Big Island Meeting

“How to Craft a Family Constitution”

Speaker: Dana Telford, Principal Consultant, The Family Business Consulting Group

Dana Telford helps family business owners plan for continuity and manage the complexities and opportunities that are inherent to family business.  He specializes in succession planning, developing and improving family governance, coaching next generation leaders, and managing conflict.

Dana earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Utah.  He is a third-generation member of a U.S. based family commercial real estate firm.

Dana has advised 210 business families on 6 continents and in more than 30 different countries, including Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, India, Kuwait, China, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Australia, Greece, Malaysia, Egypt, Belgium, Brazil, England, Singapore, Mexico, Australia, Canada and the UAE.  He works with controlling owner, sibling partnership and multi- generational family enterprises of all complexities and sizes, and across multiple industries.  Previous clients include over a dozen self-made billionaires, NFL, MLB and NHL team owners, members of the Forbes List, a royal family and founders and leaders of some of the world’s largest organizations.

Dana has done work in a variety of industries, including real estate, automotive, residential and commercial construction, heavy equipment distribution, aeronautical engineering, farming, medical services, health insurance, jewelry, landscape development, property management, ranching, manufacturing, oil and gas exploration, home furnishings, hotels and lodging, banking, beverage bottling and distribution, trucking and retail grocery.

Dana has co-authored two books that have sold over 70,000 copies in 4 languages; the national best seller The Integrity Advantage: How Taking the High Road Creates a Competitive Advantage in Business and Integrity Works: Strategies for Becoming a Trusted, Respected and Admired Leader. He has been a guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, USC, the University of Utah, Cal State Fullerton, the University of Louisville, the University of Wisconsin, Centenary College, Gonzaga, the American University of Kuwait and the University of South Dakota.  He has been a guest on ABC and FOX television.  His research and writing has been quoted in Investor’s Business Daily, The Chicago Tribune, The Orange County Register, Toronto Globe and Mail and others.

Dana lives with his wife Melinda and 3 of their 6 children in Kihei, Maui.  He can be reached at [email protected].