The Sam Seltzer ’48 Mentor’s Forum provides current students and young alumni with the opportunity to spend time, one-on-one, with Cornell Family Business Scholars, top advisors, and family business leaders. Cornell students will engage with esteemed industry professionals and select their own agendas for exploration.
Welcome to the 2026 Sam Seltzer ’48 Mentors Forum! This event has become a cornerstone of the Smith Family Business Initiative, bringing together an incredible network of alumni, students, business owners, and advisors. Today is an opportunity to connect, learn, and gain insights that can shape your future— whether in your family’s business or along your own career path.
Each year, participants have walked away from the forum with new perspectives, have made key career decisions, or have built lasting relationships with mentors and peers. This exchange of ideas and experiences is what makes this gathering so meaningful year after year, and we look forward to seeing it continue.
For our student mentees, we encourage you to engage fully. Whether through a quick conversation or a deeper dialogue, every interaction today has the potential to influence your journey. The mentors here have volunteered their time and talents to support you, so please take advantage of their expertise and be open to their insights.
We extend our sincere thanks to Sam Seltzer ’48, whose support makes this event possible year upon year. Thank you, as well, to Michael Harney ’77 of Harney & Sons Teas, for providing the fabulous gifts for our mentors - your generosity and support of our event is truly appreciated!
At its core, this event is about Cornellians supporting Cornellians. We’re excited to have you here and hope that today sparks conversations, connections, and insights that will stay with you well beyond the day itself.
Sincerely,
The SFBI Team
Susan Hu, Assistant Director
Daniel G. Van Der Vliet, John and Dyan Smith Executive Director of Family Business
Sungyong Chang, SFBI Interim Academic Director
Amber Bennett
Abhay Chaudhary
Shiang Chin
EMBA 2027
MPS Applied Economics & Management 2026
PhD in Computer & Systems Engineering 2026
Oliver Herold EMBA 2021
Kunal Kataria
Lena Lin
Nicholas Maggard
Shubhi Maheshwari
Luca Medeiros Mosena
Min Namkoong
An Pham
Yifan Ping
Gregory Schwartz
Amartiy Seth
Baker Program in Real Estate 2020
MBA 2021
B.S. Information Science (CALS / Bowers) 2025
MPS Management 2026
MBA 2027
MBA 2027
MPS Management 2026
MBA 2027
EMBA 2022
MPS Management 2026
Nivisha Tated EMBA 2025
Samyam Timilsina
Taskeen Vakil
Andres Velez
Jason Woolf
Reem Yahiaoui
Jose Zambrano
MPS Management 2026
MPS Management 2026
MBA 2025
MBA 2026
ILR (undergraduate) 2027
Master of Regional Planning 2021
Doug Baumoel '78
Barry Berman '73
Daniel Bernstein '70
Ari Betof, MBA '21
Savio Chan
Steve Cohen
Rustom Desai, MBA '95
Carrie DiLauro '91
Pierre duPont
Deborah Erickson
Shay Harris-Pierre
Mario Kontomerkos '98
Sean Lee, MBA '20
Martin Magida
Ron Nahass
Lloyd Robinson '87
Orley Pacheco, MBA '18
Petru Sandu
Andrew Scirri '88, MBA '04
David R. Smith
Parth Vedawala, MBA '19
Kevin Omar Williams '99
Continuity Family Business Consulting
IndieClime
Alexander Wolf & Son
Mission & Data
American AI Leadership Institute
Gold Coast Advisors
Cornell University
Hamilton Robinson Capital Partners
Cerity Partners LLC
Servenco Management Inc.
Continuity Family Business Consulting
Lycavitos LLC
Fairfield Maxwell
Berkery Noyes
RSM US LLP
AWISCO
Wells Fargo Advisors
Elizabethtown College
CoVantage Consulting LLC
Smith Advisory Services Inc.
Kush Gold and Jewelry
Crimson Impact Investments
7TH FL, 570 LEXINGTON AVE, NEW YORK CITY
FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2026 (All times are EST)
8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. – Registration and Networking Breakfast........................................................................................Lounge
9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. – Welcome Remarks............................................................................................................................Rm 724
Daniel Garrett Van Der Vliet, John and Dyan Smith Executive Director of Family Business
10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. – Speed Round......................................................................................................................Various
11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. – One-on-one Round 1 (long).............................................................................................Various locations
12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. – Lunch .............................................Lounge
1:15 p.m. - 1:40 p.m. – One-on-one Round 2............................................................................................................Various
1:45 p.m. - 2:10 p.m. – One-on-one Round 3...........................................................................................................Various
2:20 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. – One-on-one Round 4..........................................................................................................Various
2:50 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. – One-on-one Round 5...........................................................................................................Various locations
3:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. – Closing Remarks...................................................................................................................................Lounge To view your one-on-one matchups, please click on this link.
DOUG BAUMOEL '78
Continuity FBC
DBaumoel@ContinuityFBC.com
Doug Baumoel is the Founder of Continuity, LLC, and offers an extensive background in family business operations and executive management in his work with clients. He served as a second-generation executive in his own family’s business and has held key executive positions in other family and non-family businesses. Doug started and ran businesses in both the U.S. and Europe, living overseas for six years while establishing and managing the European offices of his family’s business. He has applied more than 20 years of business experience to the development of a process for analyzing key variables affecting family business conflict. Doug is the co-author, with Continuity Managing Partner Blair Trippe, of Deconstructing Conflict: Understanding Family Business, Shared Wealth and Power.
Doug earned an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Electrical Engineering (78) from Cornell University. A dual certificate holder in both Family Business Advising and Family Wealth Advising from the Family Firm Institute, he has been awarded the additional distinction of FFI Fellow and was the 2023 winner of the FFI Interdisciplinary Award. Among Doug’s numerous professional achievements, he holds a certificate in Civil Mediation from MCLE and is a graduate of the Director Professionalism program of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), which recognized him with Fellow status. Doug also served as President of the New England chapter of the Family Firm Institute.
BARRY BERMAN '73 IndieClime barry@indieclimepbc.com
Barry Berman is the founder of two pet industry businesses which were startups in the 2000’s, Grandma Mae’s Country Naturals Pet Food/RawTernative and the NexPet Retailer Group. By 2023 the brands were among the top 30 sellers in the US; that year Barry sold a majority interest to a PE group that is using the companies as a platform for adding acquisitions. Since mid-2024 Barry has been helping a CEO successor, and will step down completely in early 2025. His next startup venture is the non-profit IndieClime—Independent Business Sustainability Initiative.
Barry began his career as the as the third-generation leader of a large flooring distributor & carpet manufacturing company, at which, after 70 years of family ownership, he led the group’s exit shortly before his 40th birthday. Between his stints in carpeting and pet food, Barry served as CEO of a subsidiary of Brinks Inc. (NYSE=BCO) dealing with worldwide transportation and insurance of diamonds & jewelry and as President of an $80m distribution subsidiary of Central Garden and Pet (NASDAQ=CENT).
Barry also formerly served as Professor of Design Marketing at Parsons School of Design, teaching both BBA and BFA students. He is a past Board Chair of the World Pet Association and has been on the board of Parent-Child+ for 22 years.
Barry has been a speaker, panelist or moderator at scores of business conferences, and his monthly columns about retailing appeared in industry magazines for twelve years. He recently became a member of the Entrepreneurial Advisory Council at Cornell.
Barry and his wife Ivy live in New York City and Connecticut; their daughter Nathalie (Cornell ’11) and her wife Rachel are both active in Grandma Mae’s Country Naturals.
Alexander Wolf and Son dbernstein@awolfandson.com
Daniel Bernstein, grandson of the company founder, Alexander Wolf, has been a Principal of Alexander Wolf and Son, a 119-year-old general contracting company specializing in interior renovations, since 1977. Mr. Bernstein, now President, received his BS in Engineering from Cornell University and subsequently earned his MBA from New York University. His son Peter, a Cornell University graduate with a BS in Civil Engineering and Operations Research, joined the AWS team in 2006 and is now a Principal. Michelle, Mr. Bernstein’s daughter, also joined the AWS team in 2006, more recently founding M/WBE certified general contracting company, Miter, in 2014.
Daniel is the Vice President of the Board of 1070 Park Avenue, a member of the Board of the Solomon Schechter School, a Trustee of The Park Avenue Synagogue, and a member of the Board of the New Jewish Home and Belev Echad.
Mission & Data
abetof@missionanddata.com
Dr. Ari Betof is the co-founder and partner of Mission & Data. He is a nationally recognized expert in the area of nonprofit organizational stewardship and sustainability.
Ari’s consulting work draws upon fifteen years of leadership and governance experience building thriving organizations and maximizing mission-aligned revenue growth. His facility with organizational effectiveness, group dynamics, and strategic planning is paired with his proven track record of cultivating high-impact change. Ari brings together skills in strategy, analysis, and organizational transformation with a nuanced understanding of fundraising, enrollment management and branding in support of his clients. He leverages expertise facilitating group process with diverse sets of stakeholders. Ari is an agile, savvy, and emotionally intelligent partner who builds trusting relationships, achieves results, develops others, and creates scalable systems.
Ari has been an instructor in University of Pennsylvania’s PennGSE Mid-Career Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership and Leadership Master’s Program. He has served as a mentor in Harvard University’s School Leadership Program, faculty member in the NAIS School Leadership Institute, and judge for the CASE Circle of Excellence Awards.
SAVIO CHAN
Tranquilla AI chansavio@gmail.com
Savio S. Chan is founder and CEO of American AI Institute, an AI-enabled coaching platform and an authority on DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company. He is a leading voice on building and sustaining a constructive, bi-lateral relationship and global partnerships between US and China over his 25 years’ experience as an entrepreneur and a visionary business leader.
Mr. Chan serves as Senior Advisor for Tranquilla AI, an emphatic artificial intelligence dedicated to providing emotional comfort, enhancing customer service, and offering personalized coaching. Previously he served as co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of US China Partners Inc., facilitating local and cross-border joint ventures and strategic partnerships among *leading Chinese State-owned Enterprises, private companies and Fortune 500 companies. He was Executor of the New York Venture Capital Association and has been a highly sought-after advisor and consultant to companies like ICBC Bank, Louis Vuitton, Brooks Brothers, Haier America, Tourneau, Montblanc, Piaget and Roger Dubuis advising on strategies involving Chinese consumers and Asian American businesses. Additionally, Mr. Chan has been an advisor and board member o several Family Office, non-profit organizations and high-networth Chinese families on their U.S. and China investments and expansion strategy.
Mr. Chan was regional President of the Northeast for US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce (USPAACC), serving as a gateway to Corporate and government contracts for Asian American businesses and entrepreneurs. Previously he served as founding Chairman of fundraising for Ascend Charity Golf Tournament. He is a member of the National Committee of
US-China Relations, a national Think Tank. Mr. Chan is also co-founder of the Asian American Authors Book Club, in partnership with Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue.
His book, "China's Super Consumers, what one billion customers want and how to sell it to the” was published by John Wiley & Sons. The Amazon’s best-seller was selected by Air France Club China as one of the “Must-reads” books on China. The book was translated and published both in China and Korea. Mr. Chan has been featured in numerous industry and trade success profile, including articles in the New York Times, Forbes, Chief Executives Magazines, Inc. Magazine, Yahoo Finance and Newsday. He is a frequent keynote speaker at Family Office conferences, US-China business conferences organized by the Conference Board.
STEVE COHEN Gold Coast Advisors scohen@gcallc.com
Steve Cohen is Founder and CEO of Gold Coast Advisors, a NY-based Multi-Family Office and Merchant Bank. He has extensive expertise developing objective, customized investment solutions for clients. With a track record of building financial services and technology businesses, he provides strategic advice and brings clients a proven record of revenue generation through strategic planning, efficient risk management and flawless execution. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences.
RUSTOM DESAI, MBA '95
Cornell University rustomdesai@gmail.com
Rustom is a trusted board director. His expertise spans Family, Public and JV boards. He is Independent Director and Chair, Nomination & Remuneration Committee, of a publicly traded, woman run, family-controlled company. He is recognized as a relentless proponent of profitable global growth. He is the Board Chair of his family office wherein he has led the implementation of its generational Succession Plan and has fundamentally changed the scope of its activities. Rustom has negotiated and partnered with several family-run enterprises across the globe.
Rustom is a global tech executive with 25 years of demonstrated success in starting up and growing businesses. As an executive at Corning Incorporated, he held leadership positions in a variety of industries including Semiconductors, Consumer Electronics, and Telecommunications. With deep experience in General Management, Product Management, M&A & Global/ Emerging Markets, the organizations Rustom has led have repeatedly delivered outstanding revenue and profit growth. As a global citizen, he has lived and worked in the US, China, Taiwan and India.
Rustom is visiting faculty at Cornell’s Johnson College of Business, where he teaches two MBA courses.
More recently, Rustom has turned his attention to the impact of AI on education: he received an Artificial Intelligence Fundamentals credential in 2024, integrates Gen AI tools into his course materials and flow, and is beginning to help one of the boards he serves on to navigate their future in an AI-rich world.
Hamilton Robinson Capital Partners cld@hrco.com
Carrie DiLauro is the Director of Operations at Hamilton Robinson Capital Partners. She joined HRCP in 2008 and brings over 30 years of experience in global manufacturing and finance. She is responsible for a wide scope of operations management for the firm including investment sourcing, investor relations, marketing, IT, facilities management, human resources, compliance, ESG, and accounting.
Prior to HRCP, Carrie spent 15 years overseeing worldwide textile production for Jones New York and Baby Togs, Inc. She has been honored with Woman of the Year by OpusConnect and Women to Know in Private Equity and Finance by McGuireWoods. Carrie is an active speaker within the M&A ecosystem and a committee member of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Operating Partners, a board member of the Exit Planning Exchange, a member of the Small Business Investor Alliance (SBIA), OpusConnect, and the National Association of Professional Women. Carrie received a Bachelor’s Degree from Cornell University and a Master’s Degree in Finance from Harvard University.
PIERRE DUPONT
Cerity Partners LLC
pierre@psdupont.com
Pierre is a wealth consultant and a Partner at Cerity Partners, LLC, a full-service multi-family office, financial planning, and wealth advisory firm managing approximately $100 billion for more than twenty thousand clients from thirty offices nationwide. He works with his clients to help them more effectively project their wealth to their distant-future descendants and to the communities in which they live.
Pierre is also a mentor and advisor to executives of early- and middle-stage companies. For a decade before joining Cerity Partners, he was a private investor; for ten years before that he was a repeat tech entrepreneur resulting in 1.5 IPOs and some spectacular failures. Pierre started his career as a software engineer after earning his BSc.EE at Princeton. He was fortunate to have been born into two families with tremendously successful generational family businesses started in 1802 (his father’s family) and in 1890 (his mother’s family.)
Greenwich, CT. Since joining the family office in 2011, Deborah has focused on international trust and estate planning, corporate restructuring, family governance, and modernizing internal financial reporting platforms. She co-manages Servenco’s U.S. real estate portfolio that has acquired commercial and multi-family assets in Denver, CO and Dallas, TX. She leads her family’s philanthropic foundation and serves on the board of their Rio de Janeiro based foundation, Instituto Rogerio Steinberg, which has received awards from the United States Department of State.
Prior to joining the family office, Deborah was a litigator with a focus on commercial and employment law. She received her B.A. from Duke University with highest distinction and her J.D. from The George Washington University School of Law. She earned a Certificate in Private Wealth Management from the Wharton School, Institute of Executive Education.
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Deborah currently resides in Old Greenwich, Connecticut with her husband and three children.
Continuity Family Business Consulting
DEBORAH ERICKSON
Servenco Management Inc. derickson@servenco.com
Deborah is the third generation to lead a 75-year-old multi-national real estate development and asset management business founded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She serves as the Chief Executive Officer of her family’s single family office, Servenco Management Inc., based in Old
Dr. Shay Harris-Pierre, LPC, CFT, is a Senior Consultant at Continuity Family Business Consulting, a leading firm in helping families mitigate, navigate, and recover from conflict in family enterprise. She brings extensive expertise in family dynamics and financial therapy to guide families with shared wealth through the relational conflicts that naturally arise over time. With over a decade of clinical experience, Dr. Shay has helped individuals and families strengthen their relationships and effectively navigate conflict. She specializes in facilitating challenging conversa-
tions that preserve relational bonds and uphold family values, addressing issues such as apathy, entitlement, and emotional estrangement.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, and a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision. Additionally, she earned a Certificate in Family Business Leadership from Cornell University. She currently serves on the Board of Governors of the San Francisco Symphony (since 2002) and as a Presidential Councillor and Trustee Emeritus of Cornell University.
together with a powerful employee engagement philosophy called the “Service Profit Chain.” These ideas, delivered via a non-profit and for-profit hybrid vehicle such as that found in the single family office (SFO), made it possible for an organization to sustain both generational harmony with financial growth.
MARIO KONTOMERKOS
Lycavitos LLC
mk@lycavitosllc.com
A family enterprise operator, a former banking research analyst, and a graduate of Cornell University College of Engineering (1998), Mario started his career in Big Four consulting before spending nearly a decade as an equity analyst on Wall Street, where he participated in the active management of a $100 million equity and debt portfolio and authored over 500 industry research reports for institutional investors.
In the following decade, Mario moved into corporate roles as Chief Financial Officer and then Chief Executive Officer of a privately-held and diversified Native-American family-owned entertainment company with over 10,000 employees and $2+ billion in revenue, where he was licensed as a key employee in 9 US states and international jurisdictions.
It was here where Mario witnessed the surprising organizational outcomes generated by the marriage of the legacy, culture, and tradition of the family’s “Spirit of Aquai” guiding principle
Mario currently serves the American Bible Society as Secretary of the Board, Chairman of the Impact Committee, and a member of Board’s Audit, Executive, and Investment Committees. Outside of ABS, he consults, volunteers, and is a director for non-profit and hybrid organizations, and together with family office attorney William Kambas is co-authoring “The Single Family Office: Beyond Boilerplate,” due to be published in 2026.
Fairfield Maxwell sl2985@cornell.edu
Sean has 15+ years of experience in principal investing, M&A, and leveraged finance. Sean has deep experience in sell- and buy-side advisory, buy-side investment, as well as debt financing for institutional lenders. Industry experiences spans food, agriculture, manufacturing, construction, financial services, and maritime. Sean also has start-up venture expertise investing in and advising several businesses that have ultimately grown to $1M+ in revenue.
Sean is currently serving as a senior executive at a single-family office, Fairfield Maxwell. The family owns and manages a portfolio of operating companies in the US. Sean's responsibilities include construction of alternative investment portfolio and overseeing direct investment opportunities.
Sean has a bachelor's degree from New York University and an M.B.A. from Cornell University. Sean is an active member of the Economic Club of New York and the New York Athletic Club.
Berkery Noyes
martin.magida@berkerynoyes.com
Martin is a Managing Director at Berkery Noyes, where he primarily assists clients with raising growth capital in the debt and equity markets. He also provides M&A advisory services to companies throughout the middle market.
Over a 30-year investment banking career, Martin has advised clients in the technology, media, telecommunications, financial services, healthcare, and business services industries, among others. Before joining Berkery Noyes, Martin was a Managing Director at Carter Morse & Mathias, a boutique investment bank. Prior to this, Martin was Group Head of Private Capital at Trenwith Group, the investment banking arm of BDO Seidman, where he was responsible for placing debt and equity with institutional investors. His additional experience includes the investment banking groups of UBS, PaineWebber, and Unterberg Towbin, and the brokerage group of Drexel Burnham. He was also co-founder of the Sandhurst Collateralized Return Fund, a hedge fund specializing in collateralized debt instruments.
Martin has served as a mentor at the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute, a program that helps entrepreneurs and innovators at Yale start scalable new ventures with programs, workshops, events and funding and as an Expert with the CEO Trust, a by-invitation organization and platform for CEOs who come together to help each other with camaraderie, counsel and referrals. He currently sits on the board of the Exit Planning Ex-
change – NYC chapter. Martin has been a director of Misonix, Inc., a publicly traded medical device company, and Investment Governance, a private information services company. He is a former member of the Darien, CT Representative Town Meeting.
Martin holds a BA in Political Science from Union College and an MBA in Finance from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
RON NAHASS
RSM US LLP
ronald.nahass@rsmus.com
Ron Nahass is a principal in RSM’s consulting practice with 15 years of progressive professional services experience and serves various leadership roles in the firm including the New York Metro Family Office Leader and Financial Intermediary Sector Leader.
Ron is a collaborative and strategic growth advisor for family offices, business/fund owners, and ultra-high net worth clients. His empathetic approach to understanding the needs of RSM clients comes from a deep background in financial consulting including business valuation, financial forensics, and dispute advisory services.
As an Enterprise Account Leader, Ron works with many of the largest financial intermediaries to build professional service ecosystems and institutional-grade service programs for clients, portfolio companies and corporate divisions. Ron’s strives to delve deeper and understand relevant context to better align on strategic objectives when collaborating on complex issues. This inspires a level of alignment helping to tailor more
integrated and scalable solutions. Ron facilitates conversations with RSM specialists to clarify complex issues, objectives and potential paths forward as a trusted advisor for strategic financial intermediaries, attorneys, and significant private client relationships.
Lloyd lives in New Rochelle, NY with his two sons Ari and Ben. He is a long-time member of Bonnie Briar Country Club where he is an avid golfer and tennis player.
Wells Fargo Advisors
LLOYD ROBINSON '87
AWISCO
lloyd@awisco.net
Lloyd is a business owner serving as President of AWISCO, a leading distributor of welding, safety and industrial supplies. Lloyd has been at AWISCO since 1990 and became the president and owner in 2000.
Lloyd has served, and currently serves, as an officer and director of many not-for-profit organizations. Of particular note, he is the current President of the New York Welding Supply Distributors Association, Board Member and past President of the Gases and Welding Distributors Association, and a former Trustee of the AWS Foundation. In addition, Lloyd is very involved in the NYC PENCIL program, past President of Temple Israel of New Rochelle and past Vice-Chair and Board member of the New Rochelle Industrial Development Agency. Lloyd is currently a Vice-President of
orley.pacheco@gmail.com
Orley J. Pacheco is a Senior Financial Advisor at Wells Fargo Advisors that works closely with Family Offices, helping them grow, preserve, and steward their wealth. Board Executives, Private Equity and Venture Capital Principals value Orley’s ethos of honor, courage, and commitment for driving impact and being a trusted advisor at the deal table.
Orley develops endearing relationships with multiple generations of the families he advises. Working in concert with Wells Fargo Advisors’ enterprise-wide specialists and a client’s tax and legal intermediaries, he helps to smooth the path to the family's priorities and governance.
Prior to Wells Fargo Advisors, Orley was with The Private Bank at Bank of America. Earlier, Orley managed a Single-Family
A veteran of the US Marines Corps, Orley enlisted after witnessing the 9/11 attacks as an intern with Goldman Sachs. He ultimately dedicated more than eight years of service and was part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He earned his MBA from Cornell University, his MBA from The Queen’s University in Canada, and his BA from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Committed to philanthropy, Orley volunteers regularly with The Parrish Art Museum and the Smith Family Business Initiative. Orley enjoys traveling between Southampton and Palm Beach, where he is a patron of the arts, car hobbies, and a benefactor to events in the communities that he works and lives in.
Dr. Sandu has served as a visiting professor in multiple countries, teaching family business and entrepreneurship in two additional languages besides English. His research focuses on family business professionalization, succession, and intergenerational entrepreneurship. His work has been presented at conferences in more than ten countries and published in peer-reviewed journals. In 2023, he was a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the University of Murcia in Spain, where he conducted a family business project in Spanish.
PETRU SANDU
Elizabethtown College sandup@etown.edu
Dr. Petru Sandu is the founding director of the Family Business and Entrepreneurship Program (FBE) and the academic liaison for the High Center for Family Business at Elizabethtown College. A tenured professor of Entrepreneurship and Management in the School of Business, he has developed FBE curricula at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He also lectures in Family Business at the
He earned a Ph.D. from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (Romania), an MBA from The Ohio State University, and an undergraduate degree from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, Romania. Before moving to the United States, he co-founded a family business that remains active today.
ANDREW SCIRRI '88, MBA '04
CoVantage Consulting LLC
ascirri@co-vantage.com
Andy is a transformational leader renowned for translating innovative concepts into revenue-generating solutions across a spectrum of industries, including energy, eCommerce, construction, engineering services, medical devices, specialty materials, and retail.
With a strong track record at Fortune 500 companies such as Dow Corning and DuPont, as well as in startup, early-stage, family business, and growth company environments, Andy excels in combining technological expertise with astute business acumen to drive revenue, profit, and market share growth.
A natural leader and visionary strategist, Andy is also an astute analyst, strong motivator, shrewd negotiator, and dealmaker. He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering and an MBA from Cornell University, specializing in Entrepreneurship and Private Equity.
coast to coast with growing interest in how families flourish in Europe and Asia. He helps families align around purpose, strategy and governance while managing family dynamics so they can make informed decisions about their shared future. To do so they must often explore their most complicated concerns: next gen leadership, continuity and succession, decision making authority, collaboration and conflict, stewardship and the evolving role of owners. Families turn to him as a thinking partner, sounding board and coach, valuing his situational sensitivity, rigorous processes and unwavering commitment to discretion. His engagements focus on building capacity, not just solving the issue of the moment.
DAVID R. SMITH
Smith Advisory Services Inc.
david@smith-advisory.com
David R. Smith is a senior advisor to enterprising families, known for his thoughtfulness, intellectual rigour and his focus on transformational -not transactional- work. With 25 years as a consultant and the last 15 dedicated to family enterprises, he has partnered with families ranging from 50 million to 50 billion dollars in net worth from
Beyond his client work, David has been a champion for advancing the standards of practice in family enterprise advising through six years on Family Enterprise Canada’s national FEA Council. He has closely collaborated with global thought leaders and his advisory experience spans family offices and many industries including financial services, manufacturing, real estate, technology, and professional services. His commitment to community and governance is reflected in his Clarkson Laureateship for Public Service and Arbour Award, demonstrated in his recent tenure as Chair of Rise -a national charitable lender supporting entrepreneurs with histories of mental illness or addiction, and his ongoing leadership at Massey College, where he serves on the Governing Board and chairs the Quadrangle Society. He has taught in senior MBA classes, mentored graduate students for decades, and relishes engaging rising leaders from enterprising families. He holds an MBA in strategy and integrative thinking from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto; is a certified Family Enterprise Advisor (FEA), Corporate Director (ICD.D), and executive coach (CPC); and holds degrees in Psychology & English Literature and Adult Education.
Kush Gold and Jewelry
Parth Vedawala is a Cornell MBA Class of 2019. He worked at Citibank for three years getting experience in the regulatory group and then strategic marketing. Parth worked in his family's business for two years prior to his MBA, and returned again in 2022. Having earned an MBA and gaining experience in the corporate world have been critical to Parth's success in the family business. The business, Kush Gold, is a precious metals, diamond, and jewelry wholesale company with an office in New York's Diamond District. Together with his dad and sister, Parth manages 6 employees and over $150 Million in revenue.
Parth has been working to streamline the operation and improve the infrastructure. Leveraging his regulatory experience from Citibank, Parth considers himself an expert in writing operational procedures, establishing centrally accessible resources, and organizing data for operational analysis and business decisioning. Parth also has gained substantial experience in managing relationship dynamics between coworkers, and amongst his own family from a business perspective. Parth's ultimate goal is to make his business able to be valued and beyond that is to form a healthy succession plan involving himself and his two sisters. As Parth navigates the complex waters of his family business and the precious metals market, he grows increasingly passionate in his work and confident that his goals are attainable. Parth lives in Manhattan with his wife and their three cats. He is proud to be a mentor at the Sam Seltzer's Mentor Forum and considers the Smith Family Business Initiative an invaluable resource for advice and shared experiences.
KEVIN OMAR WILLIAMS '99 Crimson Impact Investments
The family unit is at the heart of Mr. Williams’ approach to strategy, investments and impact. He provides a critical link between honoring the legacy of the Founding Generation and guiding the innovation of the Next Generation. Currently, he is responsible for private equity, private credit investments and inter-generational impact for a Single Family Office. Additionally, he leads the KKR-backed Alternative Investments Accelerator program at national, non-profit MLT, an organization dedicated to economic mobility. Previously, he was the Vice President of Corporate and Business Development for a portfolio company created by Sterling Partners – a diversified $5 billion AUM investment firm – to operate and acquire graduate schools. Formerly, he was the 4th founding team member of the Special Opportunities Fund (“the Fund”) at Australian firm, Babcock & Brown (B&B). B&B – a global, ASX-listed, $70 billion AUM fund manager and investment firm – provided strategic seed capital of $100M to the Fund which made non-control and control investments in essential services and specialty finance companies. Mr. Williams began his career in the investment banking division of Morgan Stanley.
He also serves as a mentor to the Cornell Tech community and is a Fellow of the Smith Family Business Initiative at Cornell University. Recent speaking engagements include Mastercard’s “Inclusivity in FinTech” Seminar; Goldman Sachs-led FinTech Innovation Roundtable; Novartis-led Health AI Innovation Roundtable and the Cornell Family Innovations Summit 2019.
Mr. Williams received his BA in Economics and Government from Cornell University and earned his MBA at Harvard Business School.
Thank you for your participation!
SMITH FAMILY BUSINESS INITIATIVE AT CORNELL
389 Statler Hall
Ithaca, New York 14853
http://business.cornell.edu/familybusiness blog: fambizsuccess.wordpress.com #CornellFamBiz
Cover image: Shelley Kusnetz Photography Bios and headshots are courtesy of the participants. All other photos with people are courtesy of Shelley Kusnetz Photography; landscape images are courtesy of University Photography.