Morning coffee

Pick up your name badge from the kiosk at the Renaissance Ballroom Foyer.

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Lorene Bower, Director of Training & Development, Oakmont Management Group
Lindsey Flores, Senior Vice President of Operations, Carlton Senior Living

Hiring mission-driven individuals, designing a purposeful onboarding experience, and fostering a culture of growth and appreciation are essential for building a compassionate and committed team. Join your peers and explore key strategies to attract, hire and retain individuals with a passion and commitment to serving seniors. You’ll discover onboarding practices that reinforce values of empathy, compassion and commitment to resident well-being and will leave with helpful insights and best practices to strengthen your team and cultivate a positive work environment.

If you attended this session at the 2025 Spring Conference, please note DSS will not approve CEUs for repeat attendance.

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Mark Alexander, Chief Financial Officer & Head of Development, Atria Senior Living
Erez Cohen, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, August Health
Mercedes Kerr, President, Belmont Village Senior Living
Anthony Lanzone, Founding Partner, Lanzone Morgan LLP
Bill Wilson, Partner, Wilson Getty LLP

Join these respected thought leaders from across the senior living, legal and tech sectors and gain critical tools and insights to effectively lead across multiple communities. This in-depth program offers skills for individual professional growth and strategies to strengthen organizational performance. You’ll explore how to build internal leadership pipelines, gain legal insights into high-risk claims through the lens of a plaintiff, and use data to anticipate risks, improve operations and support census development. The series concludes with a cross-discipline panel discussion and audience engagement to reinforce learning and promote practical application. 

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Nicola Taggart, Life & Leadership Success Strategist & Coach, Centered Success Solutions LLC

Back by popular demand! Has operating and leading under constant pressure taken a toll on your well-being? Join the developer of the Calm the Chaos tools and gain simple, yet effective tips and strategies to better manage your mindset, energy, environment and relationships during challenging times in ways that align with your values and priorities. Engage in meaningful conversations and exercises that you can immediately put into action, enabling you to better align inner calm with your outward presence for greater impact, both personally and professionally.

If you attended this session at the 2024 Spring Conference, please note DSS will not approve CEUs for repeat attendance.

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Lynn Chalk, RN, Vice President, Clinical Services, MBK Senior Living
Dave Coluzzi, President & CEO, Carlton Senior Living
Joel Goldman, Partner, Hanson Bridgett LLP
Lisa Hulse, RN, Vice President of Operations, Villages of San Luis Obispo
Jason Russo, LVN, Vice President of Operations, Oakmont Management Group
Carla Sanchez, Vice President of Operations, Elder Care Alliance
Ed Ward, Senior Vice President, Operations, Clearwater Living
Moderator: James Arp, Senior Executive Director, Belmont Village La Jolla

Join a panel of seasoned professionals for a two-part, in-depth discussion as they share real-world situations and the practical lessons they've learned along the way. Through candid conversations about family dynamics, resident care challenges and team member missteps, you’ll gain actionable insights that you can apply in your day-to-day work. Learn from the collective experience of those who’ve been there – and come away equipped to navigate the complexities of your work and contribute to the future of senior living.

Afternoon dessert and coffee break.

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Opening General Session featuring Brian Biro, Professional Speaker and Bestselling Author

Every day you seek breakthroughs with residents to generate loyalty, satisfaction and relationships. One of the most important keys to lasting success is breaking through self-imposed barriers and working with your team in order to fully embrace personal responsibility, committed purpose and authentic leadership. Doing so requires consistent focus on what can be done rather than wasting energy on what’s beyond our control. Join Brian Biro for an interactive experience designed to help you face your own barriers head on. You’ll gain a fresh and exciting vision of personal leadership, including the #1 key to igniting others and self; the key to building people, trust and balance; powerful essentials to shaping the future through vision; and the four key Breakthrough Beliefs. You’ll leave energized, empowered and with a clearer sense of your breakthrough leadership potential and how to bring out the best in your team.

As the former vice-president of a major transportation corporation in the Pacific Northwest, Brian Biro helped lead a major turnaround that resulted in the company quadrupling in revenues, restored profitability, and earned top industry rankings customer service. He is the author of 16 books including the bestseller, Beyond Success! and his most recent Lessons from the Legends. Named one of UCLA’s Graduate School of Management’s 100 Most Inspirational Graduates, Brian was also recognized as one of the top 10 Interactive speakers in North America and one of the top 50 motivational speakers in the world.

Start off the CALA Fall Conference & Trade Show with an evening of good wine, appetizers, and the opportunity to meet exhibitors and CALA associate members. You’ll learn about new products and services available to Assisted Living providers.