Our Team
Michael Schonbrun – President & CEO, Balfour Senior Care
Michael Schonbrun, Balfour’s Founder, President and CEO, has extensive experience in housing and health care services for seniors. For more than 25 years Michael has worked in assisted living, long-term care, hospital, HMO, home health and hospice care environments. His vision for Balfour is to provide a continuum of options for seniors that meet their current and future housing, social and medical needs.
Elinda Dennis – Executive Vice President and CFO, Balfour Senior Care
Elinda Dennis joined Balfour’s executive management team in January 2004. As Chief Financial Office and Executive Vice President, she is responsible for all finance, related aspects of the company, including fiscal operations at Balfour Senior Care, LLC, Balfour Retirement Community, Balfour Cherrywood Village, the Lodge at Balfour, and The Residences at Balfour. Elinda also oversees facilities management and human resources at each of the Balfour properties.
Cheryl Davis – Executive Director, Balfour Independent Living Communities
Cheryl joined Balfour in April, 2011 as Executive Director of Balfour’s independent living communities including The Cottages, The Lodge, The Retreat and the Residences at Balfour. In her role at Balfour, Cheryl is focused on further complementing the high level of service and care that the team is currently providing to residents and their family and friends on a daily basis.
Sandy Christensen, RN, NHA – Vice President of Operations and Executive Director of Balfour Retirement Community
Sandy has over 20 years experience in healthcare working at all levels in long-term care and assisted living. Sandy joined Balfour in 1999 as the director of nursing for four years and was then promoted to the position of Executive Director. Previously she has worked as assistant director and director of nursing, staff development coordinator, and charge nurse for a national nursing home chain with facilities in Colorado.
Megan Carnarius, RN, MT, NHA – Executive Director, Balfour Cherrywood Village
Megan Carnarius joined Balfour as Executive Director of Balfour Cherrywood Village in 2002. She is a nurse, licensed nursing home administrator, and a much sought after speaker on the topic of Alzheimer’s care, a specialty that she has focused on in her training, management, and program design for more than a decade.
Susan Juroe, Esq. – General Counsel, Balfour Senior Care
Susan E. Juroe, Esq. is General Counsel for Balfour Senior Living. Prior to joining Balfour in 2003, she was a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Holland & Knight, LLP, the nation’s second largest law firm, specializing in real estate development and finance. Her area of emphasis is affordable and senior housing development and the programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Cynthia McKee – Director of Corporate Marketing
Cynthia joined Balfour as Corporate Marketing Director in 2011. Prior to that she spent 18 months in the capacity of marketing consultant. She is responsible for assisting all Balfour Senior Living Communities as a key resource in marketing efforts and initiatives as well as continuing to develop and strengthen the Balfour brand. Cynthia has more than 20 years’ experience in marketing and sales in the Washington, D.C. area including public and private sector organizations and telecommunication start-ups.
Jane Drury, SPHR – Vice President of Human Resources
Jane joined Balfour in 2006 and is responsible for all human resources aspects of the company including employment and staffing, compensation and benefits, employee relations and compliance. Jane has over 20 years of experience working in the human resources field.
Balfour’s Advisory Board
Balfour Senior Living’s advisory board meets quarterly to discuss key strategic, financial and operational aspects of the business. The board includes (from top left to right) Mr. Zack Neumeyer, a hotel and hospitality entrepreneur; Mr. James Krantz, a business psychologist and consultant based in New York City; Mr. Charles Wilke, an investment banker based in Seattle; Mr. Jim Bunch, an investment banker specializing in acquisitions and mergers; Ms. Susan Juroe, Balfour’s legal counsel whose area of expertise is housing finance; Michael Schonbrun, Founder and CEO of Balfour Senior Living.
Balfour’s Leasing Team
Independent Living – The Cottages, The Lodge, The Residences and The Retreat
Peter Torrens – Leasing Consultant
Peter began his career at Balfour in 2004 as a Leasing Team Assistant for The Lodge at Balfour. Soon after he was promoted to the position of Move-In Coordinator and then to Senior Leasing Consultant. During his time at Balfour he has assisted more than one-hundred new and existing residents with their moves to independent living and throughout Balfour’s continuum. Prior to joining Balfour Peter worked in the property management industry for more than 20 years as an Executive Rental Manager and Executive Rental Operations Manager. He also owned and managed a credit and background check company.
Cynthia Hogarth – Leasing Consultant
Prior to working with Balfour, Cynthia developed a career in the luxury goods and high-tech industries where she had the opportunity to develop many relationships within the Boulder community. Most of her life has been spent in the Boulder area and Cynthia feels very strongly about giving back to the community that has enriched her life so greatly. She has served on the board of Boulder County’s YWCA, along with volunteering much of her time with many local nonprofit organizations. While Cynthia’s formal education was in Psychology and Business, she has learned many life lessons while skiing, bicycling and especially hiking with her dog Chloe.
Assisted Living, Skilled Nursing and Advanced Memory Care
Balfour Retirement Community – The Villa, The Wellshire, The Reserve
Candy Riedel, Lead New Resident Advisor
Candy Riedel joined Balfour in 2005 and for the past six years she has dedicated herself to helping families find the right living situation for their loved ones. Prior to joining Balfour, Candy spent 16 years in Colorado developing a career as a specialist in multi-family commercial real estate with a focus on property management.
Kristine Wert, New Resident Advisor
Kristine joined the leasing team at Balfour Retirement Community in January of 2008. Prior to that she held positions in the Life Enrichment and Transportation departments at The Lodge at Balfour. In her position as New Resident Advisor she works closely with incoming residents and their families from the decision-making process through move-in.
Alzheimer’s, Dementia and Memory Care – Balfour Cherrywood Village
Debbie Pownall, New Resident Advisor
Debbie Pownall joined Balfour in August 2002, working at both Balfour Retirement Community and Balfour Cherrywood Village. In May of 2003, Debbie became the New Resident Coordinator at Balfour Cherrywood Village. In this position, Debbie is the liaison between family members and staff throughout the move-in process. Debbie’s true desire is to work with families as they strive to find a community that offers only the best for their loved ones. Prior to joining Balfour, Debbie was a retail sales manager for a national department store chain and was also a manager for Liberty Life Insurance Company. One of Debbie’s proudest accomplishments was working as an interpreter for the deaf for nine years. Debbie completed the certification program in gerontology with University of Colorado, Colorado Springs campus in the spring of 2011.
