Family Business LeadershipCornell

Certificate Program

Daniel G. Van Der Vliet is the John and Dyan Smith Executive Director of the Smith Family Business Initiative (SFBI) at Cornell University. As the founding director of the SFBI, Mr. Van Der Vliet has guided the launch and growth of one of the leading educational centers for family business. He designed and developed the “Leaders in Family Enterprise” course, and he teaches executives and next-generation leaders through Cornell’s external education and eCornell programs. Under Mr. Van Der Vliet’s tenure, the SFBI has developed the Cornell Case Competition for Family Ownership, the Mentors Forum, and the Family Innovations Summit. Cornell has been named as one of the “25 best schools for family business” by Family Capital in 2015.

As director of the Family Business Initiative at UVM from 2003 through 2014, Mr. Van Der Vliet worked with owners and their successors to find solutions that worked for both family and business. In January 2013, he was part of the team that launched and funded the first-ever Global Family Enterprise Case Competition, with 16 teams from nine countries. As director of the Vermont Business Center from 2004 to 2008, Mr. Van Der Vliet led the launch and growth of the executive education curriculum and management development seminars at UVM in addition to establishing custom training opportunities offered by the Grossman School of Business at UVM.

Mr. Van Der Vliet received his M.Ed. at the University of Vermont (UVM) in 2010 and his B.S. in Natural Resources in 2001, also from UVM. He is a member of the Collaboration for Family Flourishing and an editor with familybusiness.org, the leading resource for family business research and information.

Joe Astrachan is Professor Emeritus, and past executive director of the Cox Family Enterprise Center at the Coles College of Business, Kennesaw State University near Atlanta, Georgia, USA. While there, he held the Wells Fargo Eminent Scholar Chair of Family Business.

Dr. Astrachan has received numerous awards for his research and service from family business, entrepreneurship, management, and research-oriented associations including awards form the Family Firm Institute and the Family Business Network International. He is author or coauthor of more than 25 book chapters, 48 scientific publications, and ten books including the much acclaimed Communication and Conflict in Family Business, and Mechanisms to Assure Family Business Cohesion: Guidelines for Family Business Leaders and Their Families. He is a frequent speaker on the topic having given more than 300 speeches around the globe. Dr. Astrachan is coeditor of the scientific publication the Journal of Family Business Strategy, past editor Family Business Review.

Dr. Astrachan has over 30 years experience studying and working with family companies and has spoken in over 35 countries. He has served on a total of 16 boards of privately owned family businesses (currently serving on eight) in a variety of industries including: heavy equipment, automotive, restaurants, building materials, food manufacturing, retailing and distribution, commercial and multifamily real estate, and healthcare. Dr. Astrachan comes from a family business background (container and tanker shipping, coal mining and pharmaceuticals). Dr. Astrachan earned his B.A., M.A., M. Phil., and Ph.D. degrees at Yale University.

John Engels founded Leadership Coaching, Inc. in 1996, based on the integration of three cutting-edge research disciplines: neuroscience, Bowen Family Systems Theory, and the evolution of leadership in non-human species. Under John’s guidance, his consulting team continues to draw on decades of learning with family researchers and with accomplished scientists who study the leadership behavior of wolves, elephants, chimpanzees, and other animals. John earned an undergraduate degree in mass communications from St. Bonaventure University, and a master’s degree in theology from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. After those formal studies, Engels began his “real education” 20 years of study in Bowen Family Systems Theory, and 20 years of monthly visits to a lifer’s group inside Attica Prison. As both learner and teacher, John has traveled to many of the world’s most challenging environments, including Bangladesh, Haiti, Lebanon and post-Apartheid South Africa. He has addressed global audiences on topics related to the science and practice of high-maturity leadership, including at the American University of Beirut, Caritas Bangladesh, Cornell University, Enterprise Worldwide, The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Japan Family Center, The Port of Beirut, Simon School of Business, Taziki Psychiatric Hospital in Okinawa, and The United States Military Academy at West Point.

Holly Isdale founded Wealthaven in 2010 to provide clients with a single point of contact for the oversight of their wealth management needs. After 20-plus years on Wall Street, she was frustrated by the fact that wealthy families, despite hiring the best attorneys, accountants and investment teams, still could not achieve their financial goals, primarily due to lack of coordination and execution among the experts. Holly created Wealthaven to provide clients with high level strategic planning, hands-on oversight and conflict-free advice.

Holly has worked with entrepreneurs and business owners for her entire career — from initial funding to IPOs or mergers, through succession planning and even last rites. This in-depth knowledge of tax, investments, estate planning, family governance, philanthropy and just plain common sense, allows her to help families to identify their goals, create an actionable plan and to deliver results.

A graduate of Cornell University and of Boston University School of Law, Holly began her career as a corporate tax attorney but left the active practice of law in 1994 to build and lead the estate and financial planning practices for several top Wall Street firms, including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Bessemer Trust.

Holly serves on the board of Family Firm Institute, the global organization for family business consultants. She is a member of the American Bar Association’s Real Property, Trust and Estate Committee, the Purposeful Planning Institute, Philadelphia Estate Planning Council, Society of Trust and Estate Professionals and several other organizations. She is a frequent speaker on issues relating to family, tax and transition issues as well as philanthropic considerations.

Holly recognized as a finalist for the Family Business Advisor of 2013 award from STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Professionals).