Speakers at the 2023 LeadingAge Leadership Summit
Our speaker line-up is designed to share valuable expertise within our field and offer new perspectives on issues that affect us all.
Elizabeth Feltner
- 12-C. It’s Time to Expand Your CEO Candidate Pool
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
1:45 – 3:15 p.m.
It’s Time to Expand Your CEO Candidate Pool
Is a CEO search in your organization’s future? Then it’s time to start making plans to expand the pool of potential job candidates that you’ll consider for your organization’s most important position. Many search committees miss out on hiring topnotch leaders because they make the mistake of seeking out only individuals who look like, think like, and have the same backgrounds as they do. During this session, experts on executive placement will share their observations on how, from their perspective, aging services organizations might implement a more inclusive selection process. What kind of education do search committees need for that to happen? What aspects of the process and onboarding would shift?
Janine Finck-Boyle
- 25-E. Policy Update: Nursing Homes
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Policy Update: Nursing Homes
Nursing homes have spent another year fighting COVID-19. At the same time, nursing home executives have navigated an ongoing and increasingly serious workforce crisis, struggled to reconcile continuous and sometimes conflicting updates and changes to regulations and guidance, adjusted to new categories of expenses and supply-chain challenges, and kept an eye on a variety of nursing home-related proposals on Capitol Hill. Administration staff will be on hand during this policy update to offer their insights regarding the perennial challenges facing nursing homes and the latest government responses to those challenges. Speakers will discuss regulations, guidelines, and legislative activity focused on such topics as workforce, mandates, regulation guidance, and the survey process. They’ll also offer a glimpse into what’s in store for nursing homes in 2023.rnrnThis session is closed to the press. Learn more: leadingage.org/press
Gwen Fitzgerald
- 14-C. Methods for Expanding Your Workforce Pipeline
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
1:45 – 3:15 p.m.
Methods for Expanding Your Workforce Pipeline
Recent estimates suggest that the field of aging services will need an additional 1.2 million caregivers within the next 10 years to provide the services and supports that a growing older population will need. Given demographic shifts and the impact of COVID-19 on team members, providers of aging services have no choice but to explore every avenue possible to bolster their workforces. This session will explore a variety of methods for building the workforce pipeline, such as recruiting students and refugees, establishing and nurturing community partnerships, and implementing innovative staffing models. Presenters will review recruitment messaging for each audience, identify key influencers who can deliver those messages, and offer tips on the best way to talk to potential employers, as demonstrated by research conducted through LeadingAge’s Opening Doors to the Aging Services Workforce initiative.
Jon Fletcher
- 24-E. How Poverty May Be Affecting Your Workforce
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
How Poverty May Be Affecting Your Workforce
Direct care workers play a vital role in helping aging services organizations fulfill their mission to care for a growing older population. Yet, despite their importance to our field, these caregivers are often overworked and underpaid, and more than half live in or near poverty, according to recent research. This session will examine how poor job quality drives poverty among direct care workers and how it affects both their health and financial well-being. Gain an understanding of the challenges facing the direct care workforce and discover how providers and policymakers are making a difference in the jobs and lives of team members with low incomes. Hear from LeadingAge members who are addressing the disparities that team members experience by offering food and financial assistance programs, access to health clinics, and financial stewardship classes.
Sara Zeff Geber
- 13-C. It’s Past Time to Think About Solo Agers
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
1:45 – 3:15 p.m.
It’s Past Time to Think About Solo Agers
All of us, because of choice or circumstance, may find ourselves without the support of a spouse, adult children, or close family members. Solo aging is a universal issue that LeadingAge members are in a unique position to be an important resource to solo agers, through social networks, programs, and services, providing them the security and support they will need in their later years.rnrnWhile some solo agers believe that congregate living is the preferred setting to meet their needs, there are also many solo who either prefer to age in their existing homes or are unable to afford market-rate senior living communities. Hear from the expert who wrote the seminal book on solo aging, along with a panel of diverse providers and older consumers on how your organization can empower solo adults aging alone to make decisions about their future and thrive while aging solo.
Tracey Gendron
- 3-A. Untangling Ageism and Ableism to Promote Inclusion
Monday, April 17, 2023
3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Untangling Ageism and Ableism to Promote Inclusion
Examples of the stigma associated with aging and disability abound in the field of aging services. Older adults may suggest that their peers shouldn’t bring walkers into a community’s dining room; people of all ages may underestimate the abilities of older adults and people living with dementia. Negative attitudes toward aging (ageism) and negative attitudes toward different physical and cognitive abilities (ableism) are closely connected and can affect our beliefs about growing older or living with a disability. Join this engaging exploration of ageism and ableism and discover ways to identify, understand, and then disrupt these common forms of discrimination. Consider how ageism and ableism affect our ability to promote meaningful inclusion and belonging in senior living communities.
Annette Greely
- 28-F. Creating an Engagement Culture through Relationship-Centered Teams
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Creating an Engagement Culture through Relationship-Centered Teams
Relationships matter in most aspects of our lives, including the workplace. Research shows that empowered direct care professionals have better attitudes, performance, and efficiencyu2014and that nurses working with these caregivers are happier and more likely to remain employed. Having a best friend at work can make it seven times more likely that you will be an engaged employee. Using lessons learned from culture change and person-directed care models, presenters of this session will show you how to create a healthy, relationship-centered culture in your workplace. Learn about changes and policies that can help your organization create a staff-led model where team members at all levels are supported, engaged, and thriving. Hear case studies and get tips to help your organization transition from a traditional hierarchical workplace to a healthy relationship-centered culture.
Jay Gulshen
- 20-D. The 118th Congress u2013 Hopes and Expectations
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
3:45 – 5:15 p.m.
The 118th Congress u2013 Hopes and Expectations
From immigration policy to staffing ratios to hospice reform to telehealth — and every health and long term care issue in between, LeadingAge members look to the 118th Congress for answers and solutions. Join this lively panel of experienced staff from both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate. Hear which issues they are working on and expect to face over the coming year. LeadingAge staff will get the discussion rolling with our top health and long-term care legislative goals and panelists will let us know where Congressional leaders stand and what they are planning to do to help mission focused providers survive and thrive. Panelists will talk about the u201cmust passu201d legislative measures, like the debt ceiling and funding to keep the government open u2013 and how critical aging services funding and solutions can fit in and around those measures.rnrnThis session is closed to the press. Learn more: leadingage.org/press
Laurence Gumina
- 29-F. Strategies for Shaping Medicare’s Next Decade
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Strategies for Shaping Medicare’s Next Decade
Managed care plans are becoming the dominant source of payment for the care provided to Medicare beneficiaries. As a result, however, many providers of aging services are receiving inadequate reimbursements while also feeling the pressure of heightened expectations and increased administrative burdens. This session will offer an overview of the managed care-related challenges outlined in a 21-page comment letter that LeadingAge sent to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in 2022. Panelists will review the changes that LeadingAge and its members believe must be made to Medicare and Medicare Advantage and Special Needs Plans to ensure provider survival and beneficiary access to care. LeadingAge members will be on hand to describe their experiences in managed care programs and to explain how they are adapting to the growing number of accountable care models. Hear how policymakers view the future of Medicare and accountable care.
Mollie Gurian
- 10-B. Policy Update: Innovations in Medicaid Service Delivery
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Policy Update: Innovations in Medicaid Service Delivery
How can LeadingAge members continue fulfilling their missions by offering Medicaid services, especially considering the challenges associated with participating in the program? This session will answer that question by exploring the challenges facing providers in the Medicaid program, including low reimbursement, program design variability across states, workforce shortages, and the need to comply with the Home and Community-Based Settings Rule. Find out how LeadingAge members are becoming innovators as they engage with the Medicaid program while providing home and community-based services (HCBS) through adult day, the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, and home care. Learn how these providers are advocating for policy changes that would make participation in Medicaid more viable. Discuss innovations in Medicaid service delivery and hear updates on policies affecting HCBS providers and the broader Medicaid program.
Steve Gurney
- 27-F. Marketing Roundtable: What Do Older Consumers Want and Need?
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Marketing Roundtable: What Do Older Consumers Want and Need?
This session will offer leaders, including marketing executives, the opportunity to think about whether their organizations’ products and services really reflect what older consumers want and need. Join this engaging conversation about the role marketing principles should play in an organization’s strategic planning, and how well organizations are educating consumers to make informed decisions, rather than simply marketing to them. Three, forward-thinking providers will help you envision what the future of aging services will look like and how your organization can position itself to meet the needs and preferences of both current and future consumers. Panelists will provide their own perspectives on these questions, based on their work serving older adults in the middle market, in rural areas, and through continuing care at home programs.
Anna Hall
- 22-E. Embracing Meaning and Purpose in Senior Living
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Embracing Meaning and Purpose in Senior Living
The quest for meaning and purpose doesn’t end when your employees come to work or when older adults move to your senior living community. That’s why it’s critical to make this quest a fundamental component of your organization. This session will help you explore a range of approaches you can use to weave meaning and purpose into the fabric of your organization, including intergenerational engagement, lifelong learning, and a citizenship model that invites every community member to contribute in their unique way. You’ll discover how a focus on meaning and purpose can help address social isolation and disrupt ageism. Presenters will help you identify how your organization already embraces meaning and purpose, and how you can find new opportunities to add meaning and purpose to the lives of residents, clients, and team members.