Charles de Vilmorin, Co-founder & CEO of Linked Senior, talks about leveraging real-time data to create more meaningful engagement and how #ActivitiesStrong is elevating the life enrichment role to the C-Suite.

About Charles

Charles is passionate about honoring the older adults in our society. From his master’s thesis on nursing homes and memory care, to his close connections with the older adults in his family, to creating and leading Linked Senior, a resident engagement platform for senior living, he is an advocate for the person-centered movement. With Linked Senior, he has more than twelve years of experience building solutions that value meaningful engagement to meet the changing needs and preferences of every older adult.

Charles is on the board of the Validation Training Institute that promotes the Validation Method work of Naomi Feil, and on the Innovation Council for AMDA, the American Medical Doctor Association. He also started the Old People are Cool initiative to combat rampant ageism in our society and build intergenerational conversations and collaboration.

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Joanna Mansfield, General Manager of Coterie Hudson Yards in Manhattan, talks about elevating the urban lifestyle concept. She shares her strategies for creating a boutique experience and using technology for uber-personalization and on-demand access.

About Joanna

Joanna Mansfield has been integral to launching Coterie, a luxury senior living development by Related Companies and Atria Senior Living. She joined Atria in 2012 and has served in various roles and leadership responsibilities including Senior Vice President of Care, Senior Vice President of Operations for Atria Home Care in New York, Resident Services Director, Executive Director and Regional Vice President. Most recently, Ms. Mansfield was responsible for all care operations for Atria's more than 200 communities across the U.S. and Canada and led care operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to joining Atria, Ms. Mansfield was employed by the New York State Department of Health as a Nurse Surveyor and the city of Ithaca as Wellness Director. Joanna holds a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Ryerson University in Toronto.

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The CEO of Delight by Design and MezTal talks about the progression of senior living and age-tech, new definitions of wellness, and her foray into venture capital with Third Act Ventures and AgeTech Capital.

About Sarah

Sarah Thomas is an accomplished leader of innovation. She serves as a global aging expert advising startups, large corporations and investors, with over 20 years dedicated to transforming the aging experience. Sarah is CEO of multinational staff-hosting company, MezTal in Guadalajara, Mexico & CEO of the consulting firm Delight by Design, creating age-inclusive products, brands, spaces and experiences that delight the consumer at every age.

Sarah has held key leadership positions across the US and Asia, developing and implementing strategic corporate innovation initiatives, including change management. She has served as Executive-in-Residence at Aging2.0 and currently serves as Principal Fellow in the Nexus Insights firm for aging transformation and Mentor to Techstars Longevity Accelerator. She also is co- founder of AgeTech News, a media platform for global AgeTech News and deal flow and sits as a Venture Partner to AGETECH Capital and ThirdAct Ventures.

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The Founder & CEO of The Super Age and author of THE SUPER AGE: DECODING OUR DEMOGRAPHIC DESTINY shares his views on aging in place, the changing workforce, age-tech, and the return of the multigenerational household.

About Bradley

Bradley Schurman is an expert on demographic change and how it disrupts social, cultural, political, and economic norms across the United States and around the world. His deep understanding of population shifts, coupled with his grasp of emerging trends, makes him an authoritative voice into the future of everything.

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The Director of Public Messaging at LeadingAge, a national organization serving older adults through aging services providers, talks about Opening Doors to Aging Services. The initiative shares research, strategies, and tools for aging services professionals to positively promote this sector to older adults, families, and potential team members.

About Gwen

Gwen Fitzgerald is a communications professional and community activist. She serves as Director, Public Messaging at LeadingAge, a professional association representing more than 5,000 nonprofit aging services providers and other mission-minded organizations that touch millions of lives every day. As project manager for the Opening Doors to Aging Services initiative, she develops and shares the research, strategies, and tools to guide aging services professionals in introducing the aging services sector to older adults and their families—and, in doing so, to shift perceptions positively.

Prior to joining LeadingAge in 2021, she worked with teams to develop communications and marketing campaigns that inspire audiences to act and advance public safety and human rights.

After business hours, she is a ceramic artist (hobbyist), dog fanatic, and Board member at Oakwood Arts in Richmond, VA, where she lives with her husband and dog.

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The Associate Principal and Senior Interior Designer of THW Design and board member of the American Academy of Healthcare Interior Designers (AAHID)has been an advocate for inclusive and ethical design for older adults for 23 years. Learn about intentional planning to create spaces that reflect today’s residents’ interests and concerns for mental and physical health, the environment and social impact.

About Melinda

Melinda Ávila -Torio, NCIDQ, RID, CHID, CASP, LEED ® AP, IIDA is Associate Principal and Senior Interior Designer at THW Design, one of the nation’s top senior living design firms for nearly four decades. She is a CHID Board-Certified Healthcare Interior Designer through AAHID, a Registered Interior Designer (RID), Certified Aging Specialist Professional (Leading Age CASP) and Certified LEED AP (U.S. Green Building Council.) Melinda holds a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design and Master of Science in Architecture from Virginia Tech.

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The President and CEO of the 34-year-old nonprofit life plan community shares White Horse Village’s “secret sauce” for technology innovation, lifelong learning, and resident-driven programming on campus and in the local community.

About Len

Len Weiser has worked as a Director of Nursing for a Skilled Nursing Community, Nursing Home Administrator, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer for both profit and non-profit organizations.  He has worked for single-site and corporate entities at the campus-level and on the corporate team.

Len serves on the LeadingAge PA Board of Directors. He completed his undergraduate degree in Nursing at Rutgers University, Master’s in Executive Nursing Leadership at Wilmington University and is in the final stages of completing his Doctorate in Business Administration at Wilmington University.

Key Takeaways

The leading marketing consultancy catering to older adults works with every sector of aging services—from large healthcare providers, to senior living and home care, to age-tech startups. Learn key findings from new research on the 50-million-large caregiver market in North America and why nine out of ten caregivers see technology playing a crucial role in the future.

About Jeff

Jeff is the President and CEO (Chief EvAgelist Officer) of Age of Majority, a research-driven marketing consultancy that helps organizations better understand older adults so that they can engage them more effectively. He is in the last wave of the Baby Boomers with over 30 years of marketing experience on both the client and agency sides of the business. Prior to starting Age of Majority, Jeff led Harbinger out of their Toronto office - a PR agency that is focused primarily on launching brands and marketing to women.

Over the years, Jeff has witnessed the dramatic changes of the aging population. In his experience working for and with major brands including Pepsi, Gillette, Dannon, KitchenAid and Unilever, he understands why corporations are missing the boat on the over 55 crowd and he knows what’s necessary to take advantage of this largest and fastest growing segment in business.

Key Takeaways

The University professor and nationally recognized expert on senior housing and aging services technologies talks about the Virginian Scholars Program, a partnership with George Mason University offering The Virginian’s residents formal, structured education. He also shares the technologies influencing senior living and new affinity communities catering to niche markets.

Andrew Carle is adjunct faculty at Georgetown University's Masters in Aging and Health, and advisor and consultant at The Virginian. As Georgetown University faculty, he provides development of and lead instruction for nation's only graduate curricula in Senior Living Administration. Previously, he was an award-winning Professor and Executive-in-Residence for the Program in Senior Housing Administration at George Mason University, establishing the first undergraduate curricula in the nation dedicated exclusively to the senior housing industry.

Carle’s 30+ years of executive-level senior housing and healthcare experience include Chief Operating Officer and VP - Business Services for multiple "Top-10" senior housing providers, and CEO, COO, and Director of Strategic Planning & Marketing for vertically integrated healthcare systems. As president of Carle Consulting, LLC, his clients have included industry leading senior living providers and organizations, as well as AARP, Apple, Nintendo, and UnitedHealthcare, among others. He served as Senior Consultant - Health Intelligence for J.D. Power and Associates in development of the first national customer satisfaction and certification program for the senior living industry.

Awards include “Best of the Best in Aging Services” from Aging News Alert and “Leaders in Aging – Mentor Award” from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. In 2010, Carle was recognized among six "People of Influence" for the senior housing industry by Senior Living Executive magazine. His work has been featured or cited in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, TIME, CBS News, CNN, PBS, NPR, and U.S. News & World Report, among others; and in more than 100 senior housing, aging services industry, and technology publications.

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Joy is a foremost expert on elder abuse and developing evidence-based screening protocols in long term care. Learn about her role spearheading spiritual engagement, and why connecting to something bigger is critical for happiness and well-being.

About Joy

Joy is the Vice President of Elder Justice and Spiritual Engagement at RiverSpring Living, and Director and Managing Attorney of The Weinberg Center for Elder Justice at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale. Joy co-founded The Weinberg Center in 2004. She was previously Director of Elder Abuse Services at the Pace Women’s Justice Center and an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan, where she served for eight years. Joy is a frequent speaker and writer on the issue of elder abuse and elder justice, including to the United States Senate, Special Commission on Aging.

Screening for elder abuse detection in health care and legal systems has been a priority for Joy. In addition to developing evidence-based screening protocols in long-term care, Weinberg Center Risk and Abuse Prevention Screen (WC-RAPS), she recently co-authored and published two research papers relating to evidence-based screening for elder abuse.

Joy’s work in long-term care also includes an active role in the creation of sexual expression policies for residents, a resilience/well-being program for caregivers, and a fresh look at death and dying in long-term care. Joy also developed a unique domestic violence prevention and intervention program for all employees of the Hebrew Home at Riverdale. Like the Weinberg Center itself and many of its innovative projects, this program is easily replicable. Joy was a founder of the Elder Abuse Committee on the Elder Law Section of the New York State Bar Association.

In 2017, Joy was awarded the National Crime Victims Service Award by the United States Department of Justice. In 2016, she was recognized with an award of Distinction in Public Service by the New York Law Journal, and in 2010 she received The New York State Bar Association award for Excellence in Public Service. Joy is also a certified ISHTA yoga instructor and teacher of breathing and meditation.

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