Benchmark Senior Living Names Bradley Vice President of Culinary

October 1, 2024

WALTHAM, MA – Benchmark Senior Living, a senior living provider in New England, has announced the appointment of Dawn Bradley as vice president of culinary. She comes to Benchmark with a wealth of experience managing senior living and healthcare dining services.

Bradley has over 25 years of experience addressing the unique dietary needs of senior living community residents and patients in healthcare settings. As vice president of culinary for Benchmark, she oversees all aspects of dining, including the culinary concepts at each Benchmark community. She will also provide leadership and guidance to Benchmark’s regional and community associates, with the goal of creating seamless kitchen operations.

Before joining Benchmark, she was senior vice president of healthcare and senior living for NEXDINE, a national dining services company; she also spent nearly a decade at Sodexo, where she eventually served as vice president of operations. Bradley began her career working directly for senior living providers.

“Dawn’s commitment to excellence meets the high standards to which Benchmark holds itself,” said EVP/COO John Hartmayer. “She also has extensive experience with large and growing organizations like ours. Over our 27-year history, superior dining experiences have become a Benchmark hallmark, so we’re excited to be able to harness Dawn’s tremendous expertise and business acumen so that we can continue to raise the culinary bar even higher.”

Benchmark’s excellence in dining has been evidenced by dozens of state and industry culinary awards for things like best chef and best dish. For the last two years, Benchmark has been the exclusive senior living sponsor of the popular Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival in Newport, Rhode Island.

Benchmark operates 66 independent living, assisted living, memory care, and continuing care communities, with more than 6,700 dedicated associates, throughout the Northeast. The Waltham-based company was founded more than 27 years ago by Tom Grape. Since then, Benchmark has won over 300 hundred local, regional, and national awards for its care, programs, and as a top workplace. Benchmark has been named one of the Top Places to Work for 16 straight years in The Boston Globe’s annual employee-based survey and received repeated recognition in Fortune’s Best Workplaces for Aging Services list. In 2024, Benchmark communities received 62 U.S. News & World Report Best of Senior Living excellence awards based on resident and family feedback.