Program

 

  

2026 Life Jacket Association Annual Meeting

May 18 – 20, 2026
Wilmington, North Carolina

Thank you to our Sponsors!

AGENDA

Monday, May 18th
Noon - 5:00 PM LJA Board of Directors Meeting
6:00 - 8:00 PM Opening Reception

Tuesday, May 19th
8:00 - 9:00 AM Morning Networking
9:00 - 12:00 PM Welcome & Opening Remarks
  Keynote: Expose. Educate. Entertain.
Aaron Stasiak, CEO / Founder, Qualified Captain
  Life Jacket Association Update
  Kalkomey Update
  National Drowning Prevention Alliance
Alissa Magrum, Executive Director, NDPA
  USCG Office of Design and Engineering Standards
Jacqueline Yurkovich, U.S. Coast Guard (CG-ENG-4)
12:00 - 1:00 PM Lunch Break
  Canadian Safe Boating Council
Lisa Hanson Ouellette, Director of Education, CSBC
  USCG Office of Boating Safety
Tom Dardis, U.S. Coast Guard (CG-BSX-2)
  Creating A Culture of Water Safety: PFDs, Partnerships, and Policies to Make Time Around Water Safer
Jennifer Poteat, Executive Director, Colin's Hope
3:00 PM Off-Site Networking
6:00 - 8:00 PM Dinner Reception

Wednesday, May 20th
8:00 - 9:00 AM Morning Networking
9:00 - 12:00 PM Welcome
  Level 50 Education - Made to Move
Peg Phillips, Executive Director, National Safe Boating Council
  Rising Together: Aligning Industry with the U.S. National Water Safety Action Plan
Kelli Toth, Underway USA
Dana Gage, LV Project
  New Life Jacket Standard and How We Got Here
Chuck Hawley
  The Impact of Regulatory Changes
Gordon Colby, Mustang Survival
12:00 - 1:00 PM Lunch Break
1:00 - 5:00 PM Business Meeting
 

UL Solutions
Cathrine Martin, UL Solutions
  LJA Endorsement 
LJA Technical Committee
LJA Roundtable Discussions
Closing Cermonies

Featured Speakers