Fredda Herz Brown, PhD
Principal
- Widely recognized for extensive, thoughtful contributions to family enterprises and closely held companies
- In-depth experience in governance and board development, wealth psychology and philanthropy, shareholder education, transitions in family business and change management
- Founding Board member of the Family Firm Institute (FFI), winner of its Richard Beckhard Practice Award and the Hollander Award
- Author of numerous articles and the highly acclaimed book Reweaving the Family Tapestry
- Currently working on a second book, The First Organization: The Powerful Effect of Your Family on Your Success at Work
Fredda is a pioneer in the field of family enterprise. Her career in working with families who share substantial assets began almost twenty years ago after she completed a research project examining successful first to second generation transitions. Her research began at The Family Institute of Westchester, a world-renowned postgraduate training center in family systems work, which she founded with several colleagues. It is the expertise in family systems work that began there that continued in her consulting work with family enterprise.
Dr. Herz Brown was a member of the founding board of The Family Firm Institute where she also spearheaded the work on developing the body of knowledge that defined the work of the field. She has continued to serve on the editorial review board of its journal, THE FAMILY BUSINESS REVIEW. She has written and published extensively on the subjects of women in family enterprise, raising children in wealth, board and leadership development, family governance, harmony and communication, and philanthropy. Recently she has begun a second book with a working title of The First Organization; the influence of the family on our emotional intelligence. Her first book, Reweaving the Family Tapestry (Norton, 1991) marked her earlier work with families defining a model for understanding and working with them as they evolve through their life cycle.
In 1993, Fredda and Mark Rubin founded The Metropolitan Group, LLC, an organization devoted to the education of, and consultation with, families who share assets -- whether as an operating company, a family office and/or a foundation. In 2006, Fredda joined with Dennis Jaffe, Fran Lotery and Sam Davis to form Relative Solutions, considerably expanding the depth of client services offered and the breadth of consultant availability. Along with her colleagues, she helps families achieve optimum functioning that will enhance their business and their financial lives. One of the underpinnings of Relative Solutions is the belief that building family intellectual, emotional and community capital is necessary for the preservation and growth of the family's other assets.
Fredda is also in demand as a speaker. She is a guest lecturer at Wharton’s Private Wealth management Program, conducted in conjunction with the Institute for Private Investors. Additionally, she has continued her interest in training by maintaining faculty appointments at Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Rutgers was one of several universities, including CUNY and Hahnemann Medical Center, where Fredda taught early in her career.
Fredda has received a number of awards recognizing her work in the field. In 1996 she received the Hollander award for her contribution to the community of family enterprise. In 2002, she was especially honored to receive the Beckhard award, named for one of her mentors, which acknowledges the recipient’s contribution to practice in the field. In 2009, Fredda was honored as a “thought leader in the field” by the Family Office Exchange and was asked to contribute several major articles as a thought leader celebrating the 20th anniversary of the field.
Fredda continues to contribute to the field by speaking, writing and teaching. Most recently, her writing has focused on women and wealth, family governance, and raising children in privilege. Her interest remains on the nexus between family emotion and family economy. She is currently working on two books, one listed above and another with Fran Lotery which highlights the 7 Principles for Raising Responsible Children in a world of privilege and materialism.
The work of Relative Solutions has expanded the focus of her work to include the development of a series of online products to assist family enterprises. One of the products is a Sustainability Index which allows a family to assess how sustainable their family is over time.
