| 7:30 AM – 1:00 PM |
RISE Policy Summit Registration Open |
| 8:00 AM – 9:15 AM |
Networking Breakfast |
| 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM |
General Session: Legislative Insiders Panel |
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This presentation provides a discussion with key legislative staff on policy topics impacting older adults, legislative priorities in 2026, and strategies for engaging with Legislators. Gain a forward-looking perspective on the legislative agenda for 2026 and discover how these developments will shape the future of aging services.
Presented by:
— Liz Fuller, Chief Consultant, Assembly Aging & Long-Term Care Committee
Liz Fuller is the Chief Consultant for the Assembly Aging & Long-Term Care Committee. She has over 20 years of experience in the California Capitol, including 13 as a Consultant to the Legislative Women’s Caucus, developing policy expertise on issues affecting women and children. In 2019 she shifted her focus to aging policy, becoming Chief Consultant for the Aging & Long-Term Care Committee.
As the Chief Consultant for the California State Assembly Housing & Community Development Committee, Lisa Engel provides expertise and leadership on a broad range of housing policy issues, including housing finance, homelessness, common-interest developments, building standards, redevelopment, and budget matters. Lisa has been with the committee for over 17 years and became chief consultant about a decade ago.
Alison Hughes is Chief Consultant to the California State Senate Housing Committee. The committee was formed in December 2018, when the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee split. The committees had been
combined since 2005. Before joining the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing in 2015, Ms. Hughes served as an Executive Fellow and then Legislative Coordinator at the California State Transportation Agency and worked on legislation and policy issues that affected the eight transportation-related departments within that agency. While in law school, Ms. Hughes interned for the California Senate Transportation and Housing Committee, where she researched and analyzed transportation and housing bills. She also worked on federal, state, and local housing and homelessness policy while interning with the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, DC and HomeBase in San Francisco. In addition to these internships, she concurrently volunteered directly with low-income individuals through legal aid clinics and served as a student mediator in the Pacific McGeorge Housing Mediation Clinic. Ms. Hughes earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Redlands and a juris doctor and a capital certificate in public law and policy with an emphasis in housing policy from Pacific McGeorge School of Law.
Alexandria Smith is the Chief Consultant to the California State Assembly’s Human Services Committee, supporting Chair Assemblymember Alex Lee and Vice Chair Assemblymember Leticia Castillo. In this leadership role, she oversees legislation and policy development across a broad portfolio of social service programs, including child welfare, CalWORKs, CalFresh, SSI/SSP, developmental services, adult protective services, in-home supportive services, homelessness, immigration support, and community care licensing.
Mareva Brown is a senior-level policy consultant at the forefront of California’s human services legislative agenda. With a rich background in Senate research and analysis, she brings expertise in social services, aging programs, and long-term care strategy to her role advising Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limon. Mareva previously served as the Chief Consultant for the Senate Committee on Human Services Committee.
Lara Flynn is the Chief Consultant for the California Assembly Health Committee as of 2024, working under Chair Mia Bonta and contributing to legislative analyses and health policy consultation for the committee. Her responsibilities include overseeing major health legislative policy reviews, providing expert advice to Assemblymembers on topics such as health insurance, Medi-Cal, public health, pharmaceuticals, health disparities, mental and behavioral health, and more. Flynn is listed on official committee staff rosters and cited in legislative documents as a principal resource for health policy expertise.
Heather Hopkins serves as the Staff Director for the California Senate Human Services Committee, where she leads the committee’s policy, analytical, and administrative functions in support of legislative oversight and development across a broad portfolio of California’s social service programs. In this role, she oversees committee operations, guides staff in preparing bill analyses and policy recommendations, and supports the Chair and committee members in advancing legislation related to CalWORKs, CalFresh, child welfare, foster care, disability services, senior services, community care licensing, and statewide social service systems.
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| 10:45 AM – 11:45 AM |
Concurrent Breakout Sessions |
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3A: LTSS Financing & Affordability Initiative
This presentation provides an overview of the Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) Financing and Affordability Initiative commissioned by the Department of Aging. This initiative includes California-focused population analytics, policy research, and review of meaningful options to address the care and service needs of those in the overlooked middle. Learn where the Department is ahead of the release of the final report, which is due to the Legislature in June 2026.
Presented by:
— Sarah Steenhausen, Deputy Director, Division of Policy, Research & Equity, California Department of Aging
Sarah Steenhausen serves as Deputy Director of the Division of Policy, Research and Equity at the California Department of Aging. In this role, she collaborates with state departments and stakeholders in developing policy and research impacting older adults, people with disabilities and family caregivers to advance system change and realize the goals of California’s Master Plan for Aging.
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3B: Immigration Workforce Policy
The presentation will provide practical guidance on how to navigate and address immigration related questions while protecting your organization and your workforce. In addition, the presentation will discuss current immigration policies and the opportunities for employers to engage in advocacy efforts to shift those policies.
Presented by:
— Brenda Quintanilla, Associate, Hanson Bridgett LLP
Brenda Quintanilla is an associate in our Employment Services Section focusing on Employment Litigation. Brenda provides preventive advice and counsel to employers regarding issues like Employee Handbooks, the WARN Act, and immigration compliance in the workplace. She also defends employers in a wide range of employment litigation, including wrongful termination, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and wage and hour (Class and PAGA) claims, and engages in Union negotiations and Union arbitrations. In addition to her labor and employment work, Brenda volunteers her time doing pro bono work, mentoring law students, and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. She held various positions during law school, including serving as president of the Law Students Association.
Jennifer M. Martinez provides strategic, programmatic, and operational leadership for initiatives that advance diversity, equity, and inclusion as core values of the firm. She works with firm management, practice group leadership, and firm committees to advance such initiatives and leverage best practices and resources across the firm to promote cultural competency and an environment of equity and inclusion. This includes creating and implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings and programming; developing and executing diversity hiring, retention, and advancement goals and policies; re-examining the firm's internal policies and practices with an eye towards rooting out unconscious bias, inequity, and microaggressions; empowering attorneys to forge new and stronger relationships with public interest organizations for increased pro bono services related to racial justice and equity; and coordinating the firm's internal and external efforts to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in the legal community and in the local communities where our attorneys and staff work and live. Jennifer has also headed our Real Action Calling for Equality (RACE) Task Force since its creation in June 2020 as part of the firm's commitment to re-evaluate and improve our investment in and commitment to justice and equity. She is also the chair of our Recruiting Committee.
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| 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM |
Resident Action Day Check-In (Separate Registration Required - Click here to register!) |
| 11:45 AM – 1:15 PM |
Keynote Luncheon |
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This presentation will cover the high-priority issues facing long-term care providers and the older adult issues they serve. It will also discuss the Governor’s administration priorities and how those will impact older adults in 2026 and beyond, including the workforce crisis, ongoing budget challenges and federal uncertainties.
Presented by:
— Susan DeMarois, Director, California Department of Aging
Susan DeMarois was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to serve as Director of the California Department of Aging effective November 1, 2021. As Director, Ms. DeMarois is committed to stakeholder engagement, equity and inclusion, and system transformation to prepare our state for the year 2030 when one in four Californians will be aged 60 or older.
Prior to joining CDA, Director DeMarois led public policy and advocacy for the national Alzheimer’s Association in California, serving as the nonprofit organization’s registered lobbyist in Sacramento, where she advocated for legislative, budget, and regulatory changes at the state capitol. The organization led the effort to enact the first dementia early detection initiative in the nation, focused on the Medicaid population: SB 48 (Limón) signed into law by Governor Newsom. Ms. DeMarois served as an appointee to Governor Newsom’s Alzheimer’s Prevention and Preparedness Task Force, chaired by former First Lady Maria Shriver, in addition to the Master Plan for Aging Stakeholder Advisory Committee, a workgroup established by Executive Order. In addition, she represented the Alzheimer’s Association on the CalHHS Agency Secretary’s Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Advisory Committee. Before working for the Alzheimer’s Association, Ms. DeMarois led government and community relations for the UC Davis Health System, where she gained deep health policy and clinical workforce experience. Early in her career, she worked for LeadingAge California, the professional trade association representing not-for-profit housing, residential care and skilled nursing providers.
Joe Stephenshaw was appointed as Director of the California Department of Finance by Governor Newsom in July of 2022. In this role, he serves as the Governor’s Chief Fiscal Policy Advisor. Prior to his appointment, Stephenshaw served in Governor Newsom’s Office as a Senior Counselor on Infrastructure and Fiscal Affairs. Stephenshaw was Staff Director for the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee from 2017 to 2022. He held multiple positions in the California Legislature from 2008 to 2017, including serving as a Policy Consultant in the Office of the Senate President pro Tempore, a Special Advisor to the Speaker of the Assembly, and as a Budget Consultant for both the Assembly Budget Committee and the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee. Stephenshaw was a Budget Analyst for the California Department of Finance from 2005 to 2008. Stephenshaw is a graduate of Menlo College with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He also earned a Master of Business Administration degree from California State University, Sacramento.
As General Counsel and Chief Government Affairs Officer at LeadingAge California, Meghan Rose leads the organization’s legislative advocacy, regulatory affairs, and housing policy initiatives, representing more than 400 nonprofit providers of senior living and care across the state. Meghan advises on complex legal matters and drives statewide efforts to expand affordable housing, strengthen aging services, and advance integrated care models. A recognized voice in California’s aging policy landscape, Meghan has testified before legislative committees and contributed to key initiatives that improve access to quality care for older adults and people with disabilities.
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| 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM |
Legislative Visits |
| 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM |
LeadingAge California CEMO Meeting (invitation only) |
| 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM |
LeadingAge California Service Excellence Committee Meeting (invitation only) |