The Management Team
Living Well's management team members have held top leadership positions in major senior and health-focused businesses. The team has solid skills in health care programming, creating innovative solutions to eldercare, and executing complex business operations. Our founders are two compassionate gero-psychologists who are experts in working with adults with memory loss, movement disorders and other chronic conditions associated with the aging and disorders of the central nervous system. Steeped with decades of experience in two different models of elder and assisted care, throughout the course of their careers Doris and Tessa saw gaps in these approaches while noticing the benefits to adults receiving care at home, inspiring them to create Living Well.
President, Founder — Doris Bersing, PhD
Doris is responsible for creating Living Well's culture and for providing leadership, program development, program oversight and fiscal accountability to Living Well's clients, employees and investors, in conjunction with other members of the Executive Team. She oversees the Wellness and Member Services, Safety and Technology and Concierge Pillars of the Living Well system of care. She is also responsible, with CEO Tessa ten Tusscher, for the development and implementation of the sales and marketing effort. Doris represents the board to the general public and shareholders, leads the strategic planning, selects major business decisions for discussion and possible vote by the Board members, and enforces matters of ethics and integrity. Prior to co-founding Living Well Assisted Living at Home, Doris was CEO for Pacific Institute, a leading provider of psychological programming, senior services, education and research on topics pertinent to eldercare. She grew its annual budget from $200,000 to $33 million in five years and led a staff of 115 healthcare professionals. Doris is on the faculty of two graduate schools and is a well known educator on topics related to diversity and aging. Doris designed the Gero-psychology concentration for a doctoral program at Saybrook University. 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 and currently serves as an expert witness for the U.S Supreme Court in cases of political asylum and elder abuse.
Chief Executive Officer, Founder — Tessa ten Tusscher, PhD
Tessa, in conjunction with other members of the Executive Team, has responsibility for providing leadership, program development, program oversight and fiscal accountability to Living Well’s clients, employees 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 not only clients' health and wellness outcomes, but also the economic value of home-based care. Tessa represents the board to the general public and shareholders, leads the strategic planning, selects major business decisions for discussion and possible vote by the Board members, and enforces matters of ethics and integrity. Tessa was Vice President for the Institute on Aging, 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 San Francisco Bay Area. A serial entrepreneur, Tessa was also founder and CEO for BAPTA — Northern California’s largest psycho diagnostic company. Tessa is a geriatric psychologist by training, with 18 years' experience working with seniors. She frequently provides education, presentations, expert testimony and consultation on elder issues.
Chief Financial Officer — Anthony Difede, CPA
Tony has extensive experience working in the Life Science Industry in Silicon Valley, having held the lead finance positions of CFO and Vice President Finance. Most recently he has held positions at biomedical companies, A-Cube, Inc. and Neuraltus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and in the medical device industry at Rubicor Medical, Inc. and Encapsule Medical. His responsibilities include strategic planning, Board reporting, company funding, accounting and finance operations, including oversight of HR and IT functions. Tony also has experience working at the financial services start up myCFO where he was part of a team that provided tax consulting services to high net worth individuals and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, including tax planning regarding pre-IPO stock positions, including stock options and founder stock. Prior to myCFO Tony held senior manager positions at the multinational accounting firms of KPMG and Ernst & Young where he provided tax consulting and planning services to executives and private and public companies. Tony has a BS in accounting from the University of Florida, and Masters in Taxation from Pace University. He is a Certified Public Accountant in California and holds a commercial pilot license with a flight instructor rating. With 4 kids, Tony spend his time between his multiple projects, his family and helping Living Well to become a leader in the eldercare field.
Director of Sales and Business Development — Lisa Grant
Lisa is a recognized leader with a reputation for building and leading high performance sales teams and successfully leading them to consistently deliver sales results. She draws on 25 years of results oriented experience in sales management, operations, managed markets and sales training with Merck and Co., Inc and Sanofi-Aventis. She has a strong reputation for the development of top leaders and high performers who are motivated and prepared to deliver outstanding results. The blend of skills developed throughout her 25 years in leadership roles positions her to fully comprehend and assess complex customer scenarios and devise strategic solutions that align products and services to customer needs in order to ensure enhanced profitability. With proven experience in sales management and operations, she has successfully collaborated with cross functional teams to drive business results, implemented key initiatives and processes that drove revenue, significantly strengthened operational controls and reduced costs.
Vice President of Health Care Services — Dr. Suzanne Dibble, RN
Suzanne is Adjunct Professor at the Institute for Health & Aging and Physiological Nursing. She received her doctoral education at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Dibble focuses on developing care models for those with chronic illnesses and terminal diseases, including breast cancer. She is dedicated to promoting culturally appropriate clinical care and is the founder and Co-Director of the Lesbian Health Research Center. She is a prolific writer who has many published books and articles in the lay and academic press. Her books include: Culture and Clinical Care (2005), You and Your Asthma (1980), and Culture and Nursing Care: A Pocket Guide (1996) which was chosen as one of the most valuable texts of 1996 by the American Journal of Nursing. Sue received her doctorate in Nursing from UCSF.
CPO (Chief People Officer), Josiane Kristensen
Josiane manages human resources functions for Living Well and is also the owner of Kristensen Consulting, 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
Laura 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.
The Professional Services Crew
Meet the Living Well Professional Services Crew.
The Advisors
Meet the team of Living Well Advisors.
