Bold ideas. Candid conversations. Powerful connections. This November, senior living’s most influential leaders will gather in Austin, and what they bring home could help shape the future of the entire industry.
Some of the most important conversations in senior living don’t happen in boardrooms. They happen when leaders step outside their daily routines, challenge conventional thinking and exchange ideas with peers who understand the opportunities and complexities of the industry.
This November, those conversations are coming to Austin. And their impact won’t end when the Summit does. The 2026 Senior Living Leadership Summit, taking place November 16–18 at the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa, will bring together senior living owners, operators, investors and executives for three days of strategic insights, candid discussions and powerful connections that can influence decisions long after everyone returns home.
With workforce pressures, emerging technologies, evolving consumer expectations and capital constraints reshaping the senior living landscape, the stakes have never been higher. The Summit offers something increasingly valuable: the opportunity to step away from immediate demands and focus on the decisions that will define what comes next.
Big Ideas Are Better When They’re Shared
The Summit introduces a new program experience built around four leadership imperatives: Explore. Understand. Innovate. Commit. Together, they create a purposeful progression from recognizing emerging trends to identifying meaningful opportunities for action.
Through executive-level programming and interactive discussions, attendees will examine the forces reshaping senior living, including changing demographics, workforce realities, technology, affordability, capital investment and new models of service. But the real value goes beyond understanding what’s changing. It’s about learning how other leaders are responding, challenging assumptions and discovering opportunities that might otherwise go unexplored.
These are the conversations that spark new strategies, strengthen organizations and create momentum across the industry.
Fresh Perspectives That Challenge Conventional Thinking
A highlight of this year’s Summit is keynote speaker Bill Gifford, whose appearance will bring an engaging new perspective to the leadership conversation.
At a time when senior living executives are navigating unprecedented change, the opportunity to consider fresh ideas and rethink familiar challenges is especially valuable. The keynote sets the stage for a broader Summit experience designed to challenge assumptions, encourage innovation and inspire leaders to look beyond the immediate demands of their organizations. Sometimes the most valuable takeaway isn’t an answer. It’s a different perspective that changes the way a leader approaches a problem, or recognizes an opportunity.
Where Big Challenges Meet Practical Solutions
The Summit’s workshop-style programming and executive discussions are designed to move beyond identifying challenges and toward exploring what leaders can actually do about them.
On Monday, November 16, an invitation-only CEO Imperative: Workforce Development gathering will bring CEO and human resources leaders together to explore strategies for one of the industry’s most persistent challenges. The discussion will focus on collaborative approaches to strengthening workforce development.
Executive roundtables will also bring together leaders across key functional areas for focused, peer-to-peer exchanges about emerging trends, shared challenges and successful practices.
Tuesday’s programming will examine the strategic issues shaping senior living’s future. The morning’s discussions will explore the risks, opportunities and critical decisions confronting organizations in an increasingly complex environment. The afternoon will shift toward innovation and execution, highlighting emerging ideas, proven approaches and real-world examples of transformation. Attendees will consider how innovative thinking can translate into stronger operations, sustainable growth and long-term organizational value.
On Wednesday, the focus turns to commitment and action. Leadership discussions will help attendees identify priorities, evaluate practical strategies and consider how to turn Summit insights into meaningful progress within their organizations.
Together, these experiences offer something executives rarely have enough of: dedicated time to think strategically, learn from peers and explore ideas they can put to work.
Some of the Most Valuable Takeaways Aren’t on the Agenda
Ask experienced executives what makes a leadership gathering worthwhile, and the answer often extends beyond keynote presentations and educational sessions.
It’s the conversation over coffee that sparks a new partnership. The candid exchange with another operator that offers a different solution to a familiar problem. The introduction that becomes a trusted professional relationship long after the event concludes.
The Senior Living Leadership Summit is intentionally designed to create these moments. Unlike a traditional large-scale conference, the Summit offers an intimate, executive-level environment that encourages meaningful dialogue among senior living owners, operators, REITs, private equity firms and capital partners.
Networking receptions and special gatherings provide additional opportunities to strengthen relationships with the people influencing the industry’s future. And those relationships can continue delivering value long after the last session ends.
The Best Ideas Are the Ones You Bring Home
What ultimately makes the Summit different isn’t simply the caliber of the speakers or the importance of the topics. It’s what happens when those perspectives come together, and what leaders choose to do with them.
A new approach to workforce development could strengthen a company’s talent strategy. An innovative business model could open opportunities for growth. A conversation about capital or technology could change how an organization evaluates its next investment.
The Summit’s final day emphasizes precisely that connection between insight and action, encouraging leaders to return to their organizations with clearer priorities, stronger relationships and practical ideas for moving forward.
Because the true measure of a leadership gathering isn’t just what attendees learn while they’re there. It’s what they accomplish afterward.
Great Ideas Travel. Hotel Discounts Don’t.
There’s still time to be part of the conversations shaping senior living’s future, but an important deadline is quickly approaching.
The Senior Living Leadership Summit takes place November 16–18 at the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas. Surrounded by the natural beauty of the Texas Hill Country, the resort provides an exceptional setting for three days of learning, connection and strategic thinking.
Friday, October 23, is the deadline to secure discounted hotel accommodations through the Summit’s official room block, subject to availability. Attendees are encouraged to register and reserve their rooms before the deadline to take advantage of the special rate.
The conversations may begin in Austin, but their impact will be felt far beyond the Texas Hill Country. Be part of the ideas, relationships and decisions that shape what’s next for senior living.
Register now and reserve your discounted hotel accommodation by October 23.