Prepared Exclusively for FFI Members
Featuring the FFI Mentors
July 24, 2020
July 24, 2020 cover
T

he FFI mentoring program is almost as old as FFI itself and has been incorporated into the certificate program since its inception in 2001. This week we would like to thank and feature the individuals who are currently involved in mentoring, through the GEN Program.

Long-term mentors
Five of the current mentors (18 in total) have been working with students over the last 10 years. They are Fredda Herz Brown, Neus Feliu, Andrew Hier, Dennis Jaffe, and Ian Macnaughton. Here are some examples of why they do it:
Neus Feliu headshot
Neus Feliu
Lansberg, Gersick and Associates, LLC, GEN faculty and FFI Fellow
“I have found FFI mentoring important, not only because of the knowledge, skills, and experiences that we can share with our mentees—especially in a profession where facilitation and interpersonal skills, conflict and change management expertise are key—but also because mentoring provides professional socialization and peer support in the certificate process and beyond. I have built long-term relationships with the mentees I had over the years; we are all colleagues now, learning from one another. At the beginning of my international career, I had a great ‘FFI mentor’ to learn from, Ernesto Poza. For me, FFI mentoring is another opportunity to contribute to our field of family business and to FFI.”
Dennis Jaffe headshot
Dennis Jaffe
Wise Counsel Research, GEN faculty, FFI Fellow, and Opening Presenter in Parampara’s 2020 webinar series: “Essential Mantras for Family Business”
“I love mentoring because I learn as much as I share. I have mentored folks from about a dozen countries and many of them have become friends and colleagues. It keeps me connected to a network of people that is incredibly diverse but who share some of the same passions.”
New in 2019
Joining the roster of mentors last year were Fabian Bernhard, Anita Brightly-Hodges, Jean Meeks-Koch, Maya Prabhu, and Pilar Tolentino. Why is this an appealing way to contribute to the field? See below for thoughts from Fabian Bernhard:
Fabian Bernhard headshot
Fabian Bernhard
Associate professor at EDHEC and currently a member of the FFI board of directors, Fabian will become an FFI Fellow in October.
“The FFI mentoring program is a great way of learning from each other, as it enables an active exchange between professionals working with families in business. FFI’s interdisciplinarity and the diversity of its members’ backgrounds can be stimulating and motivate us to take on new perspectives on family business advising.”
New this year
Thanks to those who have joined the mentoring program this year, keeping this long and valuable tradition going in FFI. They are John Broons, Artur Chaberski, Denise Federer, Grégoire Imfeld, Natalie McVeigh, Mairi Mickel, John Neff, and José Mora Ocaranza. See below for what motivates this new group of mentors:
John Broons headshot
John Broons
Committee member of FBA in Western Australia, managing director, John Broons Family Business Advisory Pty Ltd, and FFI Fellow
“I enjoy the mentor program because it provides a way to support and share perspectives with FFI GEN students who wish to improve their skills in supporting their clients, enabling them to be clearer, wiser, and more understanding as they grow.”
Grégoire Imfeld headshot
Grégoire Imfeld
Founder of One Family Governance, a consultancy company, formerly head of the Family Office of Pictet & Cie (9th generation) and FFI Fellow
“Mentoring is an important guidance tool for the mentee, the mentor, the industry, and the families. The industry has a responsibility to walk the talk. We help families navigate through generational changes. Such stewardship must be reproduced for the future generations of consultants and nurtured through, for example, FFI mentoring.”
John Neff headshot
John Neff
FFI Fellow who founded Family Enterprise Consulting after working for 20 years in his family’s 3rd-generation manufacturing business, and earning a doctoral degree from Case Western Reserve University
“While new to the FFI mentoring program, I look forward to being engaged and advancing knowledge in the field.”
José Mora Ocaranza headshot
José Mora Ocaranza
Director General, Heranza Consultores, and an FFI Fellow
“Experience can be a difference between generating alternative solutions or not in defining the life cycles of a business or a family. A mentor offers the novice consultant or even people with great technical resources and experience in related areas, but not in the speciality of business families, a mature and fair perspective, decreasing the level of anxiety and insecurity. This enhances the chances of success of a director or a consultant.”
Interested in becoming a mentor?
Contact Susan Gabert. FFI GEN Mentors must hold a GEN Advanced Certificate. Many are also FFI Fellows.
2086 Society: Applied Research
The 2086 Society was created in 2018 to reinforce FFI’s role as a leader in advancing the field of family enterprise through its core strategies of education, research, and public awareness — and to build on its mission to be the most influential global network of thought leaders in the field of family enterprise.

In 2020, two research areas are open for grant application. September 15, 2020 is the deadline for applications.

1. The Future of Work and Its Implications for Practice with Multi-generational Family Enterprises
2. The Role of the Advisor in Fostering Family Enterprise Governance Durability
Previous Edition
July 17, 2020 cover
Following up on the announcement of the hybrid annual global conference program in the July 8 FFI Practitioner, we want to provide more detail on the Tuesday day-long event. Of course, we hope members and friends of FFI will also participate in the Monday, October 26, virtual session (GEN 503), but this week we are featuring the exciting program for Tuesday, October 27. All online!