The Future Leaders Awards program is brought to you in partnership with PointClickCare. The program is designed to recognize up-and-coming industry members who are shaping the next decade of senior housing, skilled nursing, home health, and hospice care. To see this year’s Future Leaders, visit https://futureleaders.agingmedia.com/.
Aurora Griffin has been named a 2023 Future Leader by Senior Housing News.
To become a Future Leader, an individual is nominated by their peers. The candidate must be a high-performing employee who is 40-years-old or younger, a passionate worker who knows how to put vision into action, and an advocate for seniors, and the committed professionals who ensure their well-being.
Griffin serves as an investment associate at the Torana Group.
Senior Housing News caught up with Griffin to discuss her time in the industry along with where she sees the industry headed, including the “inevitable growth” of the sector in the years to come.
What drew you to the senior living industry?
I started working in the senior living industry at my family’s real estate development firm, Griffin Living, representing generation 6. Each generation takes on a new type of development depending on opportunities and market needs. For my dad, it’s assisted and memory care.
What’s your biggest lesson learned since starting to work in this industry?
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is how much demand there is for these kinds of services, and how important it is to do senior housing well. People are so afraid that their experience in a more institutional setting will be bad that they wait until something drastic happens before making the move. In the right community, they arrive, sigh with relief, and wish they had come there sooner.
If you could change one thing with an eye toward the future of senior living, what would it be?
In my current role with the Torana Group, I look at the that role essential workers — cooks, cleaners, caregivers — play in these businesses and how frequent turnover is. I wonder how offering them more incentives to stay (beyond simply raising hourly rates) would improve their lives and the lives of people they care for. At Torana, we’re exploring employee ownership models, where a portion of ownership is reserved for essential workers, and hoping to see a triple bottom line impact where workers, investors, and owners all benefit.
What do you foresee as being different about the senior living industry looking ahead to 2024?
I think we’re all waiting to see what happens in 2024 with interest rates, at least on the development side. If projects and businesses become easier to fund again, everyone will be more optimistic, and real innovation can resume.
In a word, how would you describe the future of senior living?
The future of senior living is inevitable growth — let’s choose to use it humanely and beautifully and resist the urge to squeeze every last dollar from each business.
What qualities must all future leaders possess?
I believe all future leaders must possess a commitment to the wellbeing of the workers and families in the industry. Not only is this the right thing to do, but communities that are great places to live and work will outperform in the end.
If you could give advice to yourself looking back to your first day in the industry, what would it be and why?
I would tell myself to start with relationships in the industry. Coming from a more academic background, I like to do research and understand all the dynamics at play. Connecting with peers and mentors is invigorating and accelerates that learning curve. I’ve met some amazing people in this line of work that make me optimistic about the future.
