Honoring Justin Dickinson

07 / 08 / 24

3 min read

Learn how Changemaker Justin Dickinson drives positive change in senior living in this 2024 series by Yardi and Senior Housing News.

The annual Changemakers series — sponsored by Yardi for the sixth year in a row — continues to celebrate innovative leadership in senior living. We’re loving the opportunity to feature visionaries like Justin Dickinson, co-founder of Evolve Senior Living, who’s part of this year’s Changemakers class.

With Evolve launching in 2023, Dickinson has fresh insights on topics crucial to the industry today including value-based care, data visibility and more. Read on for a glimpse at his insightful interview with Senior Housing News (SHN).

Learn from Changemaker Justin Dickinson

SHN: Do you see yourself as a Changemaker? Are you always excited to drive change?

Dickinson: Definitely. I think that the industry, depending on who you have spoken with or what your opinion is, was really founded in the early to mid-90s in terms of private pay, AL, and memory care. Over the course of time, the industry has shifted from more of a hospitality model to more of an acuity-driven model. As that shift has happened, there’s been a lot of change as it relates to data, technology, the operations, and the investment structure. I think that that change will continue to happen in what the future looks like in terms of hospitality or the acuity model is to be determined.

I believe that is going to be more of a care-driven model. From my perspective, being a new operator, and a younger individual in the sector, I do view myself as a change agent, having the ability to look at some of these problems with a fresh set of eyes and with fresh perspective. I think it’ll be interesting as regulatory pressures persist and the model changes to continue to look at things through a new lens.

SHN: Given where you think it needs to go, do you think that the industry is changing fast enough to keep up with the times?

Dickinson: Change is happening faster now than it ever has. This change is being driven by some of the regulatory pressures I mentioned and external capital market pressures. You’re seeing consolidation abound.

We went through the change curve that we saw on the data side through the ’90s and early 2000s. 2005 through late 2020 was the advent of the [Software as a Service] model. SaaS companies came about within our space and started to really make a move.

I think now we’re starting to see AI make a big play, and I’ll layer that onto the SaaS model. The change curve on the data size is reaching a new era, which will further expedite change. Change is happening quickly, and stakeholders need to be prepared for that.

SHN: Choose one artist, scientist, thinker, engineer, entrepreneur, or other person living or dead to help change the senior living industry for the better. In only a few words, who are you choosing and why are you choosing them?

Dickinson: Steve Jobs, because he’s a revolutionary thinker and he helped to reimagine his sector. We can use that type of insight in ours from a technological perspective.

Read more insights from Changemaker Justin Dickinson

Explore Justin Dickinson’s interview with SHN. We look forward to highlighting the next batch of honorees — coming soon!

AUTHOR

Natalie Mahn is a senior marketing writer at Yardi. You'll find her writing for the REACH by RentCafe team, where she loves putting her creativity and agency experience to the test. Natalie is based in Thousand Oaks, California.