Facing Unparalleled Challenges, Seizing Unparalleled Opportunities
by Katie Smith Sloan
Katie Smith Sloan
As you know, 2016 marks the beginning of my tenure as the president and CEO of LeadingAge. I’m excited to step into the role that Larry Minnix fulfilled so well for the past 15 years. And after some down time with my family over the holidays, I’m ready—and eager—to get to work.
I have often said that LeadingAge has a BIG HEART. After all, it takes a big heart to do what our members do so well, day in and day out.
As we anticipate the many changes that will sweep across our field in the coming years, the competitive forces pushing against us as well as the vast opportunities ahead will require our big hearts to grow even bigger, and more importantly, grow braver and bolder. To carry out our mission and expand the world of possibilities for aging, we will need more than a handful of BRAVE and BOLD hearts willing to chart new waters, take a few calculated risks, and help make our world a safe, healthy and vibrant place to grow old.
Here is my commitment—my new year’s resolution if you will—to the board of directors and to each of you: I will pursue our mission with a vengeance. We will broaden our advocacy efforts, actively pursue our applied research agenda and continue influencing policy and practice.
In all this and more, LeadingAge will do what our name promises: We will lead.
Let me suggest a path forward for LeadingAge.
The aging of America is a paradox. On the one hand, more people are living longer and in better health than ever before. On the other hand, increased longevity combined with a fundamental change in age distribution is straining our social structures, institutions and programs. It is raising questions about their affordability and long-term viability.
This is an unparalleled challenge … and an opportunity.
LeadingAge members are facing pressures from hospitals, managed care organizations, competitors and physician groups, consumer preferences and from a slow-growth economy. Our focus at LeadingAge over the next few years is to press back and to find common ground, to advance a bold policy plan and to live up to our obligations as not-for-profit, mission-driven organizations as the voice for a national—even global—conversation about aging.
LeadingAge will seize the opportunity with a strategy that includes how we plan for our later years, how we pay for our later years, and how we ensure the availability of high-quality services and supports when and if we need them.
We will broaden our advocacy efforts, actively pursue our applied research agenda and continue influencing policy and practice. In all this and more, LeadingAge will do what our name promises: We will lead.
Our vision is to expand the world of possibilities for aging and, in so doing, transform the experience of aging. I look forward to working with each of you, hearing your stories and plotting the future together. We have a strong foundation on which we will put all of our assets to work—our members, state partners, staff, businesses—as well as the power of our ideas and our deep expertise.
As John Gardner says, “There occurs at breathtaking moments in history an exhilarating burst of energy and motivation, of hope and zest and imagination, and a severing of the bonds that normally hold in check the full release of human possibilities. A door is opened …”
I believe this in one of those breathtaking moments in history. I believe a door has opened.
Here are my resolutions for this year and for many years to come.
- Continue to strengthen our communities through thriving not-for-profits.
- Cultivate an adequate and skilled workforce to meet the needs of a growing aging population.
- Advocate for new and needed financing solutions for individuals and their families, more affordable housing and a range of services and supports.
- Transform the aging experience for all.
It will take BRAVE hearts and BOLD hearts to allow us to continue to be a force for positive change.
Let’s be brave. Let’s be bold. Together.