Listen to the Experts, Learn from the Best
Working with the Best:The Eden Alternative® Speakers Bureau is a vibrant network of thought leaders, practitioners, and advocates committed to transforming the experience of eldercare. Our collective includes seasoned professionals with decades of expertise and individuals living with dementia who share the invaluable perspective of lived experience.
Together, our speakers deliver authentic and engaging presentations on a wide range of topics, all grounded in the principles of person-directed living. Whether your goal is to inspire your team, expand understanding, or ignite meaningful change, our speakers bring wisdom, passion, and practical strategies that motivate and empower organizations to thrive.
Hear from the global leaders in Person-Directed Living
Eden Alternative speakers bring unique, interactive, energetic, fact-based presentations that are simple, relatable, and fully customized to your event goals. Our keynotes are designed to help leaders and teams thrive with actionable takeaways your attendees can use immediately.
Suellen Beatty
Emily Connors
Michelle Daniel
Angie McAllister
Wellness Innovator
Dementia Action Alliance Speakers
Dementia Action Alliance Speakers include many individuals living with Dementia or MCI who change society’s understanding about dementia and break the regularly accepted stigmas. Their first-person narratives are inspiring, heartwarming, powerful and insightful.
“Nothing about us without us!”
Founder Dementia Daze, Dementia
Action Alliance Representative
Accountant, Photographer,
Dementia Action Alliance Representative
Global Partner Eden Alternative Western Canada, Leadership Coach & Culture Change Expert
Suellen is the CEO Emeritus at Sherbrooke Community Society Inc. in Saskatoon. She has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Masters of Science from the University of Saskatchewan.
In 2001, Suellen received the” Woman of Distinction Award for Management” from the YWCA. In 2004, Suellen was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the Governor General of Canada. In 2014 Suellen was awarded “Distinguished Alumnus” from the University of Saskatchewan, College of Nursing. In 2015 Suellen was the recipient of the Athena Leadership Award. She is a Global Partner for Western Canada for the Eden Alternative™ has trained over 4500 Certified Eden Associates in in-person and online training courses. Suellen consults to organizations and coaches individuals in the areas of leadership, physical environment and culture change.
She is married to husband Tom Archibald and they live in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. She is the proud grandmother of 3 beautiful children.
Topics: Small house model and creating a village; Creating a highly engaged, workforce, and staff recruitment and retention; Leadership for excellence, walking the talk; Unlocking the doors: creating inclusive communities; The Sherbrooke journey to healthy community; Using the Eden Alternative Domains of well-being to care plan; Putting the Eden Alternative into practice.
Carmen Bowman is a consultant, trainer, author and owner of Edu-Catering: Catering Education for Compliance and Culture Change, turning her former role of regulator into educator. Carmen was a Colorado state surveyor for nursing homes, assisted livings and adult day programs, a policy analyst with CMS Central Office teaching the national Basic Surveyor Course, and the first certified activity professional to be a surveyor.
Carmen led the Dining Practice Standards task force and first-ever Surplus Safety Symposium. She has a Master’s in Healthcare Systems, a Bachelor’s in Social Work, and a Certificate in Gerontology. Carmen is a Certified Eden Alternative Associate and was invited to be an early Eden Alternative Mentor. She is also a Certified Validation Worker, Group Practitioner and Presenter. Carmen co-founded the Colorado Culture Change Coalition and assisted to start the Wyoming Culture Change Coalition.
Topics: Did you know, CMS Regulations support Deinstitutionalizing Institutional Culture?, Proactive Quality of Life Practices – by All – that Prevent Falls, The Validation Method®: Empathetic Trauma-Informed Caring for People with Dementia instead of Lying, Arguing/Convincing and Redirecting/Ignoring – and more!
Emily is a Community Builder at The Eden Alternative, with degrees in Therapeutic Recreation and Management of Aging Services from York College of Pennsylvania and the University of Massachusetts Boston. Since 1997, she has dedicated her career to empowering residents through meaningful leisure opportunities and supporting employee care partners in reaching their full potential. Since 2006, Emily has been actively educating care partners and college students about the therapeutic recreation profession, dementia best practices and The Eden Alternative approach to care. Emily advocates for transformative changes in care approaches to better support individual well-being regardless of the care setting.
Topics: Using The Eden Alternative Domains of Well-Being in the APIED Process; The Use of Virtual Reality as a Therapeutic Recreation Intervention; Cultivating an Elder-Driven Activity Calendar; Generation Engagement; Development of a Quality Therapeutic Recreation Internship; Representing Yourself and Your Career in a Professional Manner; Aromatherapy: It’s Use in LTC Therapeutic Recreation Programming
Penny Cook is an impassioned leader, advocate, educator and writer dedicated to making our world a better place to grow older. During her childhood, she watched her empowered and engaged grandmother navigate elderhood. After obtaining degrees in anthropology and social work, Penny realized her grandmother’s experience was very different than the patients, clients and residents with whom she was working.
Through advocacy, education, and connection, Penny has strived to create a society where growing older is normalized, valued, and appreciated. The Denver Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, Colorado Culture Change Coalition, Telligen, Pioneer Network and The Center for Innovation are a few of the organizations she’s worked with during her 35 year career. She serves on the Board of the Advancing Excellence in Long-Term Care Collaborative; is an Eden Educator; and she’s currently writing a children’s book about intergenerational relationships.
Topics: Person-directed living, Common sense leadership, Understanding ageism
Michelle Daniel, NHA, MHA, CFRE is the President and CEO of the Eden Alternative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the well-being of Elders and their care partners by transforming the communities in which they live and work. She has worked in the Long-Term Care field since 1995 and has experience in skilled nursing homes, assisted living centers and ICF-IDD campuses in Mississippi, Texas, Tennessee, and Louisiana. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Health Administration. Michelle is a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator.
Michelle has led her peers in Long Term Care in exploring culture change and is an Eden Alternative® Educator (2008), Mentor (2014) and Eden Path to Mastery Guide (2020). She has spoken to many groups regarding culture change in healthcare and the person-directed care approach, including six Eden Alternative International Conferences, Pioneer Network Conferences, Green House Project/CFI Conferences, Walk with Me Conference (Canada), Texas Coalition for Culture Change Conferences, Texas Quality in Long Term Care Conference, multiple Mississippi Department of Mental Health/IDD Joint Conferences, multiple Aging and Adult Services Conferences (for Mississippi), National Consumer Voice (Washington, D.C.), IQH, Signature Healthcare, United Methodist Association and many local civic groups. She currently serves on the Methodist Ministries Network Board and on the Sigma Kappa Foundation Finance Committee.
Topics: Ageism, Ableism, Person-directed approaches to Eldercare, Leadership Development, Team Empowerment
Jessica Luh Kim is a global educator, consultant, and Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach known for sparking honest conversations and driving practical change in the health and aging services sector.
With over 25 years of experience spanning community support, research, start-ups, long-term care, senior living, and system-level policy, Jessica brings a rare mix of credibility, compassion, and clarity to every stage she steps onto. Her work is deeply informed by lived experience as a family care partner and shaped by leadership roles across Canada’s aging and health care landscape.
What sets Jessica apart is how she leads. Whether delivering a keynote, facilitating a workshop, or joining a panel, her sessions are grounded in real-life experience and shaped by the people in the room. She combines thoughtful preparation with a flexible, responsive approach – ensuring each session feels relevant, respectful, and rooted in what matters most to the audience. Jessica believes the best learning doesn’t happen through lectures – it happens through connection.
She has spoken and facilitated internationally, offering a global perspective informed by the lived realities of direct care teams, older adults, people living with dementia, family care partners, and system leaders. Named a Walk with Me Trailblazer for her leadership in culture change in Canada, Jessica also serves on several boards and advisory committees focused on innovation and inclusion in aging.
Audiences describe her sessions as practical, collaborative, and deeply human – whether they’re seeking big-picture vision or day-to-day tools to build more inclusive, person-centered, and person-directed care and support.
Topics include:
Practical Approaches to Improving Service Delivery
Leading with Strengths & Strengths-Based Leadership
High-Functioning & Inclusive Teams
Workplace Culture, Retention & Change
Attracting & Retaining Diverse Talent
Innovation Adoption in Aging Services
Inclusion & Belonging
Adult Learning & Building a Learning Organization
Reframing Care & Support in an Aging World
Wellness Innovator
Angie McAllister, Eden Alternative Board Chair, has over 30 years’ experience transforming skilled nursing homes from institutional settings to vibrant communities. She has had the opportunity to create and launch several innovative approaches that facilitate meaning and purpose in the lives of Elders including Wendy’s Neverland (a groundbreaking arts-based performance project), inter-generational summer camps, vacation experiences for individuals living in skilled nursing homes, working alongside Dr. Bill Thomas to create an athletic league in senior living (Spark Performance League), online art competitions and much more. Additionally, Angie published a 5-year study demonstrating the positive impact of person-centered care on the lives of Elders living in skilled nursing communities. Angie is also a Long-Term Care Administrator, Eden Alternative Educator, TimeSlips Facilitator and Six Sigma Green Belt certified.
Topics: Leading Transformational Change in Senior Living, InterGenerational Reciprocity & Connectedness, Whole Person Engagement, Authentic & Transformational Leadership, Gamification in Senior Living
Kim McRae is a consultant, speaker, educator and a “FCTA” (Family Caregiver Turned Advocate). She has been involved in the national Culture Change Movement since 2006 and co-founded the Culture Change Network of Georgia in 2008. Kim is also an Educator and Mentor for The Eden Alternative®. She comes to person-directed living, person-centered dementia care and culture change through a twelve-year history as a family caregiver and a consumer of aging services and long-term care. Kim is nationally known as a vigilant advocate for people who are living with dementia and family caregivers (“consumers”).
She was a member of the Founding Board of Directors for the national Dementia Action Alliance (DAA). She is a recipient of The Eden Alternative’s Empowered Innovator Award, the Southern Gerontological Society’s Applied Gerontologist Award, and the Georgia Gerontology Society’s The Care Partner Luminary Award. She holds a BA in Journalism with a concentration in French from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Topics: Person-Centered Care, Dementia and Reducing the Misuse of Antipsychotics and Psychotropics; Person-Centered Dementia Care: Why It Matters; How Do You Mobilize Coalitions To Be Catalysts For Culture Change?; A Balanced Approach: Personal, Operational and Physical Transformation to Support Culture Change and Dementia Capability; Culture Change for Person-Directed Care: Why It Matters (presented this as Keynote at the 2025 LEADER Conference); Dementia 101; Young-Onset Dementia; The Unseen Struggles Of Young-Onset Dementia; Young-Onset Dementia: What Health Professionals Need To Know; Language ~ Words Matter; Creating HOME (Home vs Homelessness, etc.); Navigating Aging Services: A Much-Needed Consumer Perspective; Ageism, Ableism & Stigma (includes the Stigma of Dementia); Environments for Dementia; Person-Directed Living and Person-Centered Dementia Care: What Does It Mean To YOU? (presented to the Atlanta Senior Care Network Niche); Person-Centered Care: How To Make It Come To Life In Your Organization (presented at the 2019 GHCA Spring Counsel Tour – 7 towns); Technology Designed for Elders, People with Dementia, and Changing Cognitive Abilities: Best Practices and the Story of a Simple TV Remote Control (presented this at the Southern Gerontological Society); Let’s Talk About Antipsychotics, Psychotropics and Dementia (can do this for all types of audiences); Understanding Dementia and the Future of Long-Term Care (presented for the Atlanta Elder Law Bar Association); How To Advocate Effectively For Person-Centered Care and Culture Change (presented this with Rose Marie Fagan at the GA LTCO Conference); What Is Your WHY For Culture Change? (presented this at the GHCA Conference); Why I Became A FCTA (Family Caregiver Turned Advocate); Breaking Down The Silos To Ignite Culture Change & Person-Centered Care; Dementia Care Crash Course™; Caregiver Crash Course™
Ruth is a registered nurse who spent 30+ years in Long Term Care Leadership positions. She is recognized for her innovative dementia and leadership approach. Ruth is an advocate for supporting dementia experts who are living with dementia. Her dynamic presentations include stories to bridge the gap between clinical expertise and people experiencing daily cognitive changes.
Areas of expertise include effective communication to transform everyday challenges into engagement opportunities. Ruth’s relatable style ensures she connects with audiences ranging from people living with dementia, healthcare workers, families and executives.
Topics: Risk Management starts with Care Partners, Leadership Lessons, Dementia Communication for Everyday Life, Care Plans Worth Reading
Dementia Action Alliance Representative
Laurie Scherrer was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer’s & FTD at the age of 55. Unable to continue a professional career she turned her focus towards helping others through their dementia journey. She is an international speaker and has been featured in many articles and documentaries.
On her website, dementiadaze.com Laurie shares her feelings, challenges, symptoms and adjustments in hopes of encouraging other Persons with Dementia and care partners to explore ways to live beyond dementia. Together with her husband Roy, they work hard trying to identify the obstacles that trigger Laurie’s challenges and symptoms and then figure out what adjustments they can make to overcome the barriers. “We don’t automatically accept that I CAN’T do things anymore, instead we try to figure out HOW I CAN.”
Dementia Action Alliance Representative
Mark was 48 when he retired in 2016 after being diagnosed with young onset Alzheimer’s Disease. A tax accountant for over twenty years, his work focused primarily on trusts, estates, and non-profit entities.In the early 1990s, he led a local chapter of the U.S. Jaycees. He was twice elected President and honored with many awards, including the Granite Statesman Award, the highest award given to a member of the New Hampshire Jaycees.
Today, Mark uses the skills he honed in the Jaycees to work with the Dementia Action Alliance and help eliminate the stigmas associated with a dementia related diagnosis. His own diagnosis has most recently been changed to unspecified dementia.
He enjoys photography, genealogy, and advocates for causes related to dementia, mental health, and homelessness.
Jack York is a well-known and respected leader in improving the quality of life for older adults, by enriching their lives through technology that makes it easier to connect with family and friends. As a co-founder of IN2L, his charismatic, mission-driven approach helped him to build an organization around the idea that it’s never too late to have a fulfilling life. Jack is currently traveling the country in a 42-foot trailer he calls TaleGate, hosting 2 or 3 parties a week, and capturing stories of the most remarkable and cherished people on the planet – older adults.
“Life is a wild, magical, crazy journey. Lean into your dreams, think big, surround yourself with smart people you trust……. and who knows where your own journey might lead.” – Jack York
Our Value-Added Partners
Experience Eden Excellence
in person!
Every two years, The Eden Alternative hosts a conference to educate and empower leaders in the eldercare field. Our conference gives attendees the opportunity to learn, network, and exchange ideas with leaders, advocates, innovators, volunteers, elders, youth and those with lived experiences from all over the world.
We provide an approach to care that supports the WHOLE person, that upholds the right to a life full of purpose, connection, empowerment and possibility…regardless of age or changing abilities.
Supporting our clients all across the globe.
Consider using this if you need to provide more context on why you do what you do. Be engaging. Focus on delivering value to your visitors.
Eden Members
Eden Members are inspired influencers and innovators that demonstrate exceptional commitment to practicing our unique approach to care.
Eden Educators
Certified Eden Educators are intentional disruptors. Trained to facilitate Eden Alternative training events, they help you create an empowered culture of care.
Global Partners
Our global partners are 23 countries strong. Check out this network of tenacious leaders and learn how you can engage with The Eden Alternative where you live.
