AgeWell Solvere Living Co-CEO and Co-founder Kristin Kutac Ward is leaving her post at the end of the year in order to launch a new consulting company focused on senior living.

Kutac Ward, a self-described “entrepreneur at heart” announced earlier this month that she is launching a new consultancy business called Austera Group. The new business is set to focus on community repositioning and turnarounds, and will offer clients operations assessments that include deep dives into sales, marketing and local positioning; where Kutac Ward said she sees opportunities for operators.

Kutac Ward, who has for years helped lead AgeWell Solvere and its predecessor company, Solvere Living, said she will draw upon her decades in senior living to offer Austera’s customers an “older, wiser and more holistic experience.”

“I feel even better equipped to help organizations, owners and lenders realize their full potential,” she said. “I really enjoy solving problems, and I really enjoy collaborating with different people to help identify ways to improve performance.”

After Kutac Ward’s departure, former co-CEO Mark Lichtenwalner will work as the company’s sole CEO, and David Mills will continue in his role as president and COO.

Kutac Ward got her start in the senior living industry back in 1996 as a nursing home administrator, and in 2009 she co-founded Solutions Advisors, a consulting firm for the senior living industry. Those efforts eventually led her to co-found Solvere Living in 2014, a dedicated management company and brand that managed more than 2,800 units and 15 new developments as third-party manager for different ownership groups. 

In 2023, Solvere joined forces with another operator, AgeWell Living, to become AgeWell Later that same year, AgeWell Solvere acquired Sonata Senior Living and its 14 communities. Today, AgeWell Solvere manages 39 communities in 10 states.

“With the experience I’ve had over the last 30 years, from an operation, sales and marketing, consulting, new development and renovation background, it’s something that I’m very passionate about,” Kutac Ward said. “I’m very excited about looking into 2025.”

While she is leaving AgeWell Solvere, Kutac Ward will still maintain a relationship with the company. In early 2025, Austera Group is planning to work with AgeWell Solvere on two projects, with potentially more collaboration down the road. And Kutac Ward said she aims for the new consulting company to serve as an additional new resource for Solvere in the future.

One way she could continue working with AgeWell Solvere could be in the case of another large repositioning, especially with an ownership group she has worked with in the past.

“That’s the number one way that I will be working with them, and have talked about future opportunities to work with them,” Kutac Ward said.

Unlike during her prior consulting group with Solutions Advisors Group, Kutac Ward wants her new business to work with only a few clients and “partner with good companies” that have specializations she lacks.

As she leaves AgeWell Solvere, Kutac Ward said the work has been “rewarding.”

“To be able to do that with such a great group of people, and to pretty much retain most of the people through that process has been very rewarding,” she said. “But when I look at the future, you know, I really am excited now to continue to work with a lot of different people. I am fueled by collaboration, brainstorming and innovation, and so I look forward to having more of those opportunities.”