Sara Kyle
Founder
LE3 Solutions
Sara Kyle, Ph.D. has spent the last 13 years researching, designing, writing, and implementing resident well-being programs across the continuum of care. From leading and overseeing programming across 108 skilled nursing, assisted living and memory care communities to overseeing the charge for Holiday Retirement to transform their resident program in 260 communities, Sara thrives in challenging settings. While best intentions and knowledge at the corporate level craft well-suited programs, the most effective programs originate from research and collaboration with residents, staff, families, and prospects.
When staff and residents are involved in creating a program or approach; interest, adoption and sustainability are remarkably higher. Successful programming is not just about a satisfaction score, rather quality of life beyond the basics of food, shelter, and an expected level of care. If data collection is aimed to note participation of categorized activities, this is only one piece of the puzzle behind effectively measuring engagement.
Sara is widely known and respected in the industry. Sara is an Eden Alternative Associate, Certified Dementia Practitioner, and FallProof certified. She presents at national conferences, pens articles in notable publications, and serves on various advisory boards.
Steve Paraskevopoulos
CTO/CIO
Revera
Steve Paraskevopoulos is the Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer for Revera Inc. Revera Inc. is a leading owner, operator, developer and innovator in the senior living sector. Through its portfolio of partnerships, Revera owns or operates more than 500 properties across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. With approximately 50,000 employees, Revera serves more than 55,000 seniors.
Steve is responsible for setting the strategic vision, and overseeing the successful execution, of technology, innovation, data and strategic projects across Revera. With more than 20 years of leadership experience bringing technology to life at various companies such as MDS Inc., Sciex and Lucent Technologies, Steve ensures Revera is a leader in technology and innovation focused on improving the aging experience. Steve holds a BASc Honours degree in Physics from McMaster University.
Brian Petranick
CEO
Risemark (Right at Home)
Brian Petranick started his career in the healthcare industry in 1986 working in medical transportation. Over the first several years of his career, he worked for multiple providers that specialized in wheelchair transport, ground and air ambulance services, and helicopter air evacuation operations. In these roles, he saw firsthand the challenges of receiving care outside the walls of hospitals and other healthcare institutions.
With a deep understanding of the dynamics of care in the home environment, Brian left the medical transport sector in 1993, accepting a position with a national provider of home care. He helped that organization expand its footprint and fully develop its private pay offering.
In 2000, Brian joined founder Allen Hager and launched the Right at Home franchise system. During his nearly 20 years with the company, Brian served as Vice President of Operations, Chief Operating Officer, and ultimately President and Chief Executive Officer. Brian’s leadership has been instrumental in growing the organization from its initial location in Omaha, Nebraska, to an internationally recognized home-care brand with over 650 operating territories in eight countries.
Summer Blizzard
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
CHI Living Communities
Summer Blizzard is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for CHI Living Communities. CHI Living Communities is the senior living management division of Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health, a nearly $30 billion health system created in a 2019 merger between Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI). The combined system operates more than 700 care sites and 142 hospitals in 21 states, plus research programs, virtual care services, home health programs and senior living communities.
She previously served as Vice President of Sales and Business Optimization for Independent Healthcare Properties, LLC, a developer, owner, and operator of assisted living and memory care communities across the southeast. In this role Summer oversaw the sales, data analytics, and procurement teams.
Prior to joining IHP, Summer spent eight years with Elmcroft Senior Living in numerous positions, including Director of Marketing Strategy and Business Optimization. During that time she collaborated with leaders to develop and implement strategic business initiatives and technologies designed to streamline processes and provide access to real-time data to make business decisions.
Summer is an alumna of the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) Future Leaders Council, serving as co-chair in 2018. Further, she was named a top leader in the senior housing industry under the age of 40 by Argentum in 2019.
Summer currently serves on the advisory board for the master’s in data analytics program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and is a member of Chattanooga Women’s Leadership Institute.
She earned a bachelor’s in business management with a focus on marketing from The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Jason Tijsseling
Vice President – Information Technology
Leisure Care
Jason Tijsseling is the vice president of information technology at Leisure Care. He has worked at Leisure Care for over seven years and in the IT industry for 16 years.
Jason was born in northern California and lived most of his life in Nevada. He went to college at the University of Nevada Reno and majored in Computer Information Systems (CIS). Moving to Vegas after college, Jason worked in tech support at The Venetian Hotel Casino for four years and then for six years at McCarran Airport (in tech support and project management) for Clark County, TSA and the FAA. Jason then moved to Seattle and joined Leisure Care in the Senior Housing Industry.
Jason has been married to his lovely wife for ten years and the couple have one small fur child (dog) named Barley. In his spare time, Jason competes in triathlons and is an avid cyclist and performance bike builder. He also volunteers at the Seattle Humane Society and other local pet rescue facilities.
Joe Velderman
MCP, Vice President of Innovation
Cypress Living
Joe Velderman serves as the Vice President of Innovation at Cypress Living - supporting Cypress Cove and Cypress at Home. As VP of Innovation Mr. Velderman has an external focus, leading IT-powered digital innovation, while building and supporting the innovation capabilities of the organization. In addition to the innovation efforts, Joe is responsible for all technology operations within the Cypress brand; guiding strategy and direction for all infrastructure, enterprise applications, and data initiatives.
Part of my role is to keep the trains on track and keep them moving. The most important facet of my role is to perpetually ask “Where is this train going?” “How fast should it be going?” “Should we even be on a train or a rocket ship?” Mr. Velderman has always had an affinity for seniors and is passionate about developing and leveraging technology tools as a means for helping seniors age in a healthy and graceful way. He is a gifted, forward-thinker and strategist with a keen sense for how technology can and will be used in the future.
Mr. Velderman resides with his wife Jennifer and son Hunter in Fort Myers, FL. In his spare time he enjoys smart-home technologies, fishing, boating and automotive detailing. Mr. Velderman’s son, Hunter, is an avid iPad navigator and at just 4 years old he is working to master a new toy…”The Code-a-Pillar.
Donny Friday
Director of Technology
Sun Health
Chip Burns
CIO
Sun Health
Chip Burns has over 44 years’ experience in the Information Technology field, specializing in technology for the senior living industry since 1997. Currently Chip is the Virtual CIO for Sun Health in Arizona. Mr. Burns serves as a commissioner for the Center for Aging Technologies (CAST) for over 10 years and was a co-founder and sponsor of the LeadingAge HackFest. He has also been a guest speaker at several senior living conferences, including the national LeadingAge conference as well as local LeadingAge conferences in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Tennessee.
Mr. Burns has a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems Management from the University of Maryland University College.
