Meet our Leadership Team.
Get to know our organization.
We are honored to have a distinguished board of trustees with exceptional experience in health care and senior living at Covenant Living Communities and Services.
The executive leadership team and board of directors are committed to the strategic vision of assisting and meeting the needs of future generations of residents and staff.
Terri Cunliffe President and CEO
Terri started her career with Covenant Living in 1988 as the administrator of Assisted Living at Covenant Village of Florida. Her responsibilities grew with the organization and by 2010, she was named executive vice president with responsibility for campus operations, health and wellness and LifeConnect, eventually transitioning to Chief Operating Officer. In 2014, Terri was appointed president and CEO. She was educated at the University of Minnesota with a degree in long-term care administration and has a master’s degree in health services administration from Nova University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Jean “Jeannie” Justie Chief Financial Officer
Jeannie began her career in public accounting with Arthur Andersen LLP. SHe later joined Alexian Brothers Health Systems where she progressed to senior vice president of finance, providing executive oversight to centralized accounting and related support functions and oversight of the CFOs for the non-acute care operations. Jeannie is a CPA and graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and holds a graduate certificate in executive ministry leadership formation from Aquinas Institute of Theology.
David Erickson Sr. Vice President and General Counsel
David joined the Covenant Living leadership team in 2008 after serving as a legal consultant and management leadership trainer and marketing representative at Covenant Living communities across the country. As senior vice president and general counsel, David serves as legal advisor and handles the day-to-day legal matters, as well as corporate compliance and privacy and risk management. David received his law degree from Kent College of Law in Chicago.
Dee Brown Sr. Vice President, Human Resources
Dee comes to Covenant Living with over 25 years of Human Resource experience. Dee began her career at Allstate Insurance, where she was responsible for building human capital strategies focused on development, compensation, performance management, talent acquisition, culture, and employee relations. In 2019, Dee enabled talent strategies for the transformational growth efforts at Kemper as a human resource vice president. Dee holds a BA in Organizational Leadership and a MA in Organization Development, both from Roosevelt University. Dee joined Covenant Living in 2022.
Jay Hibbard Sr. Vice President, Sales, Communications and Business Development
Jay brings extensive experience with sales training and management as well as marketing strategy and execution, having worked with more than 50 continuing care retirement communities across the country. Jay began his senior living career at the Pines at Whiting, before becoming regional director of sales for ACTS Retirement-Life Communities. He also served as vice president of sales at Spectrum Consulting, and president of Bluespire Senior Living (formerly Martino & Binzer), a senior living marketing and communications firm. Jay joined Covenant Living in 2016.
Bill Rabe Sr. Vice President, Enterprise Operations
Bill joined Covenant Living in 2016 as chief information officer. Prior to that, Bill worked at ACE Hardware Corporation for 15 years in several leadership positions managing infrastructure for 5,000 retail stores and 15 warehouses. He was responsible for the implementation of key initiatives involving supply chain, datacenter consolidations, moving services to the cloud, and telecomm consolidation. After leaving ACE, Bill provided CIO services as a consultant.
Francis “Fran” Palma Sr. Vice President, Integrated Marketing and Digital Strategies
Fran began his career in 1995 building eldercare databases and providing online marketing. In 1999 he started an online advertising department for Partner Communications and in 2004 he joined Martino & Binzer to build a digital department. He has worked with more than 100 senior living organizations providing strategic marketing planning and direction, and regularly speaks at senior living conferences on digital marketing, lead generation and analytics. Fran joined Covenant Living in 2016.
Jay Prince Sr. Vice President, Community Operations
Jay joined Covenant Living in 2023 after serving as President and CEO at Heritage Community of Kalamazoo, Michigan for 10 years. He is a licensed nursing homes administrator with nearly 20 years of experience in senior living and healthcare. He chose this field because he was determined to foster change and innovation in the long-term care industry. Throughout his career, Jay has worked with for-profit and non-profit organizations, single and multisite senior living communities, home health, and hospice businesses. Jay works closely with executive leadership and his teams in dining, facilities management, resident life, and healthcare services as he strives to enhance the resident and employee experience at all levels of living while ensuring our communities operate at the most successful levels.
Randal “Randy” Gross Vice President, Project Development
Randy began his career at UPS where he was responsible for environmental compliance, project management and facility maintenance for distribution centers in Southern Illinois. In 2005, he joined Cardinal Health as a systems technology manager responsible for facility maintenance and capital expenditures. In 2008, he joined Brookfield Zoo as a department manager responsible for several work groups, including heating and cooling technicians, carpenters, electricians, exhibit builders, and life support engineers. Randy joined Covenant Living in 2011.
Elizabeth McLaren Vice President of Health Services Strategy, Programming & Integration
Elizabeth McLaren joined the Covenant Living leadership team in August 2009 as the National Director of Healthcare, overseeing third party billing and providing support for Covenant Living healthcare communities. Her responsibilities expanded to more direct involvement in the skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, and in 2018, she was named Vice President of Health Services Strategy, Programming & Integration. Prior to coming to Covenant Living, Elizabeth served as a consultant to Covenant Living through Frost, Ruttenberg & Rothblatt (FR&R).
A leader at the national level in the healthcare industry, Elizabeth is a member of the LeadingAge Illinois Skilled Nursing Facility Cabinet. She also is on the American Healthcare Association (AHCA) not-for-profit provider council and the healthcare provider billing advocate committee. In 2011, Elizabeth authored “Long-Term Skilled Services: Applying Medicare’s Rules to Clinical Practice,” a book that is considered a seminal resource for those involved in Medicare billing.
Elizabeth has two young daughters, and she and her husband live in Round Lake, Illinois. The family is actively involved in the life of St. Bede’s Catholic Church in Ingleside, Illinois.
Christopher Blair Vice President, Dining Operations
Chris brings diverse operations experience in healthcare, hospitality and restaurant operations to Covenant Living. After earning an undergraduate degree and MBA in Healthcare Management from the University of Illinois, Chris served in several leadership roles within the health care industry, in both clinical and insurance payor operations. In 2001, Chris ventured into entrepreneurship as a multi-unit franchise owner and operator of Culver’s restaurants. In 2015, Chris co-founded a consulting business, specializing in hotel and commercial hospitality.
Rose Lester Vice President, Philanthropy
Rose has more than 40 years of experience in management, recruiting, marketing, fund development, and public relations. For the majority of her career, Rose served as the president of Lester Consulting Group, Inc., where she was responsible for building community networks. Rose has counseled national clients in health care, social services, higher education, and religious institutions. Her models for fundraising success, strategic planning, and board development have strengthened multiple nonprofit organizations. Rose is responsible for developing the Covenant Living culture of philanthropy while ensuring our fundraising efforts run smoothly, strategically, and are integrated across the organization.
To learn more about our communities, please click here to contact us online or call us at (888) 401-6459.