Kate Kelly

KATE’S STORY

A CAREER BUILT around connection

THE path to Ageing Well

Born in Newfoundland and raised in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Kate Kelly’s path into the event industry was anything but planned.

It began thousands of kilometres from home while Kate was living in Japan and teaching English to junior high school students. While there, she began organizing events for other foreign English teachers through her divisional office. Something clicked. She discovered she loved bringing people together, organizing the details, solving problems and creating experiences that gave people a reason to connect.

What began almost accidentally became a career spanning more than 25 years. Kate went on to produce conferences, trade shows and events for diverse industries and audiences—from specialized scientific and academic conferences to international gatherings, association events and industry trade shows. Eventually, she founded ConventionALL Management Inc., where her work grew far beyond managing logistics.

Years later, Kate’s professional experience and her own family’s experience with ageing and loss would come together in an unexpected way.

Conversations with fellow Co-Founder Shawn Barrie about losing loved ones and helping families navigate major life decisions began raising bigger questions: Why is so much useful information scattered across different places? Why are families often left trying to navigate ageing, caregiving, health, housing, finances, wills and estates on their own? And why do we wait until a crisis to begin some of life’s most important conversations?

Those conversations eventually helped give rise to Ageing Well Expo.

Why Ageing Well matters

For Kate, the purpose behind Ageing Well Expo is deeply personal.

A few years before the Expo was created, Kate lost her mother to ovarian cancer. Knowing her time was limited, her mother chose to speak openly with her family about what was ahead.

Together, they downsized and organized her affairs. They discussed her health and end-of-life wishes, her will and estate. She went through her jewellery and clothing, wrote her own obituary, approved her eulogy and planned her funeral arrangements.

Those conversations couldn’t remove the grief.

But they removed uncertainty.

When her mother died, Kate and her family didn’t have to guess what she would have wanted. They could grieve knowing they were honouring decisions she had already made.

Kate describes that preparation as one of the greatest gifts her mother gave them.

That experience helped shape what she hopes Ageing Well Expo can provide for other families: an opportunity to learn, ask questions, discover resources and begin important conversations before a crisis makes those decisions necessary.

For Kate, ageing well isn’t about focusing on getting older. It’s about remaining active, engaged, happy and connected—and continuing to do the things that make life interesting while making thoughtful decisions about whatever comes next.

What guides her work

Kate’s approach to her work is collaborative, practical and direct.

She values integrity, curiosity and reliability. She believes in listening to people, surrounding herself with people who know things she doesn’t, and giving them the space to do what they do best.

More than 25 years in the event industry have also taught her that even the best plans will sometimes change. Experience, she believes, isn’t about preventing every possible problem—it’s about knowing how to respond when circumstances change and continuing to move forward.

If someone leaves one of Kate’s events with something they didn’t arrive with—a new connection, an idea, a useful resource or simply greater confidence about their next step—she considers that meaningful work.

Her philosophy is simple:

“Don’t wait for someone else to create the opportunity.”

And if Ageing Well Expo ultimately changes one thing, Kate hopes it is this:

That families stop waiting for a crisis to talk about the future.

Start the conversation.