2026 Hero Awards and Best of the Best Awards recognize exceptional service, leadership and innovation across the senior living industry
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Argentum is proud to announce the recipients of the 2026 Hero Awards and Best of the Best Awards, honoring the extraordinary individuals and groundbreaking programs making a meaningful difference in senior living communities across the country.
Presented during a special ceremony at the 2026 Senior Living Executive Conference, powered by HMP Global, the awards recognize both the people whose compassion and leadership enrich the lives of residents, families and colleagues and the innovative programs advancing excellence throughout the industry.
Together, this year’s recipients demonstrate what is possible when purpose, creativity and a commitment to service come together.
Hero Awards: Honoring Individual Excellence
Each year, the Argentum Hero Awards shine a spotlight on the compassion, leadership and excellence that define the senior living profession. The awards recognize individuals whose extraordinary work is shaping the future of senior living and making a profound impact on residents, team members, families and local communities.
The five Hero Award categories reflect the core values that drive excellence throughout the industry:
- Community Leadership Award recognizes an executive director who has demonstrated remarkable leadership in creating and sustaining an engaged, supportive senior living environment.
- Emergency Response Leadership Award honors an individual who has demonstrated extraordinary resilience and decisive leadership while protecting and supporting older adults during a crisis.
- Heart of Service Award celebrates a devoted team member whose long-term dedication and compassion have positively influenced residents, colleagues and the broader community.
- Passion & Purpose Award recognizes an employee whose innovative work—through a new service, program or community connection—has made a lasting impact on the resident experience and local engagement.
- Rising Star Impact Award, introduced in 2026, recognizes an emerging senior living professional who has made a meaningful early impact through innovation, enthusiasm and a strong commitment to improving residents’ lives.
2026 Hero Award Recipients
Community Leadership Award: Alda Tole, Executive Director, Charter Senior Living
Alda Tole’s remarkable journey reflects extraordinary resilience, perseverance and leadership. After immigrating to the United States at age 19, she built an inspiring senior living career that took her from caregiver to executive director while navigating more than two decades of legal uncertainty.
Through authenticity, trust-building and unwavering dedication to residents and families, Tole has created a lasting impact within her community. She leads by example, opening doors for others and lifting those around her as she continues to rise.
Emergency Response Leadership Award: Patrice O’Grady, Administrator, Silverado Senior Living
Patrice O’Grady demonstrated exceptional leadership during the January 7, 2025, Pacific Palisades wildfire. Under rapidly escalating and life-threatening conditions, she calmly and decisively led the evacuation of all 48 residents from Silverado Calabasas Memory Care, including residents living with dementia and receiving hospice services.
Through a loss of power, an urgent evacuation and nine days of displacement, O’Grady remained a steady and compassionate presence. She protected residents’ safety, dignity and emotional well-being while supporting families, associates and neighboring communities. Her selfless courage, collaborative spirit and composure exemplify the highest standards of senior living leadership.
Heart of Service Award: Maria “Laly” Salais, Care Manager, Sunrise Senior Living
Maria “Laly” Salais has served the Sunrise Senior Living community since 2002, providing consistent, compassionate care to countless residents while adapting to decades of change in technology, memory care and resident support.
Her resilience, commitment to professional growth and steadfast service—including her dedication throughout the COVID-19 pandemic—embody the heart of senior living. Her long-standing relationships with residents, families and colleagues reflect the profound difference one deeply committed team member can make.
Passion & Purpose Award: Katie Kensinger, Marketing & Messaging Director, Juniper Communities
Katie Kensinger was recognized for her innovative leadership in bringing meaningful theatrical experiences to older adults and redefining engagement and creative expression in senior living.
Drawing on a lifelong passion for the arts and service, Kensinger created accessible, Broadway-style productions that empowered residents to overcome fear, build confidence, express themselves and rediscover joy. Her work demonstrates exceptional creativity, compassion and leadership while creating a lasting impact on resident well-being and community connection.
Rising Star Impact Award: Krystyna Keena, National Director of Brand Creative, Senior Lifestyle
Krystyna Keena brings a deeply personal and authentically human perspective to her work, grounded in the experience of growing up immersed in a senior living community. From an early age, she witnessed the importance of dignity, connection and purpose throughout the aging journey.
Guided by empathy, ethical leadership and deep respect for residents’ stories, Keena uses her creative work to challenge outdated perceptions and elevate the way senior living is seen and understood. Her early career impact demonstrates the power of thoughtful storytelling to strengthen the industry and honor the people who call senior living communities home.
“Congratulations to this year’s outstanding winners. Their inspiring stories not only demonstrate unwavering dedication and compassion, but also elevate the entire senior living industry,” said James Balda, president and CEO of Argentum. “Stories like these shine a spotlight on the heroes within our communities, much like the I Love Senior Living movement, and remind us of the profound difference we can make for residents, families and one another.”
Best of the Best Awards: Recognizing Innovation
The Argentum Best of the Best Awards recognize member companies that are setting new standards through innovative programs, products and services.
These awards celebrate the creativity and dedication of senior living professionals who are solving industry challenges, strengthening operations, enhancing resident experiences and advancing excellence across senior living.
2026 Best of the Best Award Recipients
UC San Diego Stein Institute Living Lab at Belmont Village Senior Living
Award accepted by Lorena Grimes, Vice President of Communications, Belmont Village Senior Living
The UC San Diego Stein Institute Living Lab at Belmont Village Senior Living is a first-of-its-kind, decade-long academic and industry partnership that embeds cutting-edge aging research directly within a senior living community.
By bringing researchers and residents together in a real-world environment, the Living Lab translates scientific discovery into practical, scalable improvements in residents’ health, well-being and quality of life. The partnership creates a model for accelerating innovation while ensuring that research remains grounded in the daily experiences and priorities of older adults.
Make It Mine, Brookdale Senior Living
Award accepted by Kelsey Lawrence, Director of Social Media, Brookdale Senior Living
“Make It Mine” is a branded web series featuring professional designers who transform selected residents’ living spaces in just one day.
The series creates personalized, functional homes that reflect each resident’s interests, history and style while engaging broader audiences through entertaining, lifestyle-focused content. By combining thoughtful design with compelling storytelling, “Make It Mine” demonstrates how a resident’s living space can support individuality, comfort and a sense of belonging.
Charge Nurse Transition to Practice Program at Silverado
Award accepted by Kim Butrum, Senior Vice President of Clinical Services, Silverado
Silverado’s Charge Nurse Transition to Practice Program is a comprehensive onboarding and development initiative for newly hired charge nurses working in the complex assisted living memory care environment.
The interactive, competency-based program strengthens clinical skills, provides structured mentorship and supports nurses as they transition into their new roles. By building confidence, improving preparedness and addressing factors that contribute to turnover, the program strengthens both workforce stability and the quality of resident care.
The Golden Gang Podcast, The Arbor Company
Award accepted by Jenay Sherman, Communication Consultant, The Arbor Company
“The Golden Gang Podcast” is a first-of-its-kind, senior living-based podcast that amplifies resident voices through candid, on-site conversations.
The podcast gives residents a platform to share their experiences, opinions, humor and wisdom while fostering meaningful engagement and challenging outdated perceptions of aging. Its scalable, low-resource model strengthens connections within individual communities while extending residents’ stories to families, prospective residents and audiences beyond senior living.
“These programs exemplify the innovation shaping the future of our industry,” said Balda. “We are proud to recognize the leaders behind these impactful ideas and commend their creativity, dedication and commitment to excellence.”
The Best of the Best Award recipients demonstrate the many ways senior living organizations are enhancing quality of life, improving operational effectiveness, strengthening the workforce and building deeper community connections through innovation.
Every Community. Every Role. Every Story.
The stories behind the Hero Awards and Best of the Best Awards represent senior living at its very best: people serving with heart, residents discovering new opportunities, teams responding when they are needed most and organizations finding creative ways to strengthen their communities.
These are also the stories at the heart of I Love Senior Living, a national storytelling movement created to elevate the people, relationships and moments that make senior living extraordinary.
Argentum invites senior living organizations, communities, residents, families and industry partners to help change the way the world sees senior living by sharing authentic stories from across the profession. Whether recognizing a dedicated team member, celebrating a resident’s achievement, highlighting an innovative program or capturing an everyday moment of connection, every story has the power to inspire.
Visit ILoveSeniorLiving.com to access storytelling tools, campaign resources and the HeartSpark Studio, an AI-powered resource designed to help turn meaningful moments into shareable stories. Follow the I Love Senior Living platforms on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and use #ILoveSeniorLiving when posting stories on social media.
Together, we can celebrate every community, every role and every story—and ensure that the people and ideas shaping senior living receive the recognition they deserve.