Send your personnel news to Lois Bowers at [email protected].
Kendal at Oberlin names Seth Vilensky CEO
Seth Vilensky has been named the chief executive officer at Kendal at Oberlin, a Kendal-affiliated continuing care retirement / life plan community in Oberlin, OH. He will begin his duties Jan. 29.
Vilensky most recently was vice president of strategic market operations and category management for Medically Home. Before that, he was the president and CEO of the Montefiore Home. When Montefiore merged with Menorah Park in 2020, he served as the vice president of business development and community health for the combined organization.
Vilensky succeeds Barbara Thomas, who served in the position for more than 31 years.
Claiborne names Rhonda Meekins regional director of operations
Rhonda Meekins has been named regional director of operations at Claiborne Senior Living, Hattiesburg, MS.
Meekins has more than 16 years of experience in senior living and care. She started at Enlivant as an executive director and ended her time there as the national operations director, overseeing an entire division. Along the way, she also served in the positions of divisional learning and development manager, area executive director and regional director of operations.
LCB names Kelly Shaw director of learning
Kelly Shaw has been named the director of learning at LCB Senior Living, Norwood, MA.
Shaw has more than 20 years of senior living experience and formerly was senior content developer and instructional designer at Sunrise Senior Living. She is a mental health first aid responder (adult) for the National Council for Mental Wellbeing and a certified validation worker for the Validation Training Institute.
Formerly a journalist for the Salem News and Finger Lake Times, Shaw holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in news journalism from Kent State University, Kent, OH.
RUI promotes Stephen Escalera, Colleen Galanis in finance department
Stephen Escalera has been named chief accounting officer, and Colleen Galanis has been named vice president of budget and financial analysis at Roanoke, VA-based Retirement Unlimited Inc.
Escalera will oversee accounting processes including month-end close and the reporting for several Virginia and Florida communities. He has been an RUI team member since 2019, when he assumed the position of controller. Before joining RUI, he held the titles of assistant accounting manager, business manager, and assistant controller. He received his undergraduate degree in business management from Pensacola Christian College and his MBA from Liberty University.
Galanis will oversee budgeting along with financial summaries and reporting for all Welltower-owned properties. She previously worked at Brandywine Living for more than 25 years as the director of financial analysis. She previously held the titles of operations specialist and Medicare operations specialist for other healthcare businesses. She earned her undergraduate degree in business administration from Widener University and her MBA from La Salle University.
Front Porch names Bill Keck executive director at Spring Lake Village
Bill Keck has been named executive director at Spring Lake Village, Santa Rosa, CA.
Keck has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the senior living industry and most recently was the CEO at Villa Marin Senior Living. He received a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of San Francisco and an undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska. He also maintains a residential care facility for the elderly certificate.
Springpoint names Lee Gillis an executive director in New Jersey
Lee Gillis was named executive director of Springpoint Living at Manalapan, Manalapan, NJ.
Gillis has more than 30 years of experience in the senior living field. She previously acted as the executive director at Brookdale Florence, Brookdale Hillsborough, The Residence at Voorhees and HarborChase of Princeton. Before joining Springpoint, Gillis was the general manager at Echo Lake, a SageLife community.
She has held her certified assisted living administrator certification since 1999.
Springpoint appoints Lisa McCracken to board of trustees
Lisa McCracken has been appointed to the Springpoint board of trustees.
McCracken recently became head of research and analytics at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care.
Goodwin Living adds new trustee, elects new board directors
Goodwin Living has elected Yasamin Al-Askari to its board of trustees and added four new members to its board of directors.
Al-Askari is a former senior vice president at Truist, where she provided 23 years of service before retiring this year. She holds an MBA in international finance from George Mason University and an undergraduate degree in economics from New York University.
The newly elected members of the Goodwin Living Foundation board of directors are:
- Frederick F.Y. “Fred” Pang, a former principal deputy under the secretary of defense, assistant secretary of defense and assistant secretary of the Navy. He also is a founder of ViStar Corp.
- Tricia Rodgers, a former director of Volunteers in Service to America who was appointed to the role by President George H.W. Bush. She also is the former director of community building initiatives at two local United Way offices.
- Steven Smith, a senior relationship manager and co-head of CIBC Private Wealth Management’s Mid-Atlantic offices in Baltimore and Washington, DC. He is a former president of the board of Sitar Arts Center and served on the board of trustees of Millsaps College in Jackson, MS.
- Alton Wallace, a mathematician by profession, with an interest in history and civil rights. He has written several history books and articles on local and national history. Wallace was one of the four founders of the Alfred Street Baptist Church HBCU College Fair, which annually attracts more than 10,000 students to the Washington, D.C. area.
Roland Park Place names Neb Sertsu chair of board of directors
Neb Sertsu, director of project development for The Northeast Maglev, has named the new chair of Roland Park Place’s board of directors.
Sertsu brings three decades of experience in project development. Sertsu has been a member of the RPP Board since 2018 and will serve as chair for the Baltimore organization for two years.
Core Long Term Care Services names Lee Rooney COO
Lee Rooney has been named chief operating officer of Core Long Term Care Services, Brentwood, TN, which provides back office support services to skilled nursing and assisted living providers throughout the United States.
Rooney joined CORE with more than 25 years of experience in long-term care operations and administration, including 20 years as a licensed nursing home administrator. He holds an undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Waterloo and his master’s degree in professional studies in aging services leadership from Lipscomb University.
Greystone names David Young managing director for healthcare finance
David Young has been named managing director for healthcare finance at Greystone.
Before joining the private national commercial real estate finance company, Young was a managing director at Locust Point Capital. He earned an undergraduate degree from New Saint Andrews College in Idaho and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame.
Mass–ALA adds Charles James and Tadd Clelland to board of directors
Charles James and Tadd Clelland have been named to the Massachusetts Assisted Living Association Board of Directors.
Clelland, president and CEO of Senior Living Residences, has more than 20 years of senior management experience in the industry. James, executive director of Artisan at Hudson – SageLife Senior Living, brings more than two decades of experience to the field specializing in the care continuum and experience in leading clinical and operation teams.
USC names Ara Sayabalian, EdD, MS, MBA, adjunct lecturer
Ara Sayabalian, EdD, MS, MBA, has been named an adjunct lecturer at the University of Southern California’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.
Sayabalian has spent the past six years as a chief clinical officer within the senior living industry, during which time he has worked to advance research on subjects relevant to gerontology such as incontinence care and clinical services and operations.
He will maintain his current roles and will continue leading the Total Incontinence Management System, or TIMS, a novel program dedicated to the presently underserved area of incontinence care in older adults.
Send your personnel news to Lois Bowers at [email protected]. High-quality color headshots are welcome but not required.
