Where Senior Living Strategy Meets Real-World Wisdom
There’s a particular kind of credibility that only comes from having done the work, really done it, across decades and disciplines. Scott Eckstein has that kind of credibility, and it shows up in his work.
With over 35 years of diverse experience spanning research, analysis, development, operations, and education in the senior living space, Scott occupies a rare position: equally fluent in the boardroom, the classroom, and the community. He’s not a theorist who occasionally visits the field. He’s a practitioner who also happens to take part in teaching and thought leadership.
As Managing Director of Active Living International, an internationally focused active adult and senior living advisory firm, Scott works across the full spectrum of senior housing, from market feasibility and site selection to operations, turnarounds, and strategic planning. His specialties reflect years of hands-on experience: pro forma analysis, new community openings, workforce recruitment and training, sales and marketing, and the kind of complex problem-solving that only comes from having navigated those challenges firsthand.
His academic career is equally impressive. Scott currently serves as Adjunct Professor at UNLV’s William F. Harrah College of Hospitality, where he teaches a course called The Sphere of Senior and Later Living and is currently creating micro credentials for students interested in senior living. Before that, he directed the Senior Living Concentration and served as Adjunct Professor at Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration, and prior to that was a Clinical Assistant Professor and Senior Living Executive-in-Residence at the Granger Cobb Institute for Senior Living in the Carson College of Business at Washington State University. Across these three universities, the throughline has been the same: bringing the real world into the classroom and bringing fresh thinking back to the industry.
On the consulting side, Scott is a key member of the CiminoCare Consulting team, contributing to acquisition strategy, development feasibility, and operational improvement for middle-market senior living communities. He also brings an international lens that few in the field can match with experience and relationships spanning Europe, Latin America, and beyond.
Scott earned his B.S.B.A. from The American University in Washington, DC, and his M.B.A. from the Stern School of Business at New York University, a business foundation that underpins his analytical rigor and strategic instincts.
What sets Scott apart isn’t any single credential or role. It’s the integration of all of it, the investor mindset, the operator’s instincts, the educator’s ability to translate complexity into clarity, and a genuine belief that senior living, done right, is one of the most important and meaningful industries there is.
