Melita Belgrave, PhD, MT-BC

Associate Professor of Music Therapy
School of Music, Dance and Theatre, Arizona State University

Biography

Melita Belgrave received her bachelor’s degree in music therapy from Michigan State University. She also earned her master’s in music therapy, a certification in aging studies, and a doctorate in music education with an emphasis in music therapy at Florida State University.  Belgrave has worked as a music therapist in special education, mental health, rehabilitation, hospice, geriatric, and intergenerational settings throughout Texas, Florida, Kansas, and Missouri. Her research interests are music therapy with older adults and intergenerational programming. She has presented at regional, national, and international conferences, and her research has been published in national and international journals including the Journal of Music Therapy, Music Therapy Perspectives, Frontiers Medicine, Journal of Music Teacher Education. She co-authored the text “Music Therapy and Geriatric Populations: A Handbook for Practicing Music Therapists.”

Benjamin Surmi

Social Gerontologist
Koelsch Communities

Biography

Benjamin Surmi, MSG, Social Gerontologist, is Director of Education and Culture for Koelsch Communities. He leads Koelsch Innovation Lab, writes and speaks on innovation in aging, guides wellness and culture programming, and pursues highly efficient training for thousands of team members.

Elaine Poker-Yount, CDP

Aging & Dementia Care Specialist

Biography

Elaine is an Aging and Dementia Specialist.  Her work focuses on empowering individuals and families to make their situation the best it can be through the RESOURCE SOURCE program she developed. She teaches practical aging life and caregiving skills, including classes to help better understand dementia. She is a PAC™ Certified Dementia Trainer and uses those skills to teach families living with dementia how to best meet their loved ones’ current capabilities.  As a long-distance family caregiver herself, she understands what people are experiencing.  She outlines options on how to more successfully navigate aging and illness whether families are near or far, in the trenches, or proactively preparing to handle what comes next.  She authors a monthly column for the Arizona Republic entitled “Successful Aging” sharing resources and tips for families and caregivers throughout the state. 

Judy Banyai, Terry Sporleder, Pam Sipple

Family Members Living with Dementia

Biographies

Judy Banyai is a Caregiver – for many, for years, for some by choice, for others by default.  She had a life rich with rewarding work, travel, adventure, and sport, until she didn’t.  Currently she cares for her husband, who’s had one surgery after another, one hiccup after another – including falls, cancer, chemo and more resulting in both cognitive and significant physical limitations.  Judy excels at caregiving with a practical, positive and problem-solving approach.  She possesses a strong will, an extraordinarily generous and loving heart, and more gumption than most. Judy tackles situations head on, always looking to educate herself and keep the ball moving.  What is best for this situation?  Find it, read it, take a class on it – learn it – apply it.  Judy inspires everyone, always.

Terry Sporleder is a Nurse – surgical and administrative in the day, but 100% on a daily basis – still.  Terry has been a caregiver for 18 years.  Terry is a loving and protective wife and caregiver to her husband, Rich.  Rich has defied incredible odds living through multiple critical spinal surgeries leaving him partially disabled in various ways only to be afflicted with a stroke 5 years ago which led to a current diagnosis of vascular dementia.  Terry attacks these health issues with a clinical approach that somehow syncs amazingly well to her psyche.  While her emotions can run the gamut like most anyone’s would, yet she maintains the uncanny ability to keep her perspective and wits in the right lane.  She teaches us something important on a regular basis.

Pam Sipple lives with brain change.  From a background in banking and real estate, Pam moved to Arizona and recreated herself with a new job when the market crashed.  She found herself in the most magical job ever at ASU in the foreign language department with a job of assigning new student teaching assistants to their classes.  The variety and intrigue of the work and the interactions were 100 percent multicultural, multi-generational and completely fascinating.  She met and got to know people from all over the world and became entrenched in the world of WWII as she met many people who had survived the Holocaust.  Pam still marvels at her amazing life. An accomplished skier and inspired new-found writer – turned author from her work experiences, Pam’s life was literally turned upside down on the ski hill by a snowboarder who crashed into her. Miraculously, no bones were broken but about a month after the accident, her life and world changed as she knew it.  She began spinning – literally.  Multiple doctors could not find the source of the problem.  Finally, one person figured it out and it took a year to quell and finally stop the constant motion in her head.  Pam now experiences challenges in getting words out – speaking articulately as she once did, and faded memories.

Brian Browne

President
Dementia Care Education

Biography

Brian Browne is a skilled, innovative leader, educator and keynote speaker with expertise in aging, Alzheimer’s/dementia research, education and brain health. A talented presenter and speaker, Brian is a local, regional and nationally sought after speaker, trainer and consultant.

Joan Marlow

Life Coach and Reiki Practitioner
Peaceful Easy Healing

Biography

Joan is a ‘life-long learner and a forever teacher.’ The phrase, ‘once a teacher always a teacher’ is Joan’s truth. Her career includes:  high school teacher, corporate trainer, human resources manager & mentor and for the past 12+ years, as owner and facilitator in her business Peaceful Easy Healing, where she lives her passion and purpose of helping individuals to create and then live their best lives. Today her services include life & wellness coach, educator, alternative health practitioner and most recently as a health advocate. Peaceful Easy Healing’s tagline is ‘Supporting Your Health & Well-being from Awareness to Action Through Advocacy.’

Everything starts with Awareness, it’s up to you to choose which action to take. Along with sharing points of Awareness, Joan offers practical tips, tools, techniques and a voice to put that Awareness into action; your role is to ‘choose’ an action to take to live your best life.

Joan serves on the Board of Directors of Oakwood Creative Care as well as Chair of its Community Outreach Committee. She also facilitates a movement class for the Sun Lakes Memory Care program.

Aaron Fransua, Esq

Estate Planning, Business & Construction Law Attorney
AVID Esq. Group LLC

Biography

I am an estate planning, business and construction law attorney licensed in the States of Arizona and Colorado. I pride myself on helping business owners confidently grow their businesses and helping their families get all the legal documents in order to protect their loved ones so that when disaster strikes, the family is prepared.

I have an active practice representing clients with commercial matters as well as insurance coverage disputes for property owners following disasters such as water, fire or flood losses. My experience includes advising a wide range of clients on various issues related to estate planning including drafting wills, trusts and powers of attorney; assisting fiduciaries with administering estates; as well as serve as general counsel for a variety of businesses in industries ranging from construction to hair salons.

Katie Brenneman

Founder & President
Stronghold Financial

Biography

Prior to starting Stronghold, Katie spent her entire career in estate and retirement planning. She witnessed the stress her dear grandmother “Mimi” experienced when her grandfather moved into a skilled nursing facility for the last 2.5 years of his life, and knew there had to be a better way.

Stronghold Financial now specializes in ALTCS planning. and is known for getting approvals in an average of only 4 weeks!

They prevent their clients from having to spend down all of their assets in order to be financially eligible for the program. Stronghold can protect 100% of the assets for the healthy spouse in a married couple, and 50-75% of the assets for the kids of an unmarried individual – while qualifying the individual in need of care for the ALTCS program at the same time.

Kerri Ann Ronquist

President
All About You Placement

Biography

Kerri Ann is originally from New Jersey and came to Arizona in the early 1970’s.  It is in Arizona where she found her love for supporting and serving those with health-related needs and supporting others in becoming better advocates for their own health care.  Kerri Ann knows herself that navigating the health care arena can be very daunting as she had to navigate it herself for her two sons who are on the Autism spectrum as well as having to arrange care for her own father…this became the “why” behind what Kerri Ann seeks out to do for others.

Not only does Kerri Ann help others be better advocates for themselves, she herself is an active member of various organizations and committee’s which support the bettering of local communities….these include but are not limited to her roles in the Queen Creek and Gilbert Chambers, a committee member for House of Refuge, a member of PASRS and NPRA, and holding certifications as a Certified Placement and Referral Specialist, Board Certified Patient Advocate, Certified Senior Advisor, and Certified Dementia Practitioner.

Kerri Ann holds true to her why….she doesn’t want others to have to sort through the maze of obtaining quality health care for themselves or loved ones.

Michael Malasnik

Independent Insurance Broker
Helpyourselfinsurance.com

Biography

Michael Malasnik has served the AZ insurance market since 1992. During these 30 years, his experience includes working with State and Federal agencies and programs, High Risk Pools, Public Health systems as well as Commercial Insurance companies. This gives Michael a very rare global perspective on the entire market, which allows him to see and understand the bigger picture to include where the market is heading and why.