About JASS
We've run the buildings.
Now we help you build yours.
JASS International brings together operators, healthcare founders and strategists who have opened, run and grown senior living and care communities in the United States, China and Europe, and who now advise on resort and residential projects worldwide.
What we believe
Four principles
behind every project.
Hospitality first, care always
Residents should feel like guests in a beautiful place, with clinical care there the moment they need it and invisible when they don't.
Local, never imported
A community in Lisbon, Sofia or Shanghai shouldn't be a copy of one in California. We adapt international standards to local culture, families and budgets.
Healthspan is the brief
The goal is more good years. That shapes everything, from floor plans and daylight to dining, movement and diagnostics.
Operators at heart
We have run the buildings we advise on. A plan only counts if a care team can deliver it on a Tuesday night in February.
Our people
Operators, founders
and gerontologists.
Founder & CEOJim Biggs
- MPA, Troy University
- B.S. Health Care Management, Texas State University
- Lecturer, USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology
Jim has led senior living communities since 1988, more than 45 of them, across the United States and China.
He spent 23 years with Life Care Services, one of the largest U.S. managers of senior living and continuing care retirement communities, rising to vice president of its largest territory. In 2011 he moved to China, where he co-founded Vcanland Senior Living Investment Group and grew its Friendship House brand from a single 26-bed conversion in Tianjin to about a dozen locations in Tianjin and Shanghai.
Back in California, he became CEO of West Bay Senior Living and co-founded Momentum Senior Living. West Bay has served more than 4,000 residents, at communities including The Variel in Woodland Hills and The Carrington in Lincolnwood, Illinois, where he lived on site through the pandemic. He teaches aging services and leadership at USC.
AssociateIlian Grigorov
- MHA, University of Minnesota
- MASLH, University of Southern California
- MSc
Ilian is a healthcare entrepreneur and investor who has built some of Southeast Europe's leading care and longevity companies.
He began in mergers, acquisitions and private equity with Soros Fund Management and KPMG Corporate Finance, then founded City Clinic, which grew into Acibadem City Clinic, Bulgaria's largest healthcare provider. He has served as a director of more than 20 companies.
He co-founded Blocks, a rehabilitation and elder care campus at the foot of Vitosha Mountain outside Sofia, and in 2024 co-founded Blue Longevity Clinic, which raised €2 million in 2025 to open clinics in Sofia, Athens and Istanbul.
AssociateCarlos Vanegas
- M.A. and M.S., Gerontology and Human Resource Management
- M.A. Senior Living Hospitality (in progress)
- Licensed Nursing Home Administrator, nine states
- Certified Dementia Practitioner
Carlos is a senior care operator with more than 32 years in continuing care, assisted living and skilled nursing communities.
He began with Life Care Services in 1993 and rose to Executive Director of Abbey Delray in Florida, overseeing 358 independent living residences, a 100-bed skilled nursing facility and a 14-bed assisted living facility. He went on to lead regional operations for Encore Healthcare, Compass Pointe, Advanced Healthcare Solutions and PCPMG across Florida and Texas, and oversaw 12 skilled nursing facilities in New Mexico.
Today he advises operators on efficiency, team strength and quality of care, and trains staff in dementia and Alzheimer's care. He is a recipient of the Dale Carnegie Highest Achievement Award.
AssociateAllison Dykens
- M.A. Senior Living Hospitality, USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology (2027)
- B.S. Business Management, Woodbury University
- Certificates in Hospitality Management and Commercial Real Estate, Cornell University
- International Scholar, Enterprise Management, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Allison is a brand strategist trained in gerontology who shapes how senior living and wellness projects are positioned, designed and presented to investors.
She began her career at Sony PlayStation Network, managing film and television partnerships across North America, Europe and Japan, and has worked as an independent strategy consultant since 2015.
In senior living she has led marketing, compliance, HR documentation and web development for operators, and developed healthy-housing concepts for older adults and people with disabilities, with a focus on indoor air quality and sensory-friendly design. At JASS she leads concept, brand and investor communications.
Healthspan is the new luxury.
We help build the places that deliver it.