Making an Impact and Building Community in the Family Firm, Office, and Foundation Space Through the Family Stewardship Council

The Gabelli School of Business Strategic Plan encourages faculty members to identify new opportunities for growth and expansion through the launch of new ventures designed to have an impact on the business community, to promote thought leadership, and to build key relationships that serve to elevate the brand.

In September 2023, Benjamin M. Cole, PhD, the William J. Loschert Endowed Chair of Technology Entrepreneurship and a professor of strategy and statistics at the Gabelli School, launched the School’s Family Stewardship Council (FSC), a forum exploring the unique challenges facing family-owned enterprises, including the complexities of succession planning, navigating generational differences, and managing separations and exits. Cole’s former student, Paul Gray ’19 EMBA, CEO and founder of Ironhold Capital and a member of a third-generation family firm, was a key catalyst for the launch and came on board as an advisor, leveraging his expertise and his network to help build the FSC and extend its reach.

Cole, who serves as the managing director of the FSC, notes that family businesses, which range from small firms to multibillion-dollar companies, recently have garnered increased attention. “There's an entire ecosystem around family businesses and family offices, with trillions of dollars in play, which the average person had never heard of until very recently. Now it's on the radar of the big money people, rather than just niche consulting companies,” he asserted. “There's a real need for an unbiased third party to provide knowledge to families and family offices. As an educational institution, we are well positioned to do that.”

Responding to the trends and needs in the family business space, the FSC hosts intimate gatherings and at least one large conference each year, featuring subject matter experts across fireside chats, panels, breakout sessions and roundtables. Sharing best practices, first-hand perspectives from industry leaders, and professionally relevant research, the events offer insights for family business executives; rising-generation successors and entrepreneurs; legal, wealth, and management advisors; academics and business students; and corporate heads committed to gender equity and sustainability. The FSC also produces workshops on impact investing for those who are interested in using their family wealth to make a difference.

Over the next year, the FSC will build on the success of its inaugural Women Leading in Family Enterprises (WLife) Conference, introducing a series of small-scale events designed to maximize the opportunity for interaction between participants. “Our ability to do community work in smaller settings will help facilitate conversations between families, so they can share their experiences in a safe space,” he said.

Looking further ahead, Cole and Gray hope to grow the FSC into a center that supports family businesses and fosters research and academic course offerings. “We have some MBA students who are from family businesses or worked in a multifamily office. When they learned about what the FSC is doing, they thought it was amazing, because it's hard to acquire this type of knowledge,” he noted. “One of our goals is to help open doors for students who seek to get into wealth management or family offices.”

Cole believes that the Gabelli School’s focus on business with purpose aligns with the emphasis that family business leaders place on legacy and responsibility. “They realize that we're creating something of value, and they appreciate our attention to human needs,” he explained. “I think that the Family Stewardship Council will become a real force for good.”

Written by: Kimberly Volpe-Casalino