Family Stories: Enterprise Case Study Videos
Enterprise Vision
Best Practices for an Enduring Family Enterprise
Rick Roeding, President of Summer Hill, Inc.
How one family built an enterprise for future generations by being transparent, having patience, and focusing on values. This video covers six key Family Enterprise best practices: (1) Family Vision for the Future (2) Family Alignment and Engagement (3) Enterprise Opportunities and Risks (4) Enterprise Goals and Metrics (5) Enterprise Governance (6) Family Learning and Leadership Development.
Long-Term Planning for the Family Enterprise
Neil McKay, CEO of the Todd Family Office
New Zealand
How the family office serving the fifth-through-seventh generations of the Todd Family in New Zealand carried out a strategic planning process to map the future goals and financial opportunities for the family enterprise. Neil McKay, Chief Executive Officer of the Todd Family Office, walks through each step in that planning process and shares the lessons learned.
Presented at the 2012 FOX Fall Forum
Preparing the Family for a Successful Future
Mitzi Perdue, Author of How to Make Your Family Business Last
Mitzi Perdue, widow of Frank Perdue of Perdue farms and original member of the multi-generation Henderson family, draws upon her experience of being part of two successful families to share how those families have stayed together for generations. Timely and thoughtful exploration of future planning is required but often overlooked. This session presents four practices—family vacations, newsletters, family book, and family awards—that have resulted in lasting success for her families.
Presented at the 2017 FOX Fall Forum
Family Learning
Wildlife Carers, Not Zookeepers
Marianne Stillwell of the Stillwell Family Enterprise
Melbourne, Australia
How the Stillwell family empowers the next generation or “the cousin generation” to engage in family decisions. Marianne Stillwell, executive director of the Stillwell Family Office in Melbourne, Australia, describes how the next generation creates its own processes for decision-making through family forums.
Presented at the 2018 FOX Fall Enterprise Forum
Engaging the Next Generation through Philanthropy
Josh Kanter and Janis Kanter
How the Kanter family arrived at a solution for getting their next generation involved in working together through philanthropic giving. When faced with the challenge of getting cousins—ranging in age from 8 to 28—more engaged in family activities, the Kanters tried various methods, many of which failed to work. They discovered that the best way to foster involvement was to be innovative and to simply “try, try again.”
Presented at the 2013 FOX Fall Forum
Family Meetings
Why Resilient Families Hold Family Forums
Marianne Stillwell and Chris Stillwell of the Stillwell Family Enterprise
Melbourne, Australia
Having held family forums (or family retreats) for 18 years, the Stillwells reflect on what works, what doesn’t work, and how family forums enforce a shared vision for the future. Besides being fun, annual family retreats help build the glue, or the resilience, needed to overcome the challenges that arise within any family, especially a family in business together.
Presented at the 2018 FOX Fall Enterprise Forum
Family Trusts
Transparency in the Trust Distribution Process
Sarah Bush Nuckolls, Chairwoman of the Bush Family Senate, Bush Brothers & Company
Sarah Bush Nuckolls was a school teacher and new mom when she found out about her family trust. As the daughter of someone who wasn’t transparent, she felt like a meteor hit when she found out she was a beneficiary of a trust. She felt totally unprepared. She goes on to describe the efforts that have gone in to setting up a shareholder senate and creating an environment of true ownership and transparency for the next generation.
Presented at the 2018 FOX Private Trust Company Workshop
Philanthropy and Impact
Integrating Passion with Impact Investing
Jesse and Betsy Fink, Founders of Marshall Street Management
How the Finks became a family of impact. After meeting Betsy in forestry school, Jesse Fink was the founding chief operating officer at Priceline.com (Betsy also held a management position at Priceline). After the Priceline.com IPO, they chose to focus on identifying and solving environmental issues, becoming early adopters of venture philanthropy and impact investing. In this session, they share their journey—from starting an impact investment firm, building a sustainable farm, and founding a non-profit focused on food waste. They also discuss how they’re not necessarily interested in having a legacy. Instead, along with their children, their values center around integrating their passion for food sustainability with having an impact.
Presented at the 2017 FOX Fall Forum
The Importance of Financial Literacy for All
Melody Hobson, President of Ariel Investments, Board Chair for DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.
Melody Hobson, recognized investor, wants everybody to be financially literate. Many of her social causes are devoted to making sure underprivileged children have access to financial education. Here, Hobson—who is married to George Lucas—talks with Sara Hamilton about values for her own family, the Giving Pledge, and the importance of financial education for the next generation.
Presented at the 2016 FOX Fall Forum