3:30 – 4:45 p.m.

Generative AI: Change Agent in Aging Services

The adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is accelerating across the aging services sector, often in unplanned ways through tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot. To make the most of this innovation, organizational leaders must be intentional about how they introduce AI in their workplaces and care settings. This session will explore the benefits of AI, including its ability to reduce administrative burden and mental load, support scheduling and staffing analysis, test ideas, rethink workflows, and facilitate personalized care. Equally important, presenters will share essential strategies to help you mitigate risks related to AI-related privacy, data use, bias, and human oversight. Join us to learn how AI can help your organization build capacity, resilience, and sustainable progress—and how you can intentionally guide its adoption.

3:30 – 4:45 p.m.

The CEO as Culture Champion: A Leadership Imperative

A strong organizational culture is never accidental. It is shaped, modeled, and reinforced by an organization’s leaders. That culture fuels an organization’s quality and accountability because it is grounded in deeply held values such as empathy, belonging, trust, and empowerment. This session will feature a panel of aging services leaders who have embraced their role as “culture champions.” These leaders will explain how they intentionally nurture their organizations' culture by strengthening relationships among team members, elevating their organization’s brand, and aligning all stakeholders around a shared mission. An organizational health expert will be on hand to unpack the unique dynamics of culture in nonprofit aging services organizations and share lessons from other sectors that have elevated culture as a strategic priority.

3:30 – 4:45 p.m.

The Transformative Power of Repositioning

Providers of aging services face a range of challenges as they seek to deliver high-quality services and supports to more older adults. Securing capital for new construction projects and land purchases is becoming increasingly expensive. Suitable land bordering or near existing campuses is increasingly scarce. As a result, most providers invest in repositioning and expanding capacity at existing campuses rather than building new ones. LeadingAge providers and their architects will offer insights to help you update your organization’s aging assets to meet the needs and preferences of new cohorts of older adults. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about transformational repositioning projects, reflect on their successes, and apply the lessons providers have learned along the way.

1:45 – 3:00 p.m.

HCBS in Flux: Threats and Opportunities

Home and community-based services (HCBS) play a significant role in meeting the expectations of the large number of older consumers who want to remain in their homes and communities as they age. Medicaid support is essential to making HCBS services accessible to those who need them. However, the reworking of state Medicaid programs following the 2025 passage of H.R. 1 will reshape HCBS for LeadingAge members and their local communities. This session will take a closer look at the evolving HCBS landscape, including state-level HCBS policy innovation. Policymakers and HCBS experts will also discuss trends in service availability and payers for home care, adult day, the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, and personal care.

3:30 – 4:45 p.m.

How Will Medicaid Changes Affect Your Organization?

The steep cuts in federal Medicaid funding authorized in 2025 under H.R. 1 will have significant implications for states, aging services providers, and consumers alike regardless of their participation in Medicaid. Few states will be able to offset reductions in federal support, and these expectations are already prompting state policymakers to make difficult decisions about healthcare services and payments. How will these pressures affect your organization even if you don’t serve Medicaid participants? This session will help answer that question. Join other aging services leaders to explore the potential impact of H.R. 1 on employee health coverage, uncompensated care, and patient acuity. Find out how care and service providers are responding to these devastating changes and what you may expect in the coming years.

3:30 – 4:45 p.m.

Federal Advocacy: Who Holds the Power?

Congress and executive-branch agencies share authority over federal policies affecting aging services. But you might need a scorecard to determine which branch of government exercises which powers and how aging services stakeholders can best engage in federal advocacy. This session will help you better understand the two houses of Congress, the difference between congressional offices and committees, and how federal agencies develop rules and requirements that affect a range of aging services settings, from nursing homes and affordable senior housing to home and community-based services. Join us to review the shared powers of Congress, the White House, and federal agencies. Learn strategies to help you advocate for aging services when you visit Capitol Hill on Lobby Day.

1:45 – 3:00 p.m.

The Value of Home-Based Caregivers: Using Evidence to Drive Policy Change

Home-based care is integral to the aging services sector. Yet professional caregivers who work in clients’ homes often feel undervalued by the public, providers, policymakers, and consumers. This session will explore how results from a randomized controlled trial of aides caring for community-dwelling older adults with heart failure could shift those perceptions. Researchers found that an education and communication intervention improved aides' self-efficacy and knowledge, resulting in fewer self-reported, preventable 911 calls and potentially saving health care dollars. Presenters will discuss how these positive findings demonstrate the value of home-based caregivers and could inform federal and state policy recommendations for home care, home health, and the direct care workforce.

3:30 – 4:45 p.m.

How Will Medicaid Changes Affect Your Organization?

The steep cuts in federal Medicaid funding authorized in 2025 under H.R. 1 will have significant implications for states, aging services providers, and consumers alike regardless of their participation in Medicaid. Few states will be able to offset reductions in federal support, and these expectations are already prompting state policymakers to make difficult decisions about healthcare services and payments. How will these pressures affect your organization even if you don’t serve Medicaid participants? This session will help answer that question. Join other aging services leaders to explore the potential impact of H.R. 1 on employee health coverage, uncompensated care, and patient acuity. Find out how care and service providers are responding to these devastating changes and what you may expect in the coming years.

1:45 – 3:00 p.m.

Peer Coaching in Action

By pairing individuals with similar roles or professional backgrounds, peer coaching programs foster trust, empathy, and shared understanding—creating stronger connections and more meaningful support. This collaborative approach not only supports skill development, but can also improve job satisfaction, strengthen retention, and reduce turnover. During this session, two aging services providers will discuss both the benefits and the realities of launching and sustaining these programs, including addressing financial constraints and securing leadership buy-in. They will also share how these programs have helped team members build stronger relationships, enhance their professional skills, and bring invaluable benefits to the communities they serve. You’ll take away insights and best practices for designing and implementing a peer coaching program in your organization.

1:45 – 3:00 p.m.

How Providers Are Supporting One Another Through Turbulent Times

During these turbulent economic times, some aging services organizations are facing financial strain, declining census, or other pressures that could threaten their sustainability. Fortunately, organizations don’t have to face these challenges alone—their colleagues across the country have their backs. This session will feature a group of senior living leaders who are providing a range of assistance—including strategic advice, financial guidance, and operational support—to help fellow providers navigate challenging circumstances and move their organizations toward long-term health. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear inspiring stories from leaders who are extending a hand to help other organizations preserve their nonprofit missions. You’ll learn how these leaders determine when and how to intervene, how they’ve helped, and what they’ve learned.

3:30 – 4:45 p.m.

What’s Next for Skilled Nursing?

Skilled nursing providers operate in an environment marked by constant change and undeniable pressures. Evolving reimbursement models, intensifying regulatory demands, workforce shortages, new care delivery models, and shifting consumer expectations make it immensely challenging to plan for the future while addressing current challenges. This session will feature a panel of LeadingAge members who are working to secure the future of their skilled nursing operations by leveraging strategic opportunities in the sector. They’ll show you how they responded to market pressures by shifting their priorities and making forward-looking decisions to ensure their skilled nursing operations remain viable, responsive, and positioned for the future.

3:30 – 4:45 p.m.

Micro-Credentialing: An Emerging Workforce Development Model

The aging services sector continually strives to deliver high-quality care despite acute shortages of certified nursing assistants (CNA) and other frontline caregivers. “Micro-credentialing” could help address that challenge. This emerging workforce development model enables direct care professionals to participate in short-term learning experiences, have their knowledge assessed by a trusted third party, and earn micro-credentials in various aspects of geriatrics-informed care. During this session, representatives from a university and a retirement community in Maine will describe their efforts to use micro-credentialing to help CNAs build knowledge and skills, gain recognition, advance in their careers, and potentially increase their wages. They’ll also explain how micro-credentialing can help provider organizations reduce turnover, improve quality metrics, and enhance residents’ quality of care and quality of life.

1:45 – 3:00 p.m.

Rebuilding Your Marketing Engine with a Modern Mindset

Most nonprofit senior living leaders are falling short on innovation—but not because they lack vision. Instead, they are being held back by a decades-old marketing approach rooted in operations and census and built on the flawed assumption that adults 60+ are a homogenous audience. This candid session will help you rethink that approach. Two advertising agency leaders, a national marketer with roots at T-Mobile USA and Starbucks, and a senior living marketing strategist will reveal why the senior living sector is getting the basics wrong—and how a new approach could create the conditions for genuine innovation. You’ll leave with a modern playbook for restructuring your marketing function, building products for the people you want to attract, and creating brand and experience platforms that unlock growth, spark demand, and enable your organization to innovate with confidence.

3:30 – 4:45 p.m.

The Transformative Power of Repositioning

Providers of aging services face a range of challenges as they seek to deliver high-quality services and supports to more older adults. Securing capital for new construction projects and land purchases is becoming increasingly expensive. Suitable land bordering or near existing campuses is increasingly scarce. As a result, most providers invest in repositioning and expanding capacity at existing campuses rather than building new ones. LeadingAge providers and their architects will offer insights to help you update your organization’s aging assets to meet the needs and preferences of new cohorts of older adults. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about transformational repositioning projects, reflect on their successes, and apply the lessons providers have learned along the way.

3:30 – 4:45 p.m.

Generative AI: Change Agent in Aging Services

The adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is accelerating across the aging services sector, often in unplanned ways through tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot. To make the most of this innovation, organizational leaders must be intentional about how they introduce AI in their workplaces and care settings. This session will explore the benefits of AI, including its ability to reduce administrative burden and mental load, support scheduling and staffing analysis, test ideas, rethink workflows, and facilitate personalized care. Equally important, presenters will share essential strategies to help you mitigate risks related to AI-related privacy, data use, bias, and human oversight. Join us to learn how AI can help your organization build capacity, resilience, and sustainable progress—and how you can intentionally guide its adoption.