In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Dann Van Der Vliet. Dann is the Executive Director of the John and Dyan Smith Family Business Initiative (SFBI) at Cornell University. Dann tells us that in 2009 when his mom died, she had a condo, a used car and a few thousand dollars, but she didn’t have a will. Dann goes on to share that his older brother felt like he had done more to help their mom and, therefore, deserved her leftover resources as a result. This caused a rift in the family, and the two stopped talking. Dann knew the break with his brother was about the relationship and not about the money.

Dann is a 2010 graduate of the Master of Education Interdisciplinary Studies program at the University of Vermont (UVM) and a 2001 graduate of the University of Vermont with a B.S. in Natural Resources. As the founding director of the SFBI, Dann has guided the launch and growth of one of the leading educational centers for family business. He designed and developed the Leaders in Family Enterprise course, and teaches executives and next generation leaders through the SFBI’s professional development programs.

As Director of The Family Business Initiative at UVM from 2003 through 2014, Dann worked with owners and their successors to find solutions that worked for both family and business. In January of 2013, he was part of the team that launched and funded first ever Global Family Enterprise Case Competition with 16 teams from nine countries. Dann is a member of the Collaboration for Family Flourishing, an Editor for familybusiness.org, the leading online resource for family business knowledge, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Green Mountain Club.

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