Full Name
Joel Theisen
Job Title
CEO and Founder
Company
Lifespark
Speaker Bio
Joel has over 30 years of experience in the health care industry with specific expertise in home- and senior living-based elder care.
His entrepreneurial story began as a front-line nurse where he witnessed seniors in and out of what he felt was a ‘sick care,’ not a ‘health care,’ system. Deep in his soul, he felt socially responsible for changing the ‘roller coaster’ experience seniors faced which depleted their financial resources, decreased their well-being, and increased health care costs overall.
He started Lifespark, a complete senior health company, with a mission to spark lives, connecting seniors to whole person senior services that help them age magnificently. Under Joel’s leadership, Lifespark has seen year-over-year double-digit growth, closing 2025 with a revenue of over $70 million, and more than 3,500 employees.
Joel has perfectly positioned Lifespark as one of the only fully integrated delivery systems for senior living bridging years of expertise in health with senior living management. This transformational model called COMPLETE Senior Living builds on Lifespark’s strength in high-performing senior living management by integrating its geriatric medical expertise, in-home urgent response services, and world-class gamified resident wellness with a comprehensive path to hospice services. The result: a model that breaks the mold to deliver true health and wellness with top-of-the-market outcomes that matter … to seniors, families, employees, partners, and senior living owners
Joel’s vision for disrupting the ‘sick care’ system has evolved over the past 20+ years to wrap a complete set of senior health services around the person, wherever they live. Under his leadership, Lifespark hit several major milestones including pioneering global-risk value-based partnerships with two of the largest Medicare Advantage plans in Minnesota, testing and learning from a broad range of partnerships across the continuum, securing multiple investments in Lifespark’s growth, and acquisition of the Tealwood Senior Living portfolio (35 properties) which Lifespark has expanded to 50 across Minnesota and Wisconsin with market-leading performance.
Known as a business innovator, Joel has earned numerous accolades, including being named a finalist for Leaders in Health Care by the Minnesota Business Magazine, one of the Twin Cities’ 40 under 40, and honored as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award® finalist for the Upper Midwest in 2021, 2018, 2017, and 2011.
Prior to Lifespark, Joel served as Chief Executive Officer for AdvoLife, Inc., a venture-backed company in San Jose, CA. He trained as a critical-care nurse of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN and graduated from Viterbo College in La Crosse, Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
His entrepreneurial story began as a front-line nurse where he witnessed seniors in and out of what he felt was a ‘sick care,’ not a ‘health care,’ system. Deep in his soul, he felt socially responsible for changing the ‘roller coaster’ experience seniors faced which depleted their financial resources, decreased their well-being, and increased health care costs overall.
He started Lifespark, a complete senior health company, with a mission to spark lives, connecting seniors to whole person senior services that help them age magnificently. Under Joel’s leadership, Lifespark has seen year-over-year double-digit growth, closing 2025 with a revenue of over $70 million, and more than 3,500 employees.
Joel has perfectly positioned Lifespark as one of the only fully integrated delivery systems for senior living bridging years of expertise in health with senior living management. This transformational model called COMPLETE Senior Living builds on Lifespark’s strength in high-performing senior living management by integrating its geriatric medical expertise, in-home urgent response services, and world-class gamified resident wellness with a comprehensive path to hospice services. The result: a model that breaks the mold to deliver true health and wellness with top-of-the-market outcomes that matter … to seniors, families, employees, partners, and senior living owners
Joel’s vision for disrupting the ‘sick care’ system has evolved over the past 20+ years to wrap a complete set of senior health services around the person, wherever they live. Under his leadership, Lifespark hit several major milestones including pioneering global-risk value-based partnerships with two of the largest Medicare Advantage plans in Minnesota, testing and learning from a broad range of partnerships across the continuum, securing multiple investments in Lifespark’s growth, and acquisition of the Tealwood Senior Living portfolio (35 properties) which Lifespark has expanded to 50 across Minnesota and Wisconsin with market-leading performance.
Known as a business innovator, Joel has earned numerous accolades, including being named a finalist for Leaders in Health Care by the Minnesota Business Magazine, one of the Twin Cities’ 40 under 40, and honored as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award® finalist for the Upper Midwest in 2021, 2018, 2017, and 2011.
Prior to Lifespark, Joel served as Chief Executive Officer for AdvoLife, Inc., a venture-backed company in San Jose, CA. He trained as a critical-care nurse of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN and graduated from Viterbo College in La Crosse, Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
Speaking At
