Third-largest Senior Living Nonprofit Acts Retirement-life Communities Names New Ceo

Karen Christiansen is slated to take the reins at Acts Retirement-Life Communities as CEO at the start of next year.

Currently serving as the organization’s president, she will succeed Gerald Grant on Jan. 1. Grant announced his retirement earlier this year, and he will continue to lead the organization through the remainder of 2026.

Acts is the third-largest senior living nonprofit in the U.S. with 10,531 units among 28 communities, according to 2025 LeadingAge Ziegler 200.

Christiansen’s career with Acts dates back 30 years and she has worked with the organization’s senior leadership council under four of its five CEOs. She has over the last few decades served as the organization’s executive vice president, CFO and senior vice president of financial services. Since 2020, she has worked as the organization’s president and has overseen teams responsible for operations, finance, real estate, information technology, human resources, marketing, branding and communications.

Christiansen, who is the organization’s sixth CEO, said she is “honored” to pick up where Grant is leaving the organization once he retires.

“I look forward to building on that legacy, supporting our communities, our team members and the residents we are privileged to serve each day,” she said.

Acts Retirement Life-Communities has grown and evolved in the last year. The organization expanded its Park Pointe Village community in Rock Hill, South Carolina, adding 109 acres to the campus and doubling its independent living segment. It also added improved lifestyle amenities, including an 18,000 square-foot clubhouse, walking trails, pickleball courts and new restaurants and new gathering spaces.

Acts also has sought to go beyond the “sea of sameness” of senior living marketing, Acts Retirement Life Communities Vice President of Sales Megan Longley said during the 2026 Senior Housing News Sales and Marketing Conference.

The organization has also turned to its attention to video usage as part of its marketing strategy to stand out, such as garnering thousands of views in a day from a snowstorm video captured by an Acts salesperson. Video testimonials from residents have reached a level of popularity that the organization created a small studio “news center” for recording branded and curated content, which helps highlight the community’s impact authentically.

“You can’t tell that story, the story of sameness, that we’ve all been living with,” Longley said. “You have to set yourself apart.”

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