The Future is Now!

Stroke survivor and international speaker Pete Smith has helped individuals,  teams, and organizations improve their leadership and personal growth for 25 years.

He is the author of Dare to Matter, the #1 Best Seller in the Human Resources and Personnel Management Category, and the #2 Best Seller in the Business Motivation and Self-Improvement category.

Additionally, Pete is a Brand Ambassador for Sevaro Health, focusing on Stroke Survivor Recovery and Motivation.

Lastly, Pete is the Co-Founder and Owner of Matter More Coffee, a coffee shop located in Hampstead, NC. The GRAND OPENING was held on March 11, 2020, just two days before the world shut down. However, MMC continues to thrive. By owning two businesses, SmithImpact and Matter More Coffee, Pete’s content is both practical and inspirational. (www.facebook.com/mattermorecoffeenc)

From his early days of disappointing his parents by not pursuing law school, to excelling in various roles in education, sales, construction, and athletics, as well as his brief encounter with a near death experience (survived a stroke), Pete’s presentations are packed with humor, relevant and engaging stories, and practical application that the audience will love.

Dr. Khan’s research is working towards robot automation in the areas of navigation, facial recognition, sentiment classification, verbal communication, and social interactions. Her research, which combines her computer science and engineering skills with medicine and patient care, offers promising solutions to chronic neurodegenerative problems. Dr. Khan is passionate about encouraging women in computing and chairs the Women in Computing committee.

She has worked in the aging services industry for the past 18 years. Serving as Senior Vice President of Engagement and Dementia Training, she has implemented AGE-u-cate Training Institute programs at over 40 communities and used them routinely in staff training and skills coaching at senior living communities with staff, family members and the community at large. Now working for AGE-u-cate, I have extensive "real life" knowledge of leveraging experiential training combined with existing training resources. She also active as a board member for Dementia Action Alliance.

Aimee Kepler works at Triangle J Council of Governments/Area Agency on Aging a Regional Long Term Care Ombudsman with 33 years of experience in senior care and support.  She advocates on behalf of long-term care facility residents to uphold their rights and address quality of care and quality of life issues through information, education, and mediation.  She also monitors the implementation of federal, state and local laws governing long-term care facilities and works to educate others on long term care issues and elder abuse prevention, detection and reporting requirements.  Prior to this role, Aimee served as the executive director of an assisted living community, and an assisted living director at a continuing care retirement community.

Jill J. Johnson, MBA, is the President and Founder of Johnson Consulting Services, a management consulting firm based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jill helps clients make critical business decisions and develop strategies for turnarounds or growth. Her consulting work has influenced more than $4 billion worth of business decisions. She has a proven track record in dealing with complex business issues and getting results. Jill’s clients encompass the entire continuum of senior services including CCRCs, active adult, independent living, assisted living, memory care, and long-term care facilities.

Jill is the author of the award-winning book Market Forces: Strategic Trends Impacting Senior Living Providers. She speaks frequently for industry associations and private client leadership events. She has won numerous honors for her business acumen and entrepreneurial successes. She has also been inducted into two Business Halls of Fame.

John D. Dailey has 25 years of experience working in post-acute care. Licensed as a nursing home administrator in 1999, John spent several years serving as Vice President of Human Resources overseeing all HR functions for PMD Corporation, a senior-living company. John is a certified healthcare compliance officer with experience in healthcare operations. Currently, he serves as Vice President of Employee Experience at Principle LTC, a multi-state healthcare company with 4,500 employees. He holds certifications as an HR Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), and healthcare compliance (CHC). He has presented at both state and national conferences. He also has served for the past decade as the Master of Ceremonies for the Kentucky Association of Health Care Facilities/Kentucky Center for Assisted Living annual Quality Awards gala highlighting the state’s facilities and dedicated staff members.

Sabrena Lea is credentialed as Specialist in Gerontology and has a thirty-year career that includes professional responsibilities in human services, public administration, and long-term care. She is employed in NC Department of Health and Human Services/Division of Health Benefits in Raleigh, NC as Deputy Director for Long Term Services and Supports. This position serves as the Senior Medicaid Administrator for the state’s long-term services and supports programs and associated contracts totaling approximately $3.5 billion dollars. The LTSS portfolio includes Medicaid Direct and Managed Care services and supports. These programs include CAP/DA, CAP/C Waivers, State Plan Personal Care Services, Home Health, Hospice, and Home Infusion Therapy, Private Duty Nursing (Pediatric and Children); HIV Case Management, Nursing Home, Gero-psychiatric facilities, the Dual Special Needs Program (D-SNP), and the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).

Recognized for her expertise in Medicaid policy and applied Gerontology, Lea has been invited to serve as panelist and keynote presenter in conferences across the nation. Since joining DHHS in 2007, she has served as Principal Investigator and Project Director for several federal grant initiatives aimed at improving health care access, system transformation, and addressing social determinants to health. Ms. Lea has published articles, reports, and professional resources about issues related to aging and older adults. She received a 2010 “Change Agent” Leadership Award presented by the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce for her work as an advocate for older adults throughout the Piedmont Triad Region and state. She was honored to be a 2020 John R. Larkin Award nominee, which annually recognizes a state employee who exemplifies commitment to equality and justice in the workplace and improving local communities through volunteerism and community service. Lea is a 2021 Governor’s Awards for Excellence nominee for her and her team work on the LTSS Covid mitigation strategy.

Lea has earned degrees in Biology from Saint Paul’s College in Lawrenceville, Virginia and Gerontology from Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Virginia; pursued a Master of Arts in Christian Counseling at GordonConwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina and completed post graduate studies in Leading and Managing Change at UNC-Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School and is certified in Agile Project Management. Lea currently serves as Co-Chair of the Division’s Strategic Business Operations CrossFunctional Team and serves as Vice Chairperson of the Division’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council.

In her spare time, she is a community volunteer working with the homeless community, and older adults. She enjoys traveling, entertaining friends and family in her home; Sabrena Lea is an ordained minister and serves as an Associate Pastor at the historic Providence Baptist Church in Greensboro where she leads the Communication/Technology Ministry, teaches Sunday School, and Spiritual Formation for new members

Kyle Loeber is the Manager of Public Policy at Argentum, the largest national association representing senior living communities. Loeber oversees direct outreach to the United States Congress and grassroots advocacy efforts securing policies that improve access to senior living communities across the country. This work has produced several federal milestones including the introduction of the SENIOR Act, the first bipartisan legislation that invests in senior living communities, and the expansion of the Congressional 21^st Century Long-Term Care Caucus, which educates lawmakers on the issues facing America’s seniors and their caregivers each day.

Loeber was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina and graduated with a degree in Political Science from the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Megan Lamphere is the Section Chief of the N.C. Division of Health Service Regulation Adult Care Licensure Section.  She has served in the Division since 2008 in various capacities including Assistant Chief of the Health Care Personnel Registry Investigations Branch, Rulemaking Coordinator for the Division, N.C. Medical Care Commission, and the N.C. Radiation Protection Commission, and as a Facility Survey Consultant with ACLS. With ACLS she was also responsible for the implementation of the North Carolina Star Rated Certificate program for adult care homes. Prior to working in state government Megan worked in several facets of NC’s long term care industry including nursing homes, CCRC’s and home health.  Megan graduated from Ohio University with a Bachelor of Social Work and East Carolina University with a Master of Social Work and Graduate Certificate in Gerontology.  She is also a N.C. Certified Assisted Living Administrator.

Victor Orija joined the NC Division of Aging and Adult Services in January 2015 as the Ombudsman Program Specialist. Effective June 2016, he became NC’s State Long-Term Care Ombudsman (SLTCO). The Ombudsman Program advocates for about 90,000 residents who live in NC’s long-term care facilities.

Between 2002 and 2015, Victor worked with the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (State Unit on Aging) in various capacities which included contract management, nursing home transition/systems change grant, Senior Medicare Patrol, Legal Services Developer, and the last 9 years as the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman. He started his career in the chemical industry and worked in in Delaware, North & South Carolina, and Virginia.

Victor is a past recipient of the Golden Apple Award from Quality Insights of Delaware (QIO), the Advocacy Award from Delaware’s Health Care Facilities Association, and the Sharon Wilder Advocacy Award from NC’s Friends of Residents. Victor is an active member of the National Association of State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs (NASOP) and past Regional Director, Treasurer, and 1st Vice President of NASOP.

Victor has an MPA from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, and a BS degree from the University of Delaware. Also, he attended John Marshall Law School, Atlanta, GA.

Rebecca Adelman is a lawyer, entrepreneur, influencer and thought leader in healthcare, senior living and risk management. In 2001, Ms. Adelman founded Adelman Law Firm and Claims Management. The all women firm is a Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and Tennessee Certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE). For over 30 years, Rebecca has concentrated her practice in healthcare, insurance defense, employment and business litigation. She is also an arbitrator for the American Health Lawyers Association.

Ms. Adelman’s practice includes representation of insurance companies and long‐ term care providers and their insurers, both regionally and nationally. The firm provides claims management services to senior living insurance companies and created the PRISM proactive claims model focused on offensive strategies to claims and risk mitigation.

In 2022, the firm was awarded the coveted first place by the Aspect Marketing & Advertising Awards for its client newsletter, Exhibit (A)delman, in the category of multimedia campaign. The firm was built on the client-centric experience.

Also in 2021, Ms. Adelman founded Guide Path, LLC, an Expectations and Risk Management Certification Program created for resident, family and provider engagement to mitigate risk, improve quality of care and regulatory compliance. Guide Path, the new standard of excellence for senior living certification, delivers a paradigm shift in the way senior living care providers understand, establish, and manage resident and family expectations in assisted living and skilled nursing communities along the continuum of care.

Her transformational and empathic leadership style is founded on “Work-Life Being” and “Unique Abilities” in the framework of empathic responses creating a fundamental cultural shift where everyone feels empowered and accountable.  Ms. Adelman is a national speaker on a multitude of subjects including women in business and in the law, culture change in senior living, expectations management in healthcare, risk mitigation and “Work-Life Being.”

Fun Facts: She is an NBA Certified Player Agent. She is fluent in French.

James Andrew “Jim” Harrell, III is a lobbyist with Bode & Harrell, LLP in Raleigh. He served three terms as a Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state’s ninetieth House district, including constituents in Alleghany and Surry counties. In 2014 he was named the 8th most powerful active lobbyist in the state legislature. He has represented RELANC since its inception in 2011.

Harrell, an Eagle Scout and native of Elkin, NC, is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College and the Emory University School of Law. While a law student, Harrell worked for the DistrictAttorney’s office in Fulton County, Georgia. He also served as a law clerk for North Carolina Supreme Court justice Franklin Freeman.

Harrell was elected to the NC House in 2002 and re-elected in 2004. He was elected to a third term with over 60 percent of the vote. During his final term, the 2007-2008 session, Harrell was chairman of both the House committees on Ways and Means and on Pensions and Retirement. He served as chairman of the Environment and Natural Resources committee in his second term and of Judiciary Committee II in the second half of his first term. Harrell also chaired or co-chaired select committees on Economic Development and on the rural economy in 2006.

He currently serves as a board member for the North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus Foundation and serves on the board of visitors for Appalachian State University. He is a past board member of the Old Hickory Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and a member and Sunday school teacher for White Memorial Presbyterian Church in Raleigh.