Peter Bernick

Founder & Managing  Partner, River Forest Capital Partners

Nancy P. Bruns

Chair, Investment Committee, Dickinson Company

The Dickinson Family settled in the Kanawha Valley of Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1813, moving west from the Lynchburg area, because of saline brine discoveries. The salt business grew and evolved over the years into what currently is a natural resource management company, a commercial real estate company and an investment holding company. The family has six living members in the 6th generation, 24 in the 7th,  50 in the 8th, and 3 in the 9th. Shares of the companies are held in trusts. Nancy P. Bruns was born and raised in Charleston, WV, where the family enterprise began 200 years ago. She is a chef by training. She worked in many aspects of the restaurant/food service industry before settling in Highlands, NC where she and her husband owned a small restaurant and catering company for 10 years. She now lives in Columbia, SC and splits her time between there and Charleston, WV where Nancy and her brother have started a company, J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works, that makes an all-natural, hand-harvested finishing salt by solar evaporation. Their ancestors moved to the area in 1813 to make salt so they are reviving the family heritage in their new business.  Nancy serves as Chair of the Investment Committee for the family investment holding company, Hubbard Properties. She is also involved in the family’s charitable giving process. Nancy is in the 7th generation of the family enterprise.

Caroline F. Davis

President, Keller Enterprises

Preston Root

President, Root Family Board of Directors

Preston Root is President of the Root Family Board of Directors, a position that has been continuously occupied by a family member for 110 years.

He is the great grandson of C.J. Root who founded Root Glass Company in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1901. Root Glass Company designed , patented and manufactured the original 6 1/2 ounce Coca-cola bottle in 1916.

Root Company relocated to Florida in 1950 and started to build what would become one of the largest independent bottlers of Coca - Cola in the United States. Preston has worked for the family business for 35 years in roles ranging from route sales to radio station manager.

In addition, he currently works for MRN Radio--"The Voice of NASCAR"--America's largest independent sports radio network, broadcasting NASCAR and Rolex Grand-Am races from all across North America.

Preston has served on the Board of Directors for the YMCA of Volusia County , Museum of Arts and Sciences of Daytona Beach and The Arc of Volusia and Flagler Counties. In 2010 Preston was named "Top Volunteer in the State of Florida" by The Arc. He also serves on Halifax Health Foundation.

Preston is a certified SCUBA instructor and an EMT. His interests include mountain biking and aviation.

Eric Allyn

Former Board Member, Welch Allyn

Eric Allyn is an experienced Medical Device executive serving on a variety of boards within healthcare and privately-owned businesses. Eric began his career at Welch Allyn in 1982, a 4th Generation family business employing 2,800 people, where he managed a variety of functions and business units worldwide. In 2008, Mr. Allyn moved from his executive role to join Welch Allyn's Board of Directors, a natural result of having led the company's transition from the 3rd Generation of Owners/Managers to the 4th Generation of Owners employing outside management. He is currently Chairman of the Voting Trust, the entity which controls the company's voting stock. He also served on the Audit, Compensation/Management Development, and Science/Technology Committees.

Outside of Welch Allyn, Mr. Allyn serves on many other boards. He is Chairman of the Board of Auburn Hospital, a role he has held since 2008, and was selected to the Board of Governors of the Hospital Trustees of New York State (HTNYS). In addition, Eric serves on the Board of Directors of GOJO (makers of Purell), Diffinity Genomics, Family Enterprise USA, and several small family business boards. He is a past Board Member of Hand Held Products (sold to Honeywell in 2007), and Everest-VIT (sold to GE in 2005). He is a frequent speaker at Family Business seminars across the country.

Mr. Allyn is the Founder and Managing Partner of a private Investment Fund, is Chairman of the Investment Committee of two separate private foundations, and has been the lead investor in several Med-Tech companies in upstate New York.

Mr. Allyn lives in Skaneateles New York with his wife and three daughters, and is actively involved in community organizations across the Central New York region.

Keith Campbell

Chairman of the Board, Mannington Mills, Inc.

Clint Greenleaf

Founder and CEO, Pigs and Bricks

Clint Greenleaf began his business career working as a staff accountant at Deloitte and Touche and earning his CPA.  After writing his own book, and receiving requests from friends to help publish their books, Clint left Deloitte and started Greenleaf Book Group over his parents’ garage.

Clint used non-traditional methods to grow Greenleaf Book Group into one of the industry’s leading independent book publishers and distributors.  With Clint at the helm, Greenleaf Book Group represented thousands of titles, produced over 30 NY Times and Wall Street Journal best sellers, and was one of INC's fastest-growing companies in America. Clint sold Greenleaf Book Group in 2011, and stayed with the company as CEO and Chairman until 2014.

As the Co-Founder and CEO of Moonshot Brands, Clint applied his innovative spirit to tie two, seemingly-unrelated things together:  baseball and peanut butter.  Together with his teammates, he created HomePlate™, a baseball-themed peanut butter served in every major league clubhouse.

Clint is also the Founder and CEO of:

·         Tree Neutral®, a non-profit company that works to offset paper consumption through reforestation

·         Bambino Balls, a sports-themed baby clothing company

·         Pigs and Bricks, a company that works with banks, financial advisors, schools, families, and individuals to establish a framework for financial education

Having created an innovative and successful business model, Clint speaks to companies and groups all over the world about how they can bring disciplined innovation and entrepreneurialism into their organizations.  He shares his successes and his mistakes to inspire audiences to take action.

Clint is the author of an award-winning, children’s book Give, Save, Spend With The Three Little Pigs, a sequel to the classic fairy tale that teaches kids a practical approach to managing money; Beyond the Piggybank, a parents’ guide for teaching financial wisdom to your children; and The Unwritten Rules of the Workplace: A Guide to Etiquette and Attire for Businessmen, which explains business etiquette as a competitive advantage in down-to-earth language.

Clint is a regular guest on Fox Business Network, and his articles have appeared in publications such as American Express OPEN, Inc.com, CNN Money, and Huffington Post. Clint sits on several Boards of Directors, and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Inc. Magazine, Fox, Fox Business News, CNBC, CNN, MSBNC, Money Magazine, Men’s Health, Forbes, Entrepreneur, and others. 

Chris Vernon

President and COO, The Vernon Company

Chris Vernon is the president and chief operating officer of The Vernon Company. He joined the company in 1987 and has served in his present role since 1999.

A fourth-generation family business founded in 1902, Vernon Co. manufactures and markets promotional products programs designed to help other businesses improve brand awareness, recognize employee service and increase revenues. The company has 30,000 customers, served by 270 account executives throughout North America, as well as 200 administrative/production employees in its Newton, Iowa, headquarters and two sign graphics manufacturing subsidiaries based in Missouri and New Jersey. Vernon works with many renowned brands including Delta Airlines, LinkedIn, Mercedes Benz, and Lancôme.

Chris has been named eight consecutive years to the Counselor Magazine Power 50, the annual ranking recognizing the advertising specialty industry's most influential leaders. He is the only Iowan ever represented on the industry Power 50 ranking.

Chris received his B.A. from Northwestern University and later his MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern. He has been active in national and community organizations including Progress Industries Foundation, Promotional Products Association International, CEO International, World President's Organization, YPO - Iowa Chapter and Northwestern Alumni Admissions Council.

Chris is married and has one son, aged 19.

George Isaac III

President, GAI Capital Ltd.

Don DiCarlo, Jr.

Director of Wealth Planning and Senior Wealth Strategist, Wilmington Trust

Dan Agnew

President, The Agnew Company

Now in its fourth generation, The Agnew Company was started by Samuel A. Agnew (1879-1965), a Northwest timber industry icon, whose pioneer spirit and principled work ethic laid the foundation for a family enterprise that has continued to grow through a diversified and diligent approach to investing. The Agnew family has adopted a stewardship approach to their asset base that was practiced and instilled as an indelible value by both Sam and his son, Jay Agnew (1917-1980). Their foresight and commitment to future family generations has made it possible for the third and fourth generations of the family to continue to promote the advancement of intellectual growth, individual responsibility, and wealth management that will help ensure opportunity and excellence for future generations.

Dan Agnew is a third-generation family member who has championed and led The Agnew Company's business growth and investment diversification for over 30 years. Dan is a graduate of Oregon State University and Willamette University School of Law and has been active on industry and charitable boards.

Rhona E. Vogel

CEO and Founder, Vogel Consulting

Stuart E. Lucas

Adjunct Professor of Finance, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Sara Hamilton

Founder and CEO, Family Office Exchange

Chris Beagle

Consumer Insights Project Manager, McKee Foods Corporation

Chris Beagle is a fourth-generation shareholder and Consumer Insights Project Manager of McKee Foods Corporation. He has his Masters in Financial Management and has worked in Finance and Accounting, as a teacher in Taiwan, and now in Market Research. He and his wife Laura enjoy traveling, reading, spending time with friends and family, and learning about others’ lives and cultures. They and their two little dogs live in Chattanooga, TN near the family business (McKee Foods, maker of Little Debbie, Sunbelt Bakery, Heartland Brands, Drake’s Cakes, and Fieldstone Bakery).

Doug Wilwerding

Managing Principal, The Optimas Group, LLC

Harold L. (Hal) Yoh, III

Chairman and CEO, Day & Zimmermann

Robert (Bobby) A Stover, Jr.

Partner, Americas Family Office Leader, Ernst & Young LLP

Steve Dunn

Chairman of the Board, JE Dunn Construction 

Steve Dunn Steve joined JE Dunn as a real estate officer in 1975. He was promoted to Assistant Vice President in 1976 and assumed responsibility as Director of Safety and Affirmative Action in 1977. He was promoted to Vice President and Assistant Treasurer in 1980, Senior Vice President in 1989, Executive Vice President and Treasurer in 1995, and Chairman of the Board in 2000. Prior to joining JE Dunn, he was associated with Columbia Union Bank. As Chairman of the Board he leads and facilitates the Board’s functions and responsibilities. JE Dunn Construction was founded in 1924. Today, the family-owned company is the 10th largest general building contractor in the United States, and is a leading provider of construction management services, design-build and integrated project delivery.

Carrie Hall

Doug Pugliese

Director, Wealth Transition Strategies, SEI Private Wealth Management

Douglas Pugliese is Director of Wealth Transition Strategies for SEI's Private Wealth Management business segment. In this role, Doug is responsible for assisting new and existing ultra-high-net-worth clients to evaluate optimal alternatives for monetizing their business holdings and other illiquid assets to create diversified, investible wealth. Doug joins the firm with more than 16 years of experience in financial advisory roles as a trusted senior advisor to CEOs, senior executives, and boards of directors.
Prior to joining SEI, Doug served as Executive Managing Director and Principal of the Northeast region for a valuation consulting and financial advisory firm. In this role, he was responsible for developing and driving business growth while managing the New York and Philadelphia offices.

Previously, Doug was a Managing Director in the Investment Banking Division at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. In this capacity, he developed and executed strategic merger & acquisition and financing transactions worth more than $12 billion while based in the firm's New York and London offices.

Doug has conducted business all over the world, having lived and worked for more than 10 years in Latin America, Europe, and Africa. He also served as an officer and pilot in the United States Navy. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics and Spanish literature from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Business Administration in finance from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Nancy Drozdow

Principal and Co-Founder, CFAR

Debbie Bing

President, CFAR

Debbie Bing, President, is a member of CFAR’s next generation of leaders. She heads up CFAR’s Boston office and is a member of CFAR’s board of directors. She also co-leads the firm’s Family and Owner-Led Business practice group. Debbie’s specialty is helping family businesses and philanthropies create leadership, strategic and continuity plans that bridge the interests of family, business (when an operating company is in the mix) and its owners, across generations. Debbie works with senior and next-generation family members to design governance structures and forums that engage family members, guided by shared goals for the entire family enterprise. Debbie views conflict as a useful starting point for a productive exchange about organizational priorities and performance. She helps business leaders and executive teams build collaborative approaches to their most pressing challenges, particularly when managing the multiple pressures of mission, performance, culture, competencies and competition.

She is an experienced speaker and has presented to many owner-led and family business audiences, including the Family Firm Institute, the Council on Foundations Philanthropy Conference and the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations (from which she won The Bridger Award in 2008 for her paper “Crowding Out the Space: The Weakness of a Strong Leader”). As a second-generation owner of CFAR, she draws on personal experience in working through the dilemmas of strategy and succession. Debbie holds a master of arts in international law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.

Kevin M. Harris

Managing Director, Family Business Group, Northern Trust

Harry Clark

Author and Founder, Pathway Partners, LLC

Bruce F. Hoffmeister

Dain Kistner

Director, Pitcairn Board

Jake Thiessen

Co-Founder, Couples at Crossroads

Nicolee Hiltz

Co-Founder, Couples at Crossroads

Emmett Mosley

Managing Director, JZ Partners