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.
Robyn Stone
- 8-B. Supporting Leadership Diversity in Aging Services
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Supporting Leadership Diversity in Aging Services
Inequities within the long-term services and supports (LTSS) workforceu2014and a lack of diversity among mid-level managers and senior leaders of LTSS organizationsu2014have existed for many years. This session will highlight LeadingAge efforts to change this reality. Through the HBCUs-LTSS Careers Initiative, LeadingAge is collaborating with UNCF, the nation’s largest minority education organization, to engage historically Black colleges and universities, other minority-serving institutions, and providers of aging services in partnerships to improve racial and ethnic diversity in mid- and upper-level positions at LTSS organizations. Another initiative, called the Leaders of Color Network, facilitates career advancement for emerging, mid- and senior-level leaders of color in aging services. Presenters will share details about these two initiatives and describe activities, planned for 2023, that are designed to support leadership diversity in our field.
Ashley M Tanner
- 23-E. How Vulnerability Helps You Become an Authentic Leader
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
How Vulnerability Helps You Become an Authentic Leader
Being an authentic leader means allowing yourself to be vulnerable, even when you’re uncomfortable. Authentic leaders recognize their unique leadership attributes, but they also let go of the assumption that they must have all the answers. Instead, they exercise genuine curiosity in their approach to leadership, and aren’t afraid to call on others to fill gaps they cannot fill. How can you lead as your most authentic self in a way that is sustainable and brings you joy? In this session, a diverse panel of providers will help you answer that question by describing their own paths to authenticity and the important role vulnerability played in shaping their leadership style. Learn how your authenticity can benefit your aging services organization and how vulnerability can teach you the most important lessons of your career.
Timothy Thate
- 5-A. Policy Update: Medicare Home Health and Hospice
Monday, April 17, 2023
3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Policy Update: Medicare Home Health and Hospice
2022 was a big year for Medicare home health and hospice, and 2023 promises to bring even more change to this important sector. Whether you have a robust program of home-based services or are considering branching out into this service line, you’ll want to attend this policy update and discussion. Policymakers will join LeadingAge members to discuss pressing issues affecting home health and hospice providers, such as benefit oversight, reform and expansion, reimbursement, telehealth, and workforce. The session will also feature LeadingAge members who have partnered across the continuum to offer hospice or home health services. Discuss how hospice and home health benefits are evolvingu2014and should evolve. Explore how LeadingAge members can use our collective resources to serve older adults in the place they call home.
Theresa Thomas
- 2-A. Finding Your Path to an Equitable and Inclusive Culture
Monday, April 17, 2023
3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Finding Your Path to an Equitable and Inclusive Culture
Creating a more inclusive culture within your organization must start with listening to the opinions and needs of residents, clients, and team members. Goodwin Living, a senior living organization near the nation’s capital, set out to improve both its workplace and resident cultures by creating an internal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee led by staff and residents. Working together, this group brought about seemingly small changes that had a huge impact on the organization’s culture. Listen as staff, residents, senior leadership, and a board member describe how they started their organization’s DEI journey and how DEI initiatives were supported by the organization’s leadership and board. Learn about the organization’s successes, challenges, and setbacks. There’s no u201cone size fits allu201d guidebook for tackling DEI issues, but this session will provide valuable insights from one community that developed its own path.
Erica Thrash-Sall
- 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.
David Tiesenga
- 16-D. What a Strategy Officer Can Do for You
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
3:45 – 5:15 p.m.
What a Strategy Officer Can Do for You
In today’s competitive aging services landscape, ambitious organizations are investing in strategy officers to help them look for growth and expansion opportunities, find new ways to fulfill their missions through partnerships, and seek out new revenue streams. Hear how several strategy officers in LeadingAge member organizations are working with their CEOs, leadership teams, and boards of directors to lead change. Gain a deeper understanding of the key responsibilities of strategy officers and why their added skills and perspectives play such a pivotal role in driving business and mission success. Learn how strategy officers are observing and responding to market changes, analyzing competitor performance, developing and refining their organization’s business strategy, influencing strategic decision making, and identifying and managing new strategic opportunities.
Cathleen Toomey
- 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.
Angela Urman
- 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.
Francis Wade
- 2-A. Finding Your Path to an Equitable and Inclusive Culture
Monday, April 17, 2023
3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Finding Your Path to an Equitable and Inclusive Culture
Creating a more inclusive culture within your organization must start with listening to the opinions and needs of residents, clients, and team members. Goodwin Living, a senior living organization near the nation’s capital, set out to improve both its workplace and resident cultures by creating an internal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee led by staff and residents. Working together, this group brought about seemingly small changes that had a huge impact on the organization’s culture. Listen as staff, residents, senior leadership, and a board member describe how they started their organization’s DEI journey and how DEI initiatives were supported by the organization’s leadership and board. Learn about the organization’s successes, challenges, and setbacks. There’s no u201cone size fits allu201d guidebook for tackling DEI issues, but this session will provide valuable insights from one community that developed its own path.
Marsha Wesley Coleman
- 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?
Mary Williams
- 8-B. Supporting Leadership Diversity in Aging Services
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Supporting Leadership Diversity in Aging Services
Inequities within the long-term services and supports (LTSS) workforceu2014and a lack of diversity among mid-level managers and senior leaders of LTSS organizationsu2014have existed for many years. This session will highlight LeadingAge efforts to change this reality. Through the HBCUs-LTSS Careers Initiative, LeadingAge is collaborating with UNCF, the nation’s largest minority education organization, to engage historically Black colleges and universities, other minority-serving institutions, and providers of aging services in partnerships to improve racial and ethnic diversity in mid- and upper-level positions at LTSS organizations. Another initiative, called the Leaders of Color Network, facilitates career advancement for emerging, mid- and senior-level leaders of color in aging services. Presenters will share details about these two initiatives and describe activities, planned for 2023, that are designed to support leadership diversity in our field.
Robin Wolzenburg
- 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.