faced a pivotal moment in January 2024 as it navigated the retirements of its chief executive officer and chief operating officer while grappling with financial challenges and initiating an acquisition process. This session will detail the 10-month journey leading to the community’s acquisition by EveryAge, a multi-site provider based in Newton, NC. Presenters will highlight the strategies, challenges, and lessons learned during the acquisition process and explore how collaboration, mission-driven leadership, and stakeholder commitment ensured a smooth transition for both organizations. They will offer advice on maintaining organizational stability during leadership transitions and financial challenges, fostering teamwork during an acquisition, and successfully linking two middle market organizations with complementary visions.

Kevin Davis

Executive Coach
Phoenix Performance Partners
Brighton, MI, USA
  • 30-D. Leading from Where You Are
  • Monday, November 03, 2025

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    30-D. Leading from Where You Are

    You don’t need a fancy C-suite title to become an effective leader and contribute to organizational culture. Leadership is a choice available to everyone in an organization, regardless of their position. This practical session will show you how to unlock your potential and discover how to use three essential tools to create engaged teams: leadership that inspires purpose, management that creates accountability, and coaching that fosters growth. You’ll learn valuable lessons to help you decide which tool to use and when to apply it. Develop the mental fitness to move beyond behaviors that limit your effectiveness and embrace frameworks that elevate your leadership impact.

Kevin DeAcosta

President & CEO
The Highlands at Wyomissing
Wyomissing, PA, USA
  • 64-G. Maintaining Stakeholder Trust in Times of Change
  • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    64-G. Maintaining Stakeholder Trust in Times of Change

    How do senior living communities maintain the trust of residents, families, staff, supporters, and partners while navigating significant organizational change? This session will demonstrate how a positive public relations initiative can help. Presenters will showcase a Pennsylvania-based retirement community that formed a holding company, became a subsidiary of that company, and then took an entrepreneurial approach to spinning off a staffing agency and home healthcare service. They will explain how the community crafted and executed a communications campaign that introduced the new entity to stakeholders while addressing their potential confusion and fear. You’ll return home with a checklist of communication materials you should develop when facing a significant change.

Diana Delgado

President & CEO
Eaton Senior Communities, Inc.
Lakewood, CO, US
  • 90-B. Bringing Health and Wellness Programming to Affordable Housing
  • Sunday, November 02, 2025

    2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

    90-B. Bringing Health and Wellness Programming to Affordable Housing

    Older adults living in subsidized housing have a greater risk of hospitalization and costly nursing care utilization compared to their peers in the community. This session will introduce you to three affordable housing communities working to change these outcomes. Presenters will outline their strategies for improving resident health and well-being, which include establishing a multi-physician medical clinic to address the needs of residents and non-residents, aligning housing-based health programs with the eight dimensions of wellness, and using technology to connect healthcare providers and clients of a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). You’ll gain tips for establishing housing-based programs that save healthcare dollars while increasing health equity for older adults wishing to age well and in place.

  • 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.

Mario DeLuca

Vice President of Resident Experience
Westminster Communities of Florida, Inc.
Orlando, FL, US
  • 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.

Scott Demasi

Corporate Director of Internal Audit
Acts Retirement-Life Communities, Inc.
Fort Washington, PA, USA
  • 111-D. Federal Guidance: Compliance Risk for Nursing Homes
  • Monday, November 03, 2025

    8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

    111-D. Federal Guidance: Compliance Risk for Nursing Homes

    The federal Office of Inspector General (OIG) released its first Compliance Program Guidance for Nursing Homes in 2000. Over the past 25 years, compliance programs for skilled nursing facilities (SNF) have evolved from voluntary to mandatory and are now governed by new OIG guidance released in late 2024. This session will review key compliance risk areas for SNFs outlined in the OIG’s most recent guidance. Presenters will recommend practical strategies for expanding your compliance program to manage and mitigate compliance risks.

Teddy Demessie

Sr. Director of Dining Services
Ingleside
Rockville, MD, US
  • 9-F. For Dining Success, Blend High-Tech and Human Ingredients
  • Monday, November 03, 2025

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    9-F. For Dining Success, Blend High-Tech and Human Ingredients

    Senior living organizations operating in today’s business environment often find it challenging to manage operational costs. This challenge is particularly evident in dining services and this session will demonstrate how to reduce costs and enhance dining quality by using technology to streamline your culinary operations. Presenters will share examples of technology solutions from electronic menus and voice-activated appliances to smart thermometers and electronic inventory management systems that can boost efficiency and elevate the overall customer experience. You’ll also discover practical, simple, and effective methods for ensuring that human interaction remains at the heart of the dining experience so you can continue providing memorable meals that appeal to every guest.

Keely Denenberg

SVP Client Solutions
Orange Grove Consulting
Newton, MA, United States
  • 24-I. Operationalizing a Culture of Inclusion and Belonging
  • Tuesday, November 04, 2025

    4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

    24-I. Operationalizing a Culture of Inclusion and Belonging

    Many organizations struggle to create inclusion and belonging initiatives that are impactful and sustainable. During this session, representatives from Brookhaven at Lexington, a life plan community in Lexington, MA, and Orange Grove Consulting, a talent management consultant, will demonstrate how to enhance inclusion by evaluating your organization’s levels of belonging and measuring its progress in achieving key inclusion goals. Presenters will provide an overview of the data collection process they used to evaluate Brookhaven’s current culture of inclusion and belonging, including its talent management practices. With Brookhaven as your guide, you’ll discover how to launch similar initiatives that will enable your organization to operationalize a culture of inclusion and belonging.