Family Enterprise Alumni Circle Board
In 2021, The Alumni Circle Board was formed. The Board’s focus is to create and enhance programming, increase communication among its members and develop ways to strengthen the connectivity among the Family Enterprise alumni. Its goal is to not only support the strategic growth of the membership, but also to deepen connections among its members.
Board Members
- Arzoo Bhusri ’16, Partner, Minerva Management
- Jeff Greenfield ’90, Managing Director, Golconda Partners
- Prem G. Hira ’12, Founder & Financial Planner, Investry, LLC
- Dan Lifton ’02, CEO, Quality of Life Labs
- Xenia Razinski ’15, Co-Owner & Executive, Invar International Investments Group
- Philip Zhou ’21
The Alumni Circle Board also works closely with the Global Family Enterprise Advisory Board and actively engages these senior and highly accomplished professionals in its programming.
Exclusive programming developed by the Alumni Circle Board include the Family Enterprise Voices and Family Enterprise Connects calls, as well as the development of its website. The Alumni Circle Board invites all members to contribute ideas. There are more exciting and important things to come, so stay tuned, stay involved, and come participate!
Events
Family Enterprise Voices
Family Enterprise Voices are global interactive sessions featuring two or three panelists sharing their own experiences on relevant topics with opportunities for open and frank discussion. It is modeled off of the popular student versions (CBS Matters and Family Business Matters). Voices calls are confidential and open to Circle Members and are typically held via Zoom to connect with Circle Members around the world.
Past Speakers and Topics
- Movers & Shakers: CBS Alumni in Logistics & Real Estate with Guido Ottolenghi ’94, General Manager & CEO La Petrolifera Italo Rumena and Samer Hanini ’17, Managing Partner, Hanini Group
- Sustainable Entrepreneurship with Lily Oswald ’15, CEO, Sorrelli
- Global Alumni Leading Growth Across Industries with Taimur Dawood ’99, Chairman, Descon, and Matthew Frisch ’11, (formerly) President, Pharmaceutical Services Division, Kohl & Frisch Limited
- Strategic vs. Emotional Investing, Estate & Philanthropic Planning with Adil Ahamed ’12, Managing Director, Destination Auto Group, Amanda Nee ’19, Managing Director, WALC Capital, and Adhar Srivastava ’17, CEO, Soliel Chartered Bank
- In-Laws, Transformation, Navigating Family and Culture with Nandini Garg ’19, Director, Rajdarbar Group, Patricia Riberas ’18, Transformation and Organization Director, Gestamp, and Andrew Straitman ’14, Director, Strategy & eCommerce, Commonwealth Packaging
Family Enterprise Insights
Family Enterprise Circle members are entitled to attend exclusive events with global experts on family enterprise. Family Enterprise Insights presents and archives the latest research, wisdom and advice from leading global scholars, family enterprise principals, and expert practitioners. Sessions vary from small workshops with academic researchers to webinars featuring C-suite executives and are open to students, alumni and friends of the program. Videos, articles and other resources are available online.
Family Enterprise Connects Calls
Share with your fellow grads! Family Enterprise Connects is a facilitated discussion among members of Columbia’s Global Family Enterprise Program’s Advisory Board and Family Enterprise Circle. Participants are invited to share real-time experiences on various themes and get feedback from their peers and connect with one another. Conversations are off the record, unrecorded, and confidential.
Past Topics
- Governance
- Succession
- Sustainability
- Focus on Family
Family Enterprise Alumni Circle Pledge
The Family Enterprise Alumni Circle is a global community of Columbia alumni who are interested in continuing our educational and professional development with fellow graduates in family enterprise. In an effort to create a “safe space” for our group, we require all members to accept the Code of Conduct as follows:
- Respect the privacy of all members of the Circle and Board
- Comply with specific requests for confidentiality (activities and events are not confidential unless specified).
- Adhere to a no solicitation policy.*
- Participate in Circle events on a regular basis (at least 3 per year) – the value of the group is in our members!
*This includes, but is not limited to, selling products or services, seeking special advantages or raising funds from others on an unsolicited basis, for business, personal, charitable or political benefit.