This year’s LeadingAge Annual Meeting & EXPO in Denver was a time of celebration for me. As I walked through the Denver Convention Center, I wore a green Leaders of Color Network ribbon on my name tag to identify myself as a proud participant in a transformational initiative that is currently underway at LeadingAge.

The Denver meeting represented the first anniversary of that transformational initiative, which we call the LeadingAge Leaders of Color Network. Our four days in the Mile High City illustrated so beautifully the network’s potential to bring together leaders of color, other aging services colleagues, and potential allies to promote leadership diversity in the field of aging services.

The LeadingAge Leaders of Color Network is a professional networking group for senior, mid-level, and emerging leaders of color employed by LeadingAge member organizations. The network is designed to support and facilitate career advancement in the field of aging services. It carries out that mission by offering leaders of color a sounding board for sharing their challenges and success stories, a platform for exchanging resources and ideas, and a forum where leaders of color can take part in expert-led discussions about topics that reflect their expressed needs and interests.

The network’s success at the annual meeting was a team effort supported by the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston and other team members in the LeadingAge national office, by the newly formed Leaders of Color Network Advisory Board, and by LeadingAge member organizations. Additionally, ConnectRN, a LeadingAge Silver Partner, provided registration scholarships to leaders of color attending their first LeadingAge Annual Meeting.

We kicked off the Leaders of Color program on Sunday, Oct. 16, with the Resilient Leader Speaker Panel, which was moderated by Lisa Brown Alexander, president & CEO of Nonprofit HR. Panelists included Dr. Ericka James, dean of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, and three senior leaders in our field: Deke Cateau, CEO of A.G Rhodes in Atlanta, GA; Janet Stringfellow, president & CEO of Volunteers of America of Florida in St. Petersburg, FL; and Kenneth Yang, CEO of Penn Asian Senior Services in Philadelphia, PA.

Panelists described their professional career journeys and the challenges they encounter as leaders of color. They also shared their views about the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, and family background. This interconnectedness was illustrated so clearly as panelists discussed their varied backgrounds, including their history as immigrants and the race differences in their families.

Notably, most of the panelists are the first chief executive of color leading their organizations—an achievement, on the one hand, but something that shouldn’t be as prevalent today, given the experiences and credentials of leaders of color in our sector.

During the meeting, leaders had an opportunity to learn about the purpose and structure of the Leaders of Color Network, discuss future areas of interest, and receive updates on LeadingAge’s plans to create a database of network members.

On the afternoons of Monday, Oct. 17 and Tuesday, October 18, the Leaders of Color Network held networking huddles that were the talk of the convention center. We came together to create a community of aging services leaders, to celebrate new friendships, and to demonstrate our commitment to becoming active network members. Participants included emerging leaders, mid-level leaders, senior leaders, first-time conference attendees, student leaders, state executives, and business member leaders.

Each huddle featured food, prizes, and interactive games to encourage leaders to meet each other, exchange business cards, and share stories about their professional journeys in aging services. The prizes included free registration to two future LeadingAge meetings, with travel and hotel expenses paid by senior leaders of color at LeadingAge member organizations; gift cards provided by LeadingAge members, including Aldersgate, Landis Homes, and Foulkeways at Gwynedd; and food provided by Volunteers of America.

What’s next for the Leaders of Color Network? During 2023, we’ll be working to:

• Host a series of webinars to support and educate network members about advocacy at both the state and federal levels.
• Encourage more leaders of color to attend the 2023 Leadership Summit in Washington, DC on April 17-19 and to meet with their Congressional representatives during visits to Capitol Hill.
• Invite CEOs of LeadingAge member organizations to join our effort and encourage their leaders to participate in the Leaders of Color Network.

As its name implies, our network represents a wonderful opportunity to support and facilitate the professional journeys of leaders of color and their involvement in LeadingAge. But the network’s awesome purpose can only be achieved through participation by all leaders in aging services. We hope every leader at every LeadingAge member organization will consider joining us.