Congratulations to the 2025 Achievement Award Recipients

gold trophy with blue background and white stars falling from the sky

Prepared Exclusively for FFI Members

June 20, 2025

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n 1992, to further enhance its multidisciplinary and global approach to family enterprise advising, consulting, and research, FFI began to establish awards for professional achievement. Today there are four: Richard Beckhard Practice Award, Barbara Hollander Award, Interdisciplinary Award, and International Award.

These prestigious awards are the pinnacles of achievement in the field, and we are pleased to announce this year’s recipients. The awards will be formally presented as part of the FFI annual global conference in October.

Richard Beckhard Practice Award

David Lansky

David Lansky, a clinical psychologist and family therapist by training, spent more than fifteen years as a managing partner in a clinical psychology practice. His clients today include entrepreneurial families and families of wealth, multigenerational families with shared business or financial interests, family offices, and private trust companies. Lansky’s expertise in the psychology and family dynamics of multigenerational wealth has played a key role in the growth and transformation of many enterprising families and in the business interests they share.

His writing has appeared in Private Wealth Magazine, Family Business Magazine, and The Family Business Advisor, and The Journal of Practical Estate Planning, as well as in his books Family Wealth Continuity: Building a Foundation for the Future and Managing Conflict in the Family Business: Understanding Challenges at the Intersection of Family and Business. He served as clinical faculty member and supervisor at Northwestern University’s Family Institute and taught marital and family therapy at the Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago.

From the nomination

David Lansky’s career in the family business field is distinguished by a rich and varied background that spans four decades. In addition to his consulting work with over 200 enterprising families, he has made substantial contributions to the family business field through his leadership of the development of educational resources for the broader family business community. Lansky’s body of work significantly focuses on wealth dynamics, leading to the development of a five-factor model that describes families that are prepared for effective wealth transition providing a valuable framework for both consultants, advisors, and families in ensuring long-term success.

The Richard Beckhard Practice Award was established in 1992 to honor a founding FFI member and distinguished practitioner in the family business field. It recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of family business practice.

View the complete list of recipients of the Richard Beckhard Practice Award

Barbara Hollander Award

Sabine Rau

Dr. Sabine Rau’s career has consistently blended education, research, and practice. Currently a freelance consultant to international business families in Europe, North America, and the Middle East, she holds visiting professorships at ESMT, Berlin, and University of Ottawa, Canada, and teaches at the Université de Luxembourg and WHU, Vallendar, Germany.

A visiting research fellow at INSEAD and then a full professor at European Business School, WHU, and King’s College London, Rau left full-time academia in 2017 to become a partner at Peter May Family Business Consulting, where she still is affiliated as off-counsel-partner.

She has published in journals including Family Business Review, Strategic Management Journal, and Journal of Business Research, and she serves on the board of several academic journals. She is co-author of the book Enabling Next Generation Legacies: 35 Questions That Next Generation Members in Enterprising Families Ask.

From the nomination

Sabine Rau was born into an enterprising family; during her university studies, she realized that materials taught in management courses were based on large corporations, with little to no focus on family businesses. This was the starting point for her career in academia and family business consulting. Joining the small group who created IFERA (International Family Enterprise Research Academy), she quickly developed into a significant contributor to research in the field, driving international awareness through numerous collaborations. Rau has also mentored “next-generation” researchers, supervising several PhD students who have since made a name for themselves in the field.

The Barbara Hollander Award was created in 1995 to honor the late founder and first president of FFI by perpetuating her profound interest in family business and her love for education and learning.

View the complete list of recipients of the Barbara Hollander Award

Interdisciplinary Award

James Coutre, FFI Fellow

James Coutre is managing director of the wealth planning group at Pathstone, with experience in the industry as a catalyst for new thinking and a trusted thought partner to ultra-high-net-worth families and family office executives. Previously vice president of Insights & Connections for Fidelity Family Office Services, he facilitated multiple family office peer groups and created a high-impact peer cohort for rising-generation inheritors to address the human impact of their family’s financial success. Before joining Fidelity in 2014, Coutre was a partner at The Philanthropic Initiative, where he served as a philanthropy advisor and was responsible for training family office executives and professional advisors.

An FFI Fellow, Coutre’s many contributions to FFI include articles in FFI Practitioner, presentations at the annual Global Conference, and serving as GEN Faculty, co-developing and teaching the GEN 504, “Philanthropy, Investing, and the Enterprise: Advising Families in Pursuit of Impact.” In addition to FFI Practitioner articles, James’s publications include chapters in Reshaping Reality: Unlocking the Potential of the Single Family Office and Family Offices: A STEP Guide to Professional Advisors, and articles in the International Family Office Journal, and Trusts and Estates Magazine.

From the nomination

Jim Coutre approaches his work in highly collaborative manner, bringing in professionals representing a range of specialisms to his clients. In his teaching of GEN 504, he has brought specialist advisors as guest presenters in different disciplines—e.g., the fields of impact investment and family governance. He has written numerous articles in collaboration with other advisers from across the field serving private clients—including lawyers and psychologists. He helps provide solutions on a range of areas for family office leaders and to challenge conventional ways of operating to help them serve their families in a more holistic, thoughtful, and effective way.

The Interdisciplinary Award was established in 1999 and recognizes individuals or organizations for outstanding achievement in the advancement of interdisciplinary services to multi-generational family-owned enterprises.

View the complete list of recipients of the Interdisciplinary Award

International Award

Salvatore Tomaselli

Salvatore Tomaselli, PhD, he has developed a global reach in both family enterprise consulting and in education. An associate professor of business economics at the University of Palermo, where he has taught since 2003, Tomaselli has advised enterprise families throughout Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Australia, both in cooperation with consulting firms and as a freelance consultant. He has also worked with academic institutions in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, including University of Zagreb in Croatia; IESE Business School in Spain; Bocconi University in Italy; Politecnico de Monterrey in Mexico; and Zhejang University and Beijing Institute of Technology in China.

A founding member and Fellow of IFERA, he served as a board member until 2011. Tomaselli was vice president, finance delegate of the EURAM Board from 2015 to 2017, and he is a co-founder and partner of Family Business Asesores Costa Rica. In addition to being on the review board for Family Business Review, he has been on the FFI Best Dissertation Award committee, has presented at the FFI Global Conference, and has contributed to FFI Practitioner.

From the nomination

With Miguel Angel Gallo, one of the founders of the field in Europe, as his PhD supervisor at IESE in Spain, Salvatore Tomaselli was among the first family enterprise academics and researchers in Europe. His research contributed to a better understanding of family protocols and board of directors, among other subjects. He has advised entrepreneurial families around the world on issues as diverse as strategic planning, the design and implementation of family and corporate governance structures, and the integration of the next generation into the business.

The International Award was established in 2000 and recognizes individuals or organizations for outstanding achievement in furthering the understanding of international issues and global networks in multi-generational, family-owned enterprise.

View the complete list of recipients of the International Award

Thank You to the 2025 Achievement Awards Committee

Daniela Montemerlo, chair
Edith Ang
Christine Blondel
Denise Federer
Lisa Morel
Preston Root
Albert Jan Thomassen

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Previous Edition

We are pleased to announce the 2025 recipients of the FFI GEN scholarships. These scholarships are made possible through the generosity of the FFI Board of Directors and the 2025 scholarship sponsors. Recipients are enrolled in and benefit from the interdisciplinary education provided by the GEN certificate program.