Robyn I. Stone, senior vice president of research and co-director of the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston, participated in a panel discussion, “Let’s Look at Where We are at with Leadership Diversity from an Association Perspective,” at the 2023 Vision Centre: Leadership Development for Aging Services Symposium in Chicago on June 8.

The Vision Centre, formerly known as Vision 2025, is a collaborative nonprofit created to promote the creation of 25 university and college programs dedicated to preparing future leaders in the aging services field, along with 1,000 paid internships with aging services providers, associations, and industry partners.

Stone shared details on LeadingAge’s efforts to address critical issues of leadership diversity, its initiatives to increase the supply of diverse leaders, and its goals to promote greater awareness of the support needs of diverse leaders. These efforts included:

• The LeadingAge/United Negro College Fund Fellowship program to launch early in 2024, which is the newest development from the HBCUs-LTSS Careers Initiative begun in late 2021
• The Ongoing Summer Enrichment Program focused on diversity
• Development of national and state affiliate Leaders of Color Networks
• Research on member efforts in the area and ongoing focus groups with Leaders of Color Networks

Representatives from other trade and professional associations, including the American College of Health Care Administrators, Argentum, and the American Health Care Association, participated in the panel discussion.

LeadingAge is an endorsing organization for The Vision Centre, which has three LeadingAge members on its board. Stone, along with LeadingAge VP for Student Engagement and Workforce Relationships Christy Kramer, serves on the Vision Centre’s Advisory Board.