Senior Lifestyle’s National Director of Brand Creative earns the inaugural Rising Star Impact Award – and the recognition couldn’t be more deserved.
Senior Lifestyle is proud to celebrate Krystyna Keena, National Director of Brand Creative, as a recipient of Argentum’s 2026 Hero Award. Krystyna received the new Rising Star Impact Award, which recognizes an emerging senior living professional who has made a meaningful early impact through innovation, enthusiasm and a strong commitment to enhancing residents’ lives and the community around them.
Argentum announced the 2026 Hero Award winners during the Senior Living Executive Conference, recognizing professionals whose work reflects the compassion, leadership and excellence that define the senior living industry. In its announcement, Argentum recognized Krystyna for excellence grounded in lived experience, noting her deep respect for residents’ stories and her human-centered approach to challenging outdated perceptions of senior living.
For Krystyna, senior living has always been personal.
Long before she began her career in brand creative, Krystyna grew up in a senior living community where her mother served as Executive Director. She lived above a 40-unit community and spent much of her childhood immersed in daily community life, from serving pancakes in the dining room on weekends to joining activities after school and saying goodnight to residents she knew by name.
Those early experiences shaped how she sees senior living today. To Krystyna, a community is not defined only by its building, services or amenities. It is defined by people, relationships, dignity and the everyday moments that help residents feel known, valued and connected.
That perspective now guides her work as Senior Lifestyle’s National Director of Brand Creative. In her role, Krystyna helps shape how the Senior Lifestyle story is told across communities, campaigns and brand experiences. Her work has helped move the organization toward more authentic storytelling, including large-scale photography and videography initiatives featuring real residents in real Senior Lifestyle communities. This approach replaced generic stock imagery with assets that better reflect daily life and help families understand what community living truly feels like.
Krystyna also played a central role in launching Senior Lifestyle’s Signature Experiences, one of the most comprehensive brand initiatives in the organization’s history. Her work helped bring the programs to life through naming, visual identity and creative rollout, making the brand promise more tangible for residents, families and team members.
“Krystyna’s deep understanding of the Senior Lifestyle brand, combined with her passion for senior living, has been essential in bringing our brand to life across the website, national campaigns and Signature Experiences,” said Cherie Dupor, Senior Vice President of Communications at Senior Lifestyle. “Because of her exceptional talent, leadership and dedication, we have elevated our brand standards and executed some of the most impactful initiatives in the history of Senior Lifestyle.”
Her influence extends beyond creative execution. Krystyna is known as a thoughtful collaborator, a mentor and a trusted resource for teams across the organization. She has led a national marketing internship program, served as a guest lecturer for undergraduate marketing students and helped support the next generation of professionals through coaching, encouragement and example.
Her leadership reflects the same values she first experienced as a child growing up in a senior living community: hospitality, connection, purpose and care for the people who make each community special.
At Senior Lifestyle, Krystyna’s recognition is more than an individual achievement. It is a reflection of the creativity, heart and forward-thinking leadership that continue to shape the future of senior living.
Congratulations, Krystyna, on this well-deserved honor and on being named Argentum’s 2026 Rising Star Impact Award recipient.
Learn more about Argentum’s 2026 Hero Award winners.