WesleyLife President and Chief Executive Officer Rob Kretzinger has been named a recipient of a 2026 McKnight’s Pinnacle Award, an honor celebrating veteran leaders who have advanced the fields of aging services, long-term care, and home and community-based services.
McKnight’s is a national, independent news organization focused on senior care and aging services. Its publications — McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living, and McKnight’s Home Care — are regarded widely as leading sources of industry reporting, analysis, and recognition programs.
The Pinnacle Awards highlight professionals with at least 20 years of sustained impact. Honorees are selected by McKnight’s editorial leadership for contributions to innovation, quality improvement, organizational advancement, and mentoring across the sector.
Kretzinger has led WesleyLife for more than two decades, guiding the organization’s evolution from a group of five retirement communities into a broad network of health and well-being services that now supports more than 12,000 older adults each year. His 29-year tenure with WesleyLife has emphasized person-centered care, community partnership, expanded access, and a strong team culture.
Kretzinger's award nomination praised him for shaping not only WesleyLife but the wider aging-services landscape, calling out his "commitment to redefining aging and creating environments where older adults can thrive, which has set a meaningful and lasting standard."
Kretzinger will retire as president and CEO of WesleyLife on June 1, 2026. He will continue to help guide the organization as senior advisor.
He will be honored on March 18, 2026, at the McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards ceremony in New York City, where peers, family and colleagues will gather to celebrate this year’s class of honorees.
