Movers & Shakers: Arbor Realty Trust, Blueprint, LeadingAge

Arbor Realty Trust Hires Executive Vice President and Chief Production Officer

Arbor Realty Trust has appointed Frank Lutz as its new executive vice president and chief production officer.

In his new role, Lutz will oversee all of Arbor’s agency lending platforms as it relates to business development and the firm’s national production network and originations team. He will also serve as the real estate investment trust’s (REIT) liaison between some of its agency partners.

Previously, Lutz served as senior vice president at Berkadia, where he managed Berkadia’s Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac production relationships. In total, he has more than 25 years of multifamily agency experience.

Blueprint Names New Managing Director

Chicago-based advisory group Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate Advisors has hired Dan Mahoney to the role of managing director.

Mahoney, an Oregon-based industry veteran with 12 years’ experience in senior housing and health care real estate, will lead Blueprint’s business development in the Pacific Northwest.

Mahoney comes to Blueprint from a national real estate investment services firm, where he specialized in the acquisition and disposition of senior housing properties in the Pacific Northwest and mountain states. He was also previously vice president of real estate finance at Sunwest Management, where he helped the company grow to its high-water mark of 300 communities.

LeadingAge Hires Longtime HHS Exec, Grassroots Organizer

LeadingAge is bolstering its public policy and grassroots efforts.

Ruth Katz, a longtime executive at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), recently joined the industry association as senior vice president of public policy.

In her new role, Katz will develop and lead strategy on public policy and advocacy while working with LeadingAge’s board and state partners. She will also oversee congressional and regulatory affairs and grassroots engagement teams, LeadingAge announced.

Katz has assumed many responsibilities previously held by Cheryl Phillips, who left the organization in July.

Previously, Katz built her career at the HHS office of the assistant secretary for planning and evaluation, and the office of disability, aging and long-term care policy, where she served as associate deputy assistant secretary and director of the division of aging and disability.

LeadingAge also recently hired Joe Franco, an advocacy and grassroots organizer for nonprofits and political organizations, as a vice president.

Franco joins LeadingAge from the American Diabetes Association, where as vice president of grassroots and internal advocacy, he oversaw development and execution of grassroots advocate cultivation, retention, and engagement, as well as the planning and execution of many grassroots campaigns.

Lutheran Senior Services Names Leader for Mid-Missouri Operations

Lutheran Senior Services has named Kent Kirkwood as executive director of Heisinger Bluffs and St. Joseph’s Bluffs in Jefferson City, Missouri. He also will remain in his position as executive director of Lenior Woods, a life plan community in Columbia, Missouri.

Kirkwood now oversees 750 older adults in a variety of care settings, the provider said. Prior to his new assignment, Kirkwood served as interim executive director at Heisinger Bluffs and St. Joseph’s Bluffs.

Erickson Community in Houston Hires Finance Leader

Eagle’s Trace, an Erickson Living retirement community in Houston, has announced the hiring of Joshua Chang as its director of finance.

In his new role, Chang will supervise strategic financial management, accounting and budgeting for the 71-acre campus. He will also provide business analysis and risk management support to the executive team at Eagle’s Trace.

Prior to joining Eagle’s Trace, Chang served as the finance leader for Hewlett Packard in its U.S. federal civilian segment. Chang holds more than 20 years of experience in the information technology and financial sectors.

Bridges by EPOCH at Sudbury Names Cynthia Gerante as Director of Community Relations

Bridges by EPOCH at Sudbury, a memory care assisted living community scheduled to open in Sudbury, Massachusetts, later this summer, has hired Cynthia Gerante as its director of community relations.

Gerante’s new job includes building relationships with local organizations and offering guidance to families considering memory care assisted living. Prior to joining EPOCH, she served as sales and marketing director for an assisted living community in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.

Gerante has more than 21 years of sales experience in total.

Presby’s Inspired Life Promotes Employee to Lead Sales and Marketing at Pennsylvania Community

Presby’s Inspired Life has promoted Michelle Finke to serve as sales and marketing manager for its Spring Mill community in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania.

In her new role, Finke will advise people who are considering a move to Spring Mill. Finke first joined the Presby’s Inspired Life team in 2015, where she worked in the sales and marketing department at the organization’s Rydal Park campus in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.

Written by Tim Regan