The Management Team
Living Well's management team members have held top leadership positions in ten major senior focused businesses, opened four senior living communities—taking them from pre–construction to full capacity, started seven successful businesses, and led operations and human resources functions for fourteen businesses in the hospitality industry. Companies include: Classic Residence by Hyatt, Pacific Institute, Mandarin Oriental Hotels, and Institute on Aging. The leadership team has solid skills in innovation, program design and executing complex business operations that generate healthy profits.
President – Founder, Doris Bersing, PhD
is responsible for formulating Living Well’s culture and in conjunction with other members of the Executive Team has responsibility for providing leadership, program development and oversight, and fiscal accountability to Living Well’s employees, customers and investors. She oversees the Wellness and Member Services, Safety and Technology, and Concierge Pillars of the Living Well system of care and is responsible with the CEO for the implementation, and support of the sales and marketing efforts. Doris represents the board to the general public and shareholders, and maintaining corporate integrity, lead the strategic planning, orchestrating major business decisions for discussion and possible vote by all the Board members, along with enforcing matters of ethics and integrity. Prior to co-founding Living Well Assisted Living at Home, Dr. Bersing was CEO for Pacific Institute (www.pacificinstitute.org), a leading provider of psychological programming, senior services, education and research on topics pertinent to eldercare. She grew their annual budget from $200,000 to $33 million in five years and led a staff of 115 healthcare professionals. Doris is on faculty for two graduate schools and is a well known trainer on topics related to diversity and aging. Before moving to San Francisco, she was the co-founder and CEO of Holos XXI, a health care organization based in Venezuela. She also served as Director of Programs and Care at L'hopital de Jour-Lefevbre in France.
Chief Executive Officer – Founder, Tessa ten Tusscher, PhD
in conjunction with other members of the Executive Team has responsibility for providing leadership, program development and oversight, and fiscal accountability to Living Well’s employees, customers and investors. Tessa oversees the Medical, Care Management and Home Care Pillars of the Living Well system of care and is responsible for the development of a rigorous system for measuring customer’s health and wellness outcomes, and the economic value of home-based care. Tessa, also represents the board to the general public and shareholders, and maintaining corporate integrity, lead the strategic planning, orchestrating major business decisions for discussion and possible vote by all the Board members, along with enforcing matters of ethics and integrity. Dr. ten Tusscher was Vice President for the Institute on Aging (www.ioaging.org), where she directed a large staff in the care management, assessment, psychology, education, marketing, and homecare departments. The Institute on Aging enables 20,000 frail seniors to remain in their own homes by providing a menu of homecare, health care, day programs, care–management, wellness and mental health initiatives. It is the largest non–profit focused on senior care in the Bay Area. A serial entrepreneur, Tessa also was founder and CEO for BAPTA — Northern California’s largest psychodiagnostics company. Tessa is a geriatric psychologist by training, with 18 years experience working with seniors. She frequently provides education, conference presentations, expert testimony and consultation on elder issues.
CPO (Chief People Officer), Josiane Kristensen
manages human resources functions for Living Well and is also the owner of Kristensen Consulting (www.kristensenconsulting.net), providing human resources solutions to major corporations and privately held businesses. Her client list includes Coca Cola Enterprises, McKesson US Pharmaceuticals, Dean and Deluca, Transamerica Senior Living, Larkspur Hotels and Restaurants, UBS Investment Bank and the St. Francis Hotel. Previously, Josiane was the US Corporate Director of Human Resources for the Mandarin Oriental
Hotel Group, a luxury hotel company, and Assistant Director of Human Resources for the Grand Hyatt San Francisco.
Vice President of Training, Laura Page
is a training professional and consultant with twenty years of experience providing luxury-level service for world-renown, five-star companies with culturally diverse staff. She is an expert in assessment, design, implementation, and evaluation of a wide range of training programs with a specialization in customer service excellence.
Most recently, Laura served as the Director of Learning and Development for Mandarin Oriental Hotel, San Francisco, a member of the prestigious, international Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. In this capacity, she created the Mandarin’s service manuals, directed the training efforts, and played a key role in establishing a culture of quality that resulted in the hotel receiving numerous awards for outstanding service including the coveted Mobil Five-Star rating for four consecutive years.
As a consultant, Laura has developed customized training and evaluation programs for a wide range of clients including luxury hotels and resort, private clubs, and financial institutions.
Membership Services, Christopher Hancock
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Having worked in sales most of his career, Chris knows that open communication and prompt service are crucial to the ever-changing need of clients. Working with integrity and professionalism are the hallmarks of Chris' business. Chris has built his career on details. His attention to the fine points of attending to people's needs, as well as organization and time management have earned him accolades from clients and other professionals alike. Chris brings 10 years of experience on the banking, and mortgage industry, including experience in managing international business-to-business relationships. A Bay Area Native, born and raised in Marin County, he has lived in Marin all his life. He met his beautiful wife at 23 and married her in 1997. They recently moved to Corte Madera where they continue to raise their daughter Jade and twin sons Stirling and Sebastian. Chris spends his free time playing with his family; they love to travel to new and exciting places. His personal values and his customer service skills are assets; Chris looks forward to helping Living Well members make their best choice when aging in place.
Membership Services, Mark Norrell
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Mark brings more than 15 years of sales and marketing experience to Living Well. He began his career in optical sales, then most recently worked for the San Francisco Examiner. Mark covered Sales/Marketing for first their Real Estate feature, then went on to handle their National Accounts where he closed the largest ad campaign with Clorox. It was in this role that he began working with several Assisted Living facilities and Home care agencies and realized this was a market he really wanted to pursue and be a part of. Mark has a proven track record in sales and an intelligent approach to relationship building and problem solving. Mark is excited to join the Living Well team and assist them in meeting their full potential.
The Professional Services Crew
Meet the Living Well Professional Services Crew.
The Advisors
Meet the team of Living Well Advisors.