A multi-generational portfolio without a multi-generational governance framework eventually litigates against itself. Our governance practice — led since 2010 by Priya Vasudevan, PhD — works alongside the investment mandate to draft constitutions, structure councils, facilitate annual meetings, and prepare the rising generation.
A family constitution is not a legal instrument. It is a written document — typically 12 to 30 pages — that articulates the family's shared values, decision-making structures, and obligations across generations. It does not bind. It commits.
We facilitate the drafting process across 6 to 18 months. The output is the family's; we are the facilitator, not the author.
Why does this family steward wealth across generations? What is it for?
What we agree to honor — across siblings, in-laws, and the rising generation.
How council, committee, and unanimous decisions are made and recorded.
Who is "in the family" for governance purposes, and how does that change.
The escalation path, the mediator-of-last-resort, and the no-litigation pledge.
The cause areas, the giving pace, and the rising-generation grantmaking program.
Employment, board service, equity transfers within operating businesses.
How the constitution itself is updated. Annually reviewed; rarely amended.
Most multi-generational families need more than two voices. We help structure councils, committees, and working groups that map authority to expertise — and prevent the "one cousin who runs everything" failure mode.
Reviews portfolio strategy, allocation, and major commitments. Chaired by the principal generation, attended by rising-gen as observers.
Sets grantmaking strategy, reviews and approves grants above threshold, oversees foundation administration and impact reporting.
Manages onboarding of rising generations, oversees curriculum participation, hosts the annual family retreat.
Operational oversight of the household: budgets, payroll, capital calls, distributions. One trustee + one principal + finance lead.
Property, household-staff, art, and lifestyle coordination. The day-to-day of running the family's physical infrastructure.
An external retained mediator named in the constitution. Activated only when an escalation cannot be resolved at the council level.
A two-year curriculum for principals between the ages of 16 and 30 in our client families. Cohorts of 8–12 across multiple families. Quarterly in-person retreats; monthly virtual sessions. Sixty-two graduates since 2014.
How to read a household balance sheet. The vocabulary of trusts, entities, and tax structure. Numerical fluency, no jargon.
Public vs. private. Risk vs. volatility. Why we hold what we hold. A working framework for evaluating any future investment.
What an effective tax rate actually is. How trusts, entities, and timing change it. What questions to ask outside advisors.
Reading a trust document. Understanding what a trustee actually does. The arc of a multi-generation transfer.
Constitutions, councils, and the cost of not having either. Practical facilitation of meetings you may someday lead.
How a foundation works. Strategic grantmaking. The difference between checkbook charity and impact giving.
Your own balance sheet. Not the family's. Cash management, credit, and the habits that compound over fifty years.
Capstone retreat. Personal-mission drafting. What kind of steward will you be when the constitution lists your name?