Pathway to Living names Justin Dickinson to succeed retiring Jerry Finis; Jeff Floyd named SVP; Maria Oliva also to retire
Pathway to Living CEO Jerry Finis and Chief Operating Officer Maria Oliva are retiring, Chicago-based parent company Waterton has announced.
Justin Dickinson, executive vice president of senior living, will assume the day-to-day responsibility and leadership of the company. He was hired in August to oversee the overall investment strategy for Pathway with plans to expand his role over time.
Jeff Floyd also has joined the company as senior vice president of senior living operations. In this capacity, he will lead the company’s operations team and drive the overall operations strategy for the company’s growing senior living portfolio. He will succeed Oliva, who will retire Feb. 1 following 17 years as COO.
Finis currently is serving in a full-time capacity to ensure a smooth transition. He will shift into a semi-retirement role in the coming months. Finis co-founded Pathway to Living in 1997 and has been CEO for the past 25 years. He also is a board member of the Affordable Assisted Living Coalition and is on the executive board of the American Seniors Housing Association and the Government Affairs Roundtable of Argentum.
Oliva’s senior living career spans almost three decades. She is architect of Pathway to Living’s Viva! programming, a holistic cultural approach to wellness and personal development. During her tenure, she managed operations for more than 4,000 senior living units and the lease-up of more than 25 properties. Olivia has served on the board of the Operations Executive Roundtable for Argentum, the Advisory Board for Senior Living 100 and LeadingAge Illinois.
Claiborne Senior Living welcomes Nazima Drumm as CFO, Danielle Anderson as regional director
Nazimaa Drumm and Danielle Anderson have joined the management team at Claiborne Senior Living, Hattiesburg, MS.
As chief financial officer, Drumm will be responsible for the accounting and financial departments and will work with the management team to improve the company’s operational efficiencies and financial reporting. Before joining Claiborne, Drumm was director of accounting and financial reporting at Senior Living Residences.
As regional director of operations, Anderson will be responsible for overall operations management at Baton Rouge, LA, and Georgia communities and also will handle other projects. Before joining the company, she was vice president of care and programs for Galerie Living.
Retirement Unlimited Inc. welcomes Michele Thompson as regional VP
Michele Thompson, CDT, CADDCT, has joined Retirement Unlimited Inc., Roanoke, VA, as regional vice president of operations for the company’s Florida communities. She will report directly to Doris-Ellie Sullivan, president of the company.
In her new role, Thompson will help lead the nine Florida communities and executive directors toward a continuously implemented strategic initiative and vision of the company.
Thompson has more than 17 years of experience in the senior living industry, including facility operations, sales and business development, and multi-site regional management with assisted living, independent living, memory care and continuing care retirement communities.
She has an undergraduate degree from the University of Florida.
Integral Senior Living announces regional manager, national director
Jessie Wiens and Tara Wietor have been named regional manager of sales and marketing and national director of project management, respectively, at Integral Senior Living, Carlsbad, CA.
Wiens first came to the company in February 2021 as a director of sales and marketing at Sage Spring Senior Living. Now, she joins the corporate team, bringing eight years of senior living sales experience. In her new role, she will oversee the sales and marketing efforts for many of the company’s communities, including assisted living and memory care communities.
Wietor has more than 10 years of project management experience in senior living. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with an undergraduate degree in psychology and started her senior living career by conducting high-level negotiations, multimillion-dollar spends and cross-functional collaboration among communities. In her new role, she will oversee both new community builds and existing communities for the company.
Springton Lake Village welcomes Rebecca Starr as executive director
Rebecca Starr has joined Springton Lake Village, Media, PA, as executive director.
In her new role, Starr will oversee the overall operations of the community. Her tasks will include budgeting, hiring staff, engaging residents, controlling quality, overseeing sales and implementing best practices regarding the community’s social, wellness and dining options.
Starr has more than 10 years of experience in operations and management. Previously, she worked at the YMCA of Greater Brandywine, where she rose to the role of senior program director of youth development. In this capacity, she managed a budget of $7 million spanning four departments, as well as managed a staff of more than 150 people.
Legacy Village of Cleveland hires Lisa Willis Cook as director of sales and marketing
Lisa Willis Cook, RN, has joined Legacy Village of Cleveland, Cleveland, TN, as director of sales and marketing.
Bringing more than three decades of senior living experience as a registered nurse into her new position, Cook will oversee all of the assisted living and memory care community’s internal and external marketing efforts.
She also will provide community outreach and assist families and prospective residents with their move-ins, as well as oversee tours, events and other marketing efforts.
Sagewood welcomes Diane Schwartz as marketing director
Diane Schwartz has joined Sagewood, a life plan community in Phoenix managed by Life Care Services, as marketing director.
In this capacity, Schwartz will seek to strengthen the company’s marketing efforts while forming lasting relationships with current Sagewood residents.
Before joining the company, since 2016 she had been the sales and marketing director at Mirabella at Arizona State University, a retirement community on the university’s campus. Prior to that, Schwartz worked in retail.
She has a degree in business communications from Pepperdine University.
GreenFields of Geneva announces former law enforcement officer John Mall as resident services manager
John Mall, a retired Oswego police officer and former Kane County sheriff officer, has joined GreenFields of Geneva, Geneva, IL, as resident services manager. In his new role, Mall will oversee security, transportation, concierge and hospitality.
Mall retired in October 2021 following 24 years of service with the police department. He wanted to keep working, however,
At GreenFields, which is overseen by Friendship Senior Options, Mall said that residents’ safety and security are his highest priorities.
Isakson Living welcomes neurologist Joash Lazarus, M.D., to staff
Joash Lazarus, M.D., has joined Isakson Living, Atlanta, as a staff member at Park Springs life plan community and Peachtree Hills Place.
Lazarus will provide a variety of services at the communities, including educational seminars to improve healthcare literacy, neurological evaluations, clinic hours and individualized prescriptive programs that may include medications, therapies and/or the most appropriate supportive living strategies.
KKR hires Ryan Stork as chief operating officer and partner
Ryan Stork has joined global investment firm KKR & Co. Inc., New York City, as chief operating officer and partner.
Before joining the company, Stork held multiple leadership positions at BlackRock, where he worked for more than two decades. Most recently, he was deputy chief operating officer. He also served as chairman of Asia Pacific, global head of Aladdin, BlackRock’s investment and risk management technology platform, head of the institutional client business in continental Europe, and co-head of the Financial Institutions Group. .Additionally, Stork also was a member of BlackRock’s Global Executive Committee and a board member of BlackRock’s Foundation.
Plunkett Raysich Architects names two new partners, Devin Kack and Mike Bahr
Devin Kack, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, and Mike Bahr, AIA, have been named partners at Plunkett Raysich Architects, Milwaukee, and have joint ownership of the company. Senior living is one of the areas in which the architectural planning and design firm specializes.
Kack first joined the company in 2005 as the recipient of the PRA design scholarship at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning. He has contributed to projects in each of the company’s studios and has focused on community-building and advancing the design of learning environments. Recently, Kack introduced solutions for several school districts.
Bahr has more than 30 years of experience leading cross-functional teams. He helped develop and manage the company’s Civic Design Studio from 1999 until 2014. In 2014, he left the company to look into workplace research, consult on client engagement tasks and develop tools to apply evidence-based techniques to master planning efforts. In 2019, Bahr returned to the company to lead its business development and marketing efforts.
AHEPA grieves passing of Nick Smyrnis, founder and former president
Nick Smyrnis, an original founder and former president of AHEPA Affordable Housing Management Co., passed away Jan. 15 at the age of 98.
He was president from the company’s founding in 1991 until his retirement in 2008. Smyrnis also was a founder of AHEPA National Housing Corp. (ANHC), AMC’s parent company, and was its first president.
His legacy includes helping to establish the AHEPA National Housing Corp. in 1983 to provide affordable apartment communities for low-income seniors. He served two terms as supreme president of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (Order of AHEPA), a Hellenic heritage fraternal service organization whose chapters are the nonprofit sponsors of the affordable apartment communities.
Smyris was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014 by ANHC.
Sodexo Healthcare hires David Gillan as new chief of client retention and strategy
David Gillan has joined Sodexo Healthcare, Gaithersburg, MD, as chief of client retention and strategy. He will provide strategic direction for Sodexo to continue to develop new solutions to support people along the continuum of care, leading to better outcomes, reduced costs and greater operational efficiency.
Before joining the company, Gillan was group senior vice president for Vizient. There, he led the company’s non-acute-focused business enterprise as well as its supplier management function.
Single Digits announces Jerry Grove as VP and general manager of senior living
Jerry Grove has joined Single Digits, Bedford, NH, as vice president and general manager of senior living.
He has 20 years of experience in long-term care. Prior to joining Single Digits, Grove was senior vice president of sales at Sentrics. There, he developed the company’s new three-in-one managed services program. He has joined Sentrics with its acquisition of Esco Technologies.
Single Digits provides intelligent managed networks, next-generation Wi-Fi solutions, high-speed internet access management and global support solutions. The company entered the long-term care sector with the 2020 acquisition of Inviacom.
Sherpa CRM co-founder David Smith leaves daily operations involvement
David Smith no longer will be involved with the daily operations at Sherpa CRM, St. Louis, the sales enablement platform he co-founded eight years ago. Smith will keep exploring ways to help improve the lives of a growing senior population.
Before co-founding the company and overseeing its tremendous growth, Smith founded One on One: Inspired Senior Sales to provide evidence-based sales training, consulting and coaching to senior living communities in the United States and Canada. Recently, he shared his approach to refining the senior sales process in a book, It’s About Time: How to Grow Revenue with Prospect-Centered Selling.
