---
title: "FirstLight Home Care Honors Franchise Award Recipients During National Conference"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/4148eb30-2a35-49eb-912a-959ebc570860
source: "Franchising.com"
original_url: https://www.franchising.com/news/20240529_firstlight_home_care_honors_franchise_award_recipients_during_national_conf.html
category: "Home care"
industry: "Senior Care"
segment: "Home care"
published: 2024-05-29T12:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-10-31T18:50:04.395Z
image: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1524749292158-7540c2494485?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop
---

# FirstLight Home Care Honors Franchise Award Recipients During National Conference

**TL;DR:** FirstLight Home Care honored its top franchisees, caregivers, and team members at its annual conference in Napa Valley, CA. The conference featured industry experts and provided opportunities for franchisees to strengthen relationships and celebrate achievements.

*originally published in Franchising.com on 2024-05-29. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/news/20240529_firstlight_home_care_honors_franchise_award_recipients_during_national_conf.html).*

## Story

“We love coming together to celebrate our hardworking, dedicated franchisees and their incredible impact on their local communities,” said FirstLight President and CEO Glee McAnanly. “It’s amazing to bring together franchisees from across the country to not only commemorate their achievements from the prior year, but also to look ahead to the future of FirstLight and our vision for the home care industry.”

The conference provided many opportunities for FirstLight Home Care franchisees and team members to strengthen relationships, build connections and celebrate one another. The event included industry experts from esteemed organizations, including: Jason Lee, CEO of Home Care Association of America; Josh Vaughn, employment defense litigator at Littler Mendelson; Jennifer Stewart, Associate Managing Director at Lincoln Healthcare Leadership; Peter Barkman, Partner and Chief Growth Officer of BrandOne Franchise Development; and Todd Austin, President of Home Care Pulse. The conference also featured continuing education opportunities for franchisees across marketing, operations, technology, training and development, and more.

Susanne DiDonato of FirstLight Home Care of Western Connecticut- Southbury, was recognized as FirstLight’s National Caregiver of the Year for consistently going above and beyond for her clients and treating them with the utmost respect and dignity

FirstLight honored its Franchisee of the Year, Jim Carteris, owner of FirstLight Home Care of The San Francisco Peninsula. Carteris and his team were recognized for outstanding client satisfaction, quality of service, and year-over-year revenue growth.

The company also recognized other franchisees in various categories, including:

Quality Assurance. Each of these three won the Home Care Pulse Provider of Choice, Employer of Choice, and Leader in Experience awards for 2024. Winners were among the top 15% of the Home Care Pulse Experience Management Program:

- Lyndon and Marianne Christman, FirstLight Home Care of Central Ohio

- Ken and Mary Ellen Fleming, FirstLight Home Care of Charlotte

- Brian Wilson, FirstLight Home Care of Fort Collins and Greeley, Colorado

- Jeremy Fellows, Don Fellows and Jeffrey Lamborne, FirstLight Home Care of Grand Rapids

- Tim Smith, FirstLight Home Care of Oklahoma City

## Entities

- Franchising.com (publication)
- Senior Care (sector)
- senior care (topic)
- franchise awards (topic)
- FirstLight Home Care (company)
- Glee McAnanly (person)
- national conference (topic)
- BrandONE (company)
- Littler (company)
- Napa Valley (location)

---
Originally reported by Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/news/20240529_firstlight_home_care_honors_franchise_award_recipients_during_national_conf.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/4148eb30-2a35-49eb-912a-959ebc570860).