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Kelin Gersick

Kelin Gersick

Meet

Kelin Gersick

Kelin Gersick

Kelin Gersick is Partner Emeritus at Lansberg, Gersick Advisors. He has taught at Harvard University and Yale University and is Professor Emeritus of Organizational Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology. His consulting, teaching and educational programs on family business and family foundations have taken him throughout North America and to more than 35 countries in Central and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and Africa.

Kelin is the lead author of Generation to Generation: Life Cycles of the Family Business (1997, Harvard Business School Press), The Succession Workbook: Continuity Planning in Family Foundations (2000, Council on Foundations), Generations of Giving: Leadership and Continuity in Family Foundations (2004, Lexington Books), and many articles, cases, columns, and other publications. He has served as Co-Editor in Chief of Family Business Review and is currently Chair of the Research Board for the International Institute for Family Enterprise.

Kelin’s consulting work focuses on the impact of family relationships – marriage, parenting, siblings, and cousins, and multiple generations — on governance and continuity in family businesses, family foundations, and family offices. Kelin holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and a B.A. from Yale University.

 







Insights by Kelin Gersick

Podcasts

The Succession Conspiracy – Moving Beyond the Struggle of Letting Go

In this episode of the LGA Lighthouse podcast, host Tim Yeung continues his two-part conversation with LGA co-founders Kelin Gersick and Ivan Lansberg. Building on their previous discussion about family systems, they dive into one of the most persistent and emotionally charged challenges in family enterprise: the Succession Conspiracy. They explore why succession is so frequently avoided and how to transform it from an individual struggle into a shared institutional process.

Podcasts

The Power of Models – Navigating the Network of Families

In this episode of the LGA Lighthouse podcast, host Tim Yeung kicks off a two-part conversation with family enterprise pioneers and LGA co-founders Ivan Lansberg and Kelin Gersick. They explore the practical power of conceptual models—not as academic concepts, but as essential tools for helping families make sense of the deep complexity inherent in multi-generational businesses.

Generation Of Giving
Books

Generations Of Giving

“A thorough and powerful work, Generations of Giving: Leadership and Continuity in Family Foundations demands.

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