Keynote Speaker | Workshops | Event Speaker

Dementia is best communicated LIVE! Creative Engagement is best EXPERIENCED! 

There is something special and unique about spending time in the same space together, to share the same air, and to connect the way we were created to connect.

Welcome to The Elevate Academy

For 10 years, Kate has taken the stage to speak about dementia, creative engagement, the family journey, and what it means to live fully alive with dementia. 

Let us share the stage together.

Artist Easel

Topics

Areas of Expertise

1

Arts and Aging | Arts and Health | Creative Engagement

2

Dementia and the Family

3

Dementia and Faith

4

Discernment and Innovation in Elder Care

Past Talks

Beauty through the Trials of Dementia

Connection

Creativity

Understanding

Flourishing

How it works

01

Reach out to Kate with a specific topic in mind or to create something new related to dementia, aging, and creative engagement.

02

Sign a contract

03

Host the event.

Your Speaker

Meet Kate

With a diverse background in arts and aging, and dementia, Kathryne Fassbender magnifies the importance of creativity, faith, and human connection. She provides creative care, education, and innovative ways to look at how we live with dementia.

Kathryne earned her B.S. in Art Therapy from Edgewood College in Madison, WI, with continued education in Drama Therapy.

After nearly a decade in Life Enrichment, she moved on to be an educator and speaker working with families and professional care partners alike. Upon starting her the Dementia Letters Project and The Hem of Christ, Kathryne Found ways to balance both practicing her craft in the arts and health, and sharing with others the knowledge gained as both a professional dan family carer.

Kathryne also serves on the faculty of the Avila Institute of Gerontology.

CC Forum Headshot

Where to Find Me

Iowa Catholic Radio, Jon Leonetti in the Morning – 7/12/21 Episode 186

Healing Ties 2.0 30 in 30 – 11/11/20

Boomer Living Podcast with Hanh Brown – Episode 43 10/5/20

Peace with Dementia Rosary – June 2020

Bountiful: Celebrating Kindness Leaders

OSV Innovation 2021 Semi Finalist for Hem of Christ Ministry

Separate and Unequal: A Time to Reimagine Dementia – The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, vol. 80 no. 4 pp.1395-1399, 2021

Member Spotlight by Samaritan Ministries

Encoure Virtuel Programming – TimeSlips

The Rubin Museum of Art’s Mindful Connections

AFA’s Teal Room: Storytelling and Art

Seeing Something New – Fox Valley Memory Project

Reminiscing vs Storytelling – Knowledgable Aging Webinar

The Spirit of Giving for those with Dementia – Commonwealth House of Rhode Island

Brooklyn Museum – Arts Access Programming

The Joy of Dementia – East Side Institute

The Cost of Aging – In Partnership with the University of Wisconsin Continuing Education Department 2015-2016

UPCOMING – Avila Institute of Gerontology Long-Term Care Conference – October 2025

UPCOMING – Center for Innovation Conference – August 2025

Avila Institute of Gerontology Annual Leadership Conference – April 2025

GIVEN Institute Forum – June 2025

Spirituality and Aging at the University of Waterloo – June 2022

Doctors Who Create: Creativity in Medicine Conference, Philadelphia, PA – March 27-28th 2020. (CANCELLED DUE TO HEALTH CONCERNS – Moved to 2021)

North American Drama Therapy Association Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA – November 7-10th 2019 – Drama Therapy and Our Elders: New Visions for Becoming Partners in Care

NYU Educational Theatre and Drama Therapy: Theatre and Health Forum, New York, NY – April 12-13th 2019 – TimeSlips as Theatre: Providing Intergenerational Healing Through Storytelling

Aging in America Conference, New Orleans, LA – April 14-18th 2019 – Re-Evaluating Life Enrichment

Alzheimer’s Foundation of America’s Educating America Tour November 1st, 2018 – Milwaukee, WI – Becoming Relational

Rhode Island Memory Café at Museum of Work and Culture, Woonsocket, RI

Rhode Island Memory Café at East Providence Senior Center, East Providence

Fox Valley Memory Project at Atlas Café, Appleton, WI

Are you ready to break free from overwhelm and step into your full potential?