Generational continuity in family businesses is our primary goal, but to achieve it, families must work hard to create solid and effective governance structures. I learned this from my own experience in my family business, and it is something I want to share with other entrepreneurial families while continuing to learn from them, as I have throughout my work at LGA. I am passionate about seeing how governance structures, in many cases incredibly complex, can be effectively put to work for the benefit, well-being, and sustainability of the family business.
Gustavo is a Principal at Lansberg, Gersick Advisors (LGA), where he advises family businesses throughout Latin America on complex corporate governance matters. As a seasoned LGA advisor, Gustavo plays an instrumental role in guiding processes to assist presidents, directors, and executives of family businesses to develop the full potential of their boards of directors and family councils. He brings extensive personal experience to his work as a result of serving on numerous family and non-family corporate boards himself.
He has also assisted families in creating and managing family councils and family offices within complex family governance systems. He is a frequent speaker at Family Business Network (FBN) events, the Owner’s Forum, IDB-Invest, and other family enterprise organizations, as well as being a professor of the executive education program “Familias Empresarias” organized by LGA & ESE Business School of Chile in New York City.
Gustavo was a member of the Board of Directors of CARVAJAL S.A., a family business founded more than 120 years ago, where he also served as chairman for six years. Over the course of more than 30 years, he held various leadership roles within the company across several Latin American countries, including Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil. Within his family business, Gustavo actively participated for more than twenty years in the Family Council and served for many others on the Superior Council of the CARVAJAL Foundation. He is currently a member of the board of directors of ICESI University, Grupo BOLÍVAR (financial group), and Fedesarrollo (economic think-tank) in Colombia. He participates as an independent director of the boards of directors of La Fabril Holding (Ecuador) and Milady Holding (SIMAN Group El Salvador).
He was Ambassador of Colombia in France and UNESCO in Paris. As ambassador, he was instrumental in the acceptance of Colombia’s accession process to the OECD. At UNESCO, he participated as Chair of the Committee of the World Heritage Session in Cambodia in June 2013. He was also Concurrent Ambassador of Colombia to Monaco and Algeria.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Political Science from Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Furthermore, he has attended several executive-level courses at Stanford, Harvard, and Northwestern.
