Don Falgoust is the Vice President of Food and Beverage for RLJ Lodging Trust, based in Irving Texas. Prior to joining Felcor Mr. Falgoust served in capacities such as corporate director, executive and multi unit positions with Hyatt, Intercontinental, Westin and Wyndham Hotels.

John is currently the Division Director of Culinary and Nutritional Services for Ohio Living (Re-Branded from Ohio Presbyterian Retirement Services, which operates 12 retirement communities throughout Ohio serving over 6000 residents in operations ranging from restaurant and bistro style dining to healthcare center & assisted living environments. Catering, child and adult daycare are also part of serving the diverse population within the communities.

John is responsible for leading a department with a management team of 38 and 9 clinicians with over 400 culinary and nutritional services team members. The department serves over 2.8 million meals per year and has an operating budget of over $20,000,000.

John began his management career in after receiving an Associates degree in Culinary Arts from Joliet Junior College and a BS Degree from Florida International University School of Hospitality Management. John also earned a Masters in Business Administration from Saint Xavier University in Chicago.

Previously, John worked for the Marriott and Hyatt Hotel chains and with Aramark healthcare and campus dining divisions prior to joining Ohio Living 22 years ago.

Stephen has over 30 years experience in the Food & Beverage industry and has spent the last 3 years focused on Assisted Living.

He is currently the Director Of Hospitality of Harbor Chase located in Sarasota, FL.

James is currently the VP of Culinary Excellence of WesleyLife Senior Living. He is in charge of managing all Food and Beverage for WesleyLife portfolio of 10 CCRCs. He also assists with the design, development and renovation of venues.

James Hoevertsz is a seasoned executive with over three decades of experience in hospitality and senior living. His background includes managing multi-level senior living communities, large hotels and resorts, including Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, Sheraton, Brookdale Senior Living and Pacific Retirement Services.

James was the founder and administrator of the North County Culinary Academy in San Marcos, California, where he spent 12 years leading the Culinary and Hospitality Management programs. He has developed and implemented hospitality and culinary training guides to assist with staff development and has extensive knowledge of leadership techniques to help train and motivate teams of any discipline. He was a competitor on Chopped in 2013 and is the recipient of numerous prestigious culinary awards.

James holds a Business Management Degree from San Diego State University and a Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Degree from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. He also holds a Vocational Education Teaching Credential and is an RCFE certified administrator. James is a national speaker, presenter and facilitator at many educational conferences, promoting leadership and high standards of service.

Lisa Lantry is the Director of Company Dining & Culinary Services for Heritage Communities. Based in Omaha, Nebraska Lisa is responsible for overseeing the F&B operations of thirteen communities in three states. Lisa’s professional career in senior dining services began nearly twelve years ago, much to her surprise! While Lisa had a passion for cooking and enjoyed working in restaurants and healthcare kitchens, she felt Uncle Sam calling her first.

The United States Navy was where Lisa first crafted her leadership skills and strong work ethics. As an Aviation Electronics Technician, Lisa performed component level repair on the communication, navigation and radar systems of F-18s. Her greatest privilege, however, was standing duty with the Honor Guard where she honored fallen military brothers and sister during memorial services.

Once discharged from the Navy, Lisa obtained her Bachelor’s Degree from Miami University of Ohio and returned to the food and dining industry.
As a senior member of the Operations Team for Heritage Communities, Lisa is committed to making the dining experience at Heritage one of the companies Living Better programs.

Cara has spent 50 years working in the hospitality field with more than 28 years focusing on Senior Living Dining. Cara has a degree in Accounting and received her Certification as a Dietary Manager and Certified Food Protection Professional. She is also a Certified Teacher and Procter for the ServSafe program for the National Restaurant Association. She has spoken at multiple state assisted living conferences for hospitality education.

Cara joined the LivGenerations team in 2015, out of Tempe, AZ. As Vice President of Dining, she leads the overall culinary experience for our residents from menu design to kitchen and venue designs, as well as all dining operations. Her esponsibilities also include equipment specs, opening FF&E for dining programs, hiring of F&B leaders, author of dining standards, procurement of dining purchasing contracts and overall oversite of dining programs to maintain high resident satisfaction.

Her previous experience includes Kendal and Benchmark Assisted Living on the east coast, before she located to the mid-west where she was Assistant Vice President for Mather Lifeways and then Senior Divisional Director for the West division of Brookdale Senior Living.

In a career that has crossed over 3 decades, Aaron has spent his time in the industry with a singular focus on the customer experience. Having gained experience in some of the top hospitality organizations in the country, he has brought a keen attention to building customer-focused operations to the senior living industry. Currently Aaron is the Senior Vice President of Food & Beverage for Civitas Senior Living based in Ft. Worth, TX, where he has spent his time working with the team to build a best-in-class dining experience for his residents. He does this with a combination of implementing best practices, system development, and quality training for all levels throughout the organization.

Aaron holds a B.S. in hospitality management from Kansas State University as well as a MBA in Marketing from Baker University.

Studied at Johnson and Wales to obtain a AOS in Culinary Arts and a BOS in Food Service Management. Worked with some of the largest contract management companies at such global giants as Office Depot, Carnival Cruise Lines and American Express. Went back to school in 2015 and obtained MBA in Hospitality Management. Currently work at Acts Retirement Life Communities as the Regional Director of Culinary and Nutritional Services.

Julio has 25 years of experience in the hospitality and senior living industries, and a proven track record of introducing new products that greatly exceed expectations for nutrition and taste.

Julio’s career in senior living began in 2004 when he worked as a Food Service Director for Brookdale Senior Living and as a Regional Dining Specialist and Corporate Chef for a Texas Senior Living Operator, directly responsible for implementing and following the culinary standards and overseeing the culinary operations of 42 communities in 9 States.

The greatest lesson Julio has learned in his professional career has been to treat others as you would want to be treated and to confide in your team. He also believes that the greatest successes have come from learning and growing with his team. Julio truly feels that there hasn’t been a day he hasn’t been excited to go into work because of the people he works with and the company’s culture.

Arnold is the Director of Signature Dining at Living Care Lifestyles and I’ve rejoined the team in June of 2019. I have worked in the Food and Beverage industry for nearly 35 years managing many different types of operations from casual to fine dining. I made the transition to Senior Living dining nearly 20 years ago and my experience includes directing large CCRC’s in a multi-unit environment as well as various regional director positions on the west coast.

In my experience, I’ve discovered that each community I’ve had the opportunity to work is special and unique with its own character much like a signature. Each community has its own style and preferences which are a reflection of each one of our treasured residents own personalities. I strive to learn and accommodate in a fiscally responsible manner the unique preferences of our residents. I take this perspective rather than dictating what I think the dining style should be, while keeping an eye out for what exciting trends are for the future of our industry.

So much of our lives revolve around the memories we create around food, and I hope to continue creating those opportunities for our residents and team members great dining concepts and fun events.

Pathway’s Director of Culinary Experience Eli Ayoub is the man behind the push for farm-to-table dining at all of Pathway to Living’s communities. When he arrived at Pathway three years ago, he made it his personal mission to give residents the kind of dining they’d actually enjoy.

He is a principal visionary providing innovative culinary brand, programs and overall leadership to executive directors and culinary managers in 31 communities. His responsibilities include design, plan, implement and administer all product architecture and layout design, including new building/construction and renovation projects. He oversees direct company procurement, vendor negotiating and agreements. Eli is also accountable for short and long term budgets including labor, food, and supplies as well as to recruit, hire, train, and mentor staff, and provide hospitality training.

Marjan is Brookdale’s Vice Present of Dining Services and has over the last 25 + years held several leadership positions within the Healthcare and Senior Housing industries. He has been instrumental in implementing programs to support and simplify field operations, leveraging scale through procurement synergies and savings and developing industry recognized innovative and award winning dining programs. Marjan joined Brookdale in August of 1997. He is responsible for the strategic execution of the company’s overall dining operations including the financial expectations, policy, procedures and program development and implementation. He is a member of the BEST (Brookdale Excellence Standards Tool) Standards Committee and serves as the chair for Argentum’s Dining Services Executive Roundtable.

Rob Opdenbrouw currently serves as the Vice President of Culinary and Dining Services Christian Horizons. Rob is a hospitality professional with vast experience in multiple divisions of the industry for over 30 years. He is a well-versed Food & Beverage Leader with expertise in Senior Living.

Rob started his culinary career at fifteen and has always held a variety of positions in the culinary industry. Some of Rob’s career highlights include; an internship at the world renowned Atlanta Marriott Marquis; leading the culinary team at South City Kitchen (A premier Atlanta restaurant during the 96 summer Olympics); sailing the high seas as both Executive Chef and Corporate Executive Chef with Clipper Cruise Lines (A rated number one cruise liner for foodservice during the 1990’s); managed high profile accounts for Aramark at some of St. Louis’s premier corporations including A.G. Edwards, AT&T, Citi Mortgage and Boeing; and most recently, operated dining services programs at very large, elite life plan communities. Having gained hands-on experience of every culinary and service position during his career allows him to relate with dining services teams to achieve our ministry goals with great results.

Rob is a proud alumnus of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, in Hyde Park, New York.