In the evolving world of family offices, the next gen is stepping up, eager to bring their voices to the table. At the forefront of helping them succeed is Danielle Oristian York, executive director and president of 21/64, a nonprofit practice dedicated to empowering multi-generational families and next-gen leaders. She spoke with Crain Currency about the need to professionalize the family office industry and shared her insights on how the next generation can earn a place in the decision-making process.
In your experience working with philanthropic families, where do you see families getting stuck?
Traditionally, decisions were driven by those who held the power in families. This approach could have a number of unintended consequences, such as apathy, resentment and even complete detachment. In the 2000s, 21/64 developed and pioneered a multi-generational approach to family philanthropy. Our approach brings voice and agency to all participants sitting around the proverbial conference room table.
To this day, families get stuck when individuals don’t feel like they can assert their voice. This effect is felt ever more acutely as families grow generationally and through marriage. Whenever new people are added to a system, it’s important for families to reevaluate and ask, “Who are we today?” Through this work, families can articulate their collective identity and find alignment, while respecting legacy and those who came before them.
How do you work with family members to help professionalize the industry?
We work with families in many areas of their enterprise; and for many families, one of the first ways they collaborate is through giving together. With literally millions of nonprofits to give to and innumerable ways to exert one’s philanthropic resources, our clients seek a road map for doing this work. We equip families with the tools and best practices for effectively navigating this world of philanthropy. We challenge family members to individually and collectively get clear on the motivational values that drive decision-making and the guideposts they’ll use along the way to gauge success, whether that comes in the form of a strategic plan, investment policy or a mission statement. Said another way: Where do you come from, and where are you headed?
21/64 also works extensively with the professionals who serve and advance the strategy of multi-generational families, like philanthropic and wealth advisers, foundation leaders, family office staff.
Beyond our client work, as a mission-driven nonprofit, we are committed to elevating the profession as a whole through training and continuing education. Our popular “approach training” is grounded by concepts drawn from psychology and organizational development. It has been adopted worldwide and is today considered a best practice in family engagement, informing choices around wealth, philanthropy, legacy and stewardship. Attendees learn to help clients, donors and families clarify their identities — which in turn informs grant-making, investment, governance and other key areas of decision-making.
How do you work with next gens specifically?
There is an opportunity to influence the trajectory of young leaders when they are forming their own identities. We work with the next gen to help them develop themselves as a leader, which in turn leads to greater outcomes down the road. This is the where the “21” in our name comes from.
Our research underscores that investing in people during a formative stage of their life, and they will gain confidence in themselves to have agency in the world. While a family or organization may be excited to set up a fund or project for next-gen family members to participate in, young people need to clarify their own values, vision and voices before they can confidently join others and decisions. We advise families to invest in laying this important groundwork first, which in turn yields long-term results for decades to come.
What are the challenges that lie ahead for the rising gen?
Global discourse is trickling into families, and we find there is a growing gap in ideology. Compounding this is that conversation and deep listening are not well-developed at any generational level today, resulting in families talking at each other instead of with one another. As the rising generation steps into leadership roles, a geopolitical tinderbox with regional conflicts, environmental crises, racial injustice, an expanding wealth gap and an information crisis grows.
This generation of future leaders will need to learn the art of communication and engagement in order to lead courageous conversations and grow consensus for leading a way forward. Though they are the not the first generation to face a complex web of interlocking social, political and economic issues, they are the first generation to come of age at a time with up to four other generations in roles of leadership. Who will they become? What matters the most to them? What resources will they marshal to lead in ways aligned with their values? We are eager to see how they step up and step in.
How do you discuss and work with the concept of diversity for the family office industry?
Families who are successful, naturally, become more diverse. This happens through marriage and generational growth, as diversity is a natural outflow of growth. A family not prepared to embrace diversity will not be able to thrive.
Ellen Perry has given us a terrific metaphor about “pitching a big tent,” which speaks to our philosophy of connecting on what matters to you, your values; not how you look, went to school, etc. When families invest the time to know themselves and know each other, they can draw upon the deep wells of knowing that are within the family. This knowledge also creates an awareness of what skills and abilities need to be staffed to field a great team. No one needs a team with the same kind of player and skill for each position, and families and family offices are the same.
Better outcomes happen when there is careful attention to growing culture that seeks and values difference, grounded and aligned in a unified vision for the future created together.