The 2024 LeadingAge Annual Meeting in Nashville was kicked off on October 28 by President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan, who welcomed 6,106 attendees with an address on the theme of “Courage Ignited,” the theme of this year’s meeting.

Paying tribute to the courage of members who faced devastating damage from the onslaught of two hurricanes in September and October in the southeastern U.S., she recounted stories of staff taking on extra shifts and putting aside their own losses to keep older adults safe, and of provider members helping each other by offering temporary housing as well as food, water, and other supplies in the face of widespread power and water outages.

Praising “what we can do when we all come together,” Sloan then built on the meeting’s theme by challenging members to help create a movement that will reimagine what is now a siloed, dysfunctional system of care for older adults, hindered by inadequate financing, counterproductive regulations, and inertia.

“The aging of America—the aging of the world—is unprecedented,” she said. “The age distribution of our population is flipping upside down and landing on its head. … Demographers view this as interesting and significant. I view this as a clarion call to action.”

Noting that our unprepared society lacks the infrastructure, services, and funding to support the growing numbers of older adults, Sloan said, “We have failed to muster the political will to prepare and welcome this monumental shift. Too many seem satisfied with the many incremental changes to support the growing number of older adults.”

Describing political leaders’ inaction as “irresponsible,” she went on to say, “Whatever it is, it is unacceptable. It is simply an excuse that leaves it to providers to patch together insufficient systems and for providers to take the blame when they can’t do it all.”

Citing a number of creative, successful aging services models (“pockets of excellence”) existing around the world, Sloan asked members to leverage good ideas “derived from your lived experiences designing and delivering solutions. Now is the time to leverage this good work, put it on steroids, and build a movement.”

She closed by asking attendees to “sign the pledge” and join the new ACT for Older Adults Campaign: “This, my friends, is the beginning of the movement we need. LeadingAge will lead but each of you—and what you do in your communities, the experiences you bring, the vision you hold, and the actions you take—is all part of this movement. Our future will be shaped by the degree of our personal engagement, the size of our hearts, and our capacity to work together.”