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"I'm passionate about family business and I help to make transitions easier"

Elizabeth, Founder, Avanti Family Business Advisory

My passion for family business led me to establish Avanti Family Business Advisory in 2021.

My desire is to create positive change in the lives of business owning families.

As an adviser and facilitator, I support individual family businesses on their journey towards more harmonious family dynamics, stronger family governance and next generation integration and education.

I am a family member of a family business where I serve on the Board as a non-executive director.

I am an Expert member of Ispahani Advisory, a London based international group of independent advisors who advise family businesses and family offices on business strategy, family governance and dynamics, people and education.

I speak at, convene and moderate events at family business conference around the world.

I live and work internationally

I was born and grew up in Denmark, lived and worked in London for nearly 20 years and now live between Chicago and Los Cabos, Mexico.
I lived in Bologna, Italy whilst studying Italian many years ago and in Uganda for a shorter period of time where I worked with an educational charity and started my own project to raise funds to support a local hospital.

Having lived in different countries in different parts of the world has given me many profound insights, a unique perspective and perhaps most importantly, I feel humbled by it. 

Education and training

I hold a certificate in family business advising from the Family Firm Institute in Boston, I’m a Veritage trained family business coach and I’m an accredited facilitator from the Oasis School of Human Relations in the UK.

I have an MA in Post-Colonial Cultures and International Relations and a BA in English and Italian.

Past experience

I served on the Board of a 6th and 7th generation UK based family business until Feb 2023.

I was the Director General of the Institute for Family Business (IFB) until September 2021; a membership organisation which brings family businesses together for the purpose of shared learning and networking and to give UK based family businesses a voice in Government. I joined the organisation in 2009.

Prior to that I worked in corporate governance and for my own family business.

My values

My values of honesty, gratitude, humility and continuous learning guide everything I do with and for my clients and as a professional in this space.

My super-power, if I have one, is how much I care about my clients.

Expertise

  • Strengthened family communication and dynamics

    Developing stronger, more open communication as a family will lead to a greater understandinding of all involved and of the needs of the business and you will be less likely to make those very dangerous assumptions about what other people want, think and need

  • Improved decision-making ability

    As a group of family owners, being able to make decisions together is critical to both family and business success.

  • Ability to plan for the future

    Engaging and involving the next generation and planning for ownership and management succession are complex and at times challenging issues that take time and planning.

  • Ways to involve the next generation

    It is important that the next generation have a space where they can share their hopes and dreams and where they can test, try, learn and ask questions. I help families to create this safe space, develop and nurture genuine engagement and plans for succession.

  • Impactful structures for the family and the business

    I help families create structures for how they are going to work together. You may have some family members who are owners and others who also work in the business in which case it is important to have a shared understanding of how you are going to do things. Agreeing on your specific rules of engagement can prove invaluable for both family and business.