Family Stewardship Council

The Family Stewardship Council (FSC) at the Fordham Gabelli School of Business is a private forum for Family Firms, Funds or Offices (FFFOs)

FSC at Fordham Gabelli was founded to provide a safe space for members of Family Firms, Funds or Offices (FFFOs), or those considering establishing one or more, to engage in honest conversations regarding the unique challenges of such firms.

• How should Families balance the duties of Family Firms vs. Family Councils?
• At what age should Families bring children into the Family business? In what capacity?
• How should a Family think about succession?
• How should Families deal with partial ‘liquidation events,’ ‘separations,’ and/or ‘exits’ from FFFOs?

The FSC hosts two invitation-only events each year (December and May) featuring roundtables, panels, fireside chats, and curated presentations intended to assist members of FFFOs. The goal of these biannual gatherings is to facilitate the sharing of best practices and catalyze reflections on decisions that could have been better in hindsight.

The FSC provides educational opportunities for students seeking to build careers in FFFOs. These include specialized electives and networking opportunities.

FSC-related faculty also provide custom programs for FFFOs on a variety of cutting-edge topics. Interested in learning more? Email us at [email protected] for details.

Why Stewardship?

The term “stewardship” meaningfully aligns Family Firm orientation with Fordham Gabelli’s approach to education.

Members of Family Firms view themselves as stewards of the family legacy and feel a deep sense of responsibility to future generations.

Fordham Gabelli lives the ideals of “stewardship.” Faculty and staff serve as stewards of student development via Cura Personalis and “coming to where the student is.” Faculty teach Gabelli graduates to be stewards of firm resources and employee development. And the School entreats graduates to be stewards of the Earth we all share.

Why Not Governance?

The concept of “stewardship” focuses on the positive & the additive. It draws attention to “legacy” as a responsibility. To Family Firms, a “Failure of Stewardship” represents a soiling of the Family legacy (retrospective) and an injustice to future generations (prospective).

In contrast, the concept of “Governance” tends to evoke images of the negative and the subtractive. Governance treats the Family assets as “things” rather than “responsibilities.” To Family Firms, a “Failure of Governance” indicates that a bad thing happened (either a mistake or malfeasance), but it does not connect to the duty that Families feel to properly steward the legacies that have been handed down.