Dr. Fowler started doing mediation with families in business in 1983 when in a client family
he was working with, the parents had recently died, the excellent estate plan was then active, and the
siblings or cousins were in conflict and did not support the estate plan design. Because of this, Dean
shifted his work to make sure that the successor generation had a critical role in the design of the estate
plan to support their own vision for the future. Join us to hear some of the lessons learned and get a
glimpse into The Family Navigator, a family business assessment tool used to support successful,
intergenerational transitions.

About Our Speaker: Dean R. Fowler, Ph.D., is recognized as one of the world’s leading family business
advisors. For forty years he has served hundreds of families-in-businesses and facilitated Forums for
Family Business™ – peer advisory boards. The Family Firm Institute honored him with the prestigious
Award for Interdisciplinary Achievement. He is the author of several books including "Love, Power, and
Money", "Proactive Family Business Successors", and "Family Business Success Factors", and his essays
appear in both editions of "The Wisdom of Wealth." Through his international research, he developed
an assessment process - The Family Navigator - completed by the entire family and its advisors to
measure twelve competencies for successful intergenerational transitions.

Learn a few simple rituals and practices that encourage young people to be generous, explore purpose and passion, and even begin to understand their place in the world. These practices allow young people to pair the power of questioning with the power of giving. It offers them a safe space to explore big ideas such as, “Am I enough?”  “What is enough?”  and lets them know that adults are interested in what they have to say.

About Our Speaker: 

Sue Schwartzman has over two decades of experience working with high- net worth individuals, families, and teens, to systematically and strategically engage in philanthropy and volunteerism and to navigate and communicate about money and values. 

Sue recently co-authored her first children’s book, Two Measly Spots!- a children’s book so delightfully adventurous and vibrantly animated on a topic important for all of us to explore: what does enough mean? What is enough? What is the allure of more? Sue is on a quest to support people in determining their own “enoughness”. 

Sue pioneered one of the most esteemed teen philanthropy programs internationally. Her work is responsible for training more than 900 teenagers who have raised over $10 Million for an array of non-profits. She also developed a Seventh Grade Philanthropy Curriculum still used to foster giving and civic engagement in middle school-aged kids. 

With a Masters of Education from Stanford University, Sue takes a distinct learn-by-doing approach to philanthropy that is informed by her decades-long teaching of hundreds of kids and young adults. She is passionate about connecting with youth and millennials alike, and is an acclaimed speaker and facilitator. 

Her work has also been featured in The San Francisco Chronicle, Investor’s Business Daily, The Atlantic Philanthropies, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Chicago Tribune and Times of Israel. 

A CAP (Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy), A 21/64-certified multigenerational family trainer, speaker, and advisor, Sue is a master at giving voice to all generations around the family philanthropy table, and at connecting family members in new and lasting ways. Learn more at www.SchwartzmanAdvising.com or reach Sue at [email protected].

Delve into the fascinating realm of understanding client personalities and their influence on financial decisions. In this session, we explore how personality traits can accurately predict saving, spending, and investing behaviors, enabling you to anticipate your clients' future actions and enhance your advisory skills. Learn about a variety of methods to measure personality, including observations, structured interviews, and tests that can provide valuable insights and uncover the unique characteristics of your clients, enriching your dialogue with them about money-related experiences and beliefs. 

About Our Speaker: Sarah Stanley Fallaw, Ph.D. is the co-author of The Next Millionaire Next Door and the founder of DataPoints. She works with firms around the world to help them understand their clients’ personalities. Sarah received her Ph.D. in Applied Psychology from the University of Georgia in 2003.

Maggie Klokkenga, CFP®, CPA shares how she utilizes the Klontz Money Script Inventory (KMSI-R) assessment with her clients in her financial coaching practice. She also introduces us to a tool that helps her clients practice the money scripts that they want, serving their current and future selves.

About Our Speaker: Maggie Klokkenga is a CFP® professional and CPA who has worked for almost 25 years in the financial services industry.  She has developed tools and understanding to help clients create the financial life they have always dreamed of.

What does “educating and empowering the next generation” really entail? Hear stories and best practices collected from work with hundreds of members of the rising generation and their families, from values and mindset to education and governance.  

About Our Speaker

Whitney has been working with multi-generational families since 2012 on topics ranging from wealth purpose, philanthropy, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, effective communication, relationships and prenups, and more. She is the Managing Director of Governance, Education, and Philanthropy at Cresset Capital and is the Founder of Launch Generation, experiential learning programs for teens.

In this episode, we explore the power of “clean language” in improving communication and avoiding conflicts within families. Emily and Melissa provide practical tips and insights on how to intentionally use jargon-free, simple, and clear language to enhance communication between family members. By learning how to communicate effectively, and differentiate between observations and facts, you can build trust and create a more positive environment for complex decision-making. Join us on this journey to better communication and stronger family relationships.

About Our Speaker

A specialist in family dynamics, Emily Bouchard focuses on the emotional impact of wealth on estate and financial planning. Backed by her extensive experience, she fosters better communication and leadership skills to help multigenerational families successfully transition their businesses, assets and values.

About Our Host

Melissa Mitchell-Blitch helps family members develop skills to navigate decisions, transitions, and conflict related to business and wealth. She is the author of "In the Company of Family: How to Thrive When Business IS Personal" and serves as Dean of Individual Development for the Purposeful Planning Institute.

Today we’re discussing ways to guide families through the unique opportunities and challenges they face in the areas of inter-generational wealth transfer, business succession planning, estate planning and philanthropy. Aileen is co-author of Inspired Wealth, Financial Leadership for the 21st Century, a book that serves as a guide for making critical life choices about money to create a fulfilling life.

About Our Speaker

Aileen Miziolek brings a multi-disciplined and integrated approach to her work, including 20 years of experience in complex financial and estate planning for business-owning families. She holds the Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Family Enterprise Advisor (FEA), Certified Coach (ACC), and Organization and Relationship Systems Coaching (ORSC) designations.

Leveraging this unique blend of knowledge and professional experience, Aileen is a tremendous resource to the families she works with. She helps families design and implement strategies and processes that help them flourish across generations, both from a commercial and a relationship perspective. Her clients span various industries, including manufacturing, agriculture, food service, real estate, land development and property management.

Aileen is particularly passionate about working with siblings to overcome relationship challenges and help them become good business partners. She often finds herself coaching them through conflict and relationship barriers and helps siblings learn to “gel together” as a team. Through her work, she has found that many families fall into communication patterns that undermine their relationships and business goals. Aileen’s focus on coaching the family as a system is highly engaging and provides the understanding, tools, and skills necessary to manage conflict, rebuild trust, and have difficult conversations in new ways.

Her family business roots stem from a family history in farming. As a young entrepreneur, she launched her first start-up with new venture capital at the age of 25 and sold her first business a few years later. She then became a District Manager for The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, where she saw the need for specialized planning for family business. Aileen has been involved with several businesses since then and has had many interesting and also some challenging life experiences that have instilled in her a sense of resilience, gratitude, and hope, which she generously shares with the families she works with.

Today we are talking about the invisible structures that support family offices. We’ll uncover ways in which we can create more transparency and alignment between the family and the family office to build more trust and support the development of human and family capital.

About Our Speaker

An entrepreneur at heart, Kirby was born into a complex enterprising family and is the founder, innovator, and driver of Tamarind Partners who knows firsthand the critical needs of owners. She is an industry thought leader, world-renowned speaker, lauded author, and trusted advisor to family owners and their family office executives and advisors.

Kirby is the Dean of Family Offices for the Purposeful Planning Institute.

Planning for the long term is unsettling because growing older is stacked with complexities and risks. Growing older is unfamiliar territory for most. People of all ages can anticipate the challenges of life leading up to and beyond retirement. The value of starting early, before one faces a crisis, will equip adults/clients with knowledge and insight, preparing them more comprehensively to navigate and move forward. This process will equip them to take advantage of more opportunities that life has in store. 

About Our Speaker

Carol Marak got the wake-up call while helping to care for her parents. It raised the question: Who would help to care for her when she grew older? Unlike her parents, Carol was divorced and childless, lived alone in a suburb, and had little savings. She learned through caregiving the massive effort it involved, and that care could someday be needed for her—only she would not have family nearby to step up to the challenge.

From that experience, she wrote, SOLO AND SMART: The Roadmap for a Supportive and Secure Future. Carol founded the Elder Orphan Facebook Group, which launched in 2016. She also mentors and teaches others about the strategies that her book discusses. 

Building trusting relationships and healthy human capital have tremendous benefits, yet at times people we work with seem unpredictable, challenging to understand or to engage with. This presentation will translate findings from one of the most long standing clinical and research areas on human relationships -- human attachment theory - to management, consulting, and advising practices. In addition, we will share summaries of significant attachment-based research in this area applied directly to wealth management, financial planning, and generational wealth transitions. Applied ideas, tools, and assessment strategies will be discussed.

About Our Speakers:

Charles Eckhart, PhD, is a psychologist in private practice in Santa Barbara, CA, and a founder of Cathexis Group, a relational consulting firm. He has also held numerous teaching and administrative roles training clinical psychology doctoral students and is currently a visiting professor at a psychoanalytic institute. His expertise in wealth consulting lies in working with rising generation members to understand their unique complex stories and meanings related to wealth, and to support wealth transfer, family governance practices, family vision, and mutual understanding in families.

Oksana Yakushko, PhD, is a psychologist and psychoanalyst in practice in Santa Barbara, CA, and a founder of Cathexis Group, a relational consulting firm. She has had a long-standing research and teaching career at both Research I and private academic institutions. In addition to individual and group psychology, her areas of expertise focus on interactive aspects of global, cultural, and personal experiences related to experiences at work and relationships.