Two members of the Givens Communities leadership team – Jessie Bosshard, executive director of Givens Home First, and Ricky Foor, vice president of Information Technologies – have been selected for LeadingAge’s prestigious 2025 Larry Minnix Leadership Academy.

The program is designed to develop capacities and core competencies of aging services professionals by tapping into their natural talents and authentic leadership styles. It emphasizes self-exploration and relationship-building to enable participants to embrace diversity of thought, move beyond pre-conceived assumptions and view their own experiences and those of others as learning opportunities.

LeadingAge is an organization of nonprofit aging services providers and other mission-driven groups serving older adults, providing advocacy, resources and guidance. Membership encompasses the entire continuum of aging services, including skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care, affordable housing, retirement communities, adult day programs, community-based services, hospice, and home-based care.

Since the Leadership Academy’s first class in 2007, senior living industry leaders have struggled, reflected, talked, laughed, cried, and learned important lessons about themselves. The one-year experience has helped to improve skills, build strong professional connections, and just as importantly, create lasting friendships. Academy graduates go on to inspire and mentor new generations of leaders.

Larry Minnix, an author and former CEO of LeadingAge, was recognized as a Top 50 Leader by the Non-Profit Times, and Top 50 Influencer of Aging by Next Avenue. When he retired in 2015, Leading-Age named its Leadership Academy after him.