Aging & Community
Programs & Partnerships
The Future Started Here: A Look Back at Our Inaugural Aging Symposium
On October 1, 2026, we filled the UIndy Health Pavilion to celebrate 25 years of the Center for Aging & Community and to host something we’d never done before: our first Aging Symposium.
We built the day around one idea: the future of aging won’t be shaped by any one sector working alone, so we brought together the people who rarely end up in the same room. From aging services providers, government officials, educators and researchers, older adults, and family caregivers, over 100 of you showed up, and the individual conversations were as good as the ones on stage.
Starting with well-being
Joel Hungate, AVP for Strategy & Innovation at Hancock Health, opened the day with a keynote on the infrastructure of well-being. Joel made the case that healthy aging isn’t just about clinical care, but about the systems around people: housing, transportation, connection, and the communities that hold them. He used Hancock’s own work as proof that this is buildable, not just theoretical.
The Next 25 years
Our panel, Cross-Sector Aging Innovation: The Next 25 Years, put that idea to work. Vanessa Convard, Drs. Pat and Diane Healey, Dr. Stephanie Kelly, Rep. Gregory Porter, Carlisa Richards, and Faraz Yousuf brought policy, practice, research, and lived experience to the same table.
Investing in what comes next
One of our favorite moments of the day was presenting our first Aging Innovations micro-grants. These awards, funded through the CAC Impact Fund, support students with ideas for improving life for older adults and the people who care for them. Two students received awards this year for projects including Brain Body Balance and Libraries as a Mental Health Hub. If this is what the next generation is working on, we’re in good hands.
Thank you
A first-year event only happens because people say yes before they know what it’ll become. Thank you to our sponsors, especially our Presenting Sponsors, American Senior Communities and Clearpoint, our Lunch Sponsor, Majestic Care, and every sponsor and vendor who believed in this early on. Thank you to President Tanuja Singh and Provost Chris Plouff for being part of the program; to our speakers and panelists; to our volunteers; and to the CAC team, who pulled this off like it was year ten.
What we heard, and what’s next
The best part has been what came after. In the days since, we’ve heard from so many of you saying some version of the same thing: we needed this conversation, and we need to keep having it. New partners have reached out, and some of those conversations are already turning into work focused on improving the aging experience.
We plan to keep it going…
- Save the date: Our second annual Aging Symposium is Thursday, October 7, 2027.
- Keep the momentum going: In honor of 25 years, we’re asking for $25 for 25 to support the CAC Impact Fund and next year’s micro-grants.
- Get involved: Want to partner, sponsor, or join the conversation? Email me at TisdaleE@uindy.edu.
The future starts here. Thanks for starting it with us!
