Advisor, consultant, and speaker to legacy families, family offices, and multigenerational enterprises, Peter Evans helps to create the conditions where affluent families have the greatest chance of flourishing. He has worked with and presented to hundreds of families in the USA, Canada, Dominican Republic, Taiwan, Switzerland, England, India, Spain, Saudi Arabia and Dubai.
Peter’s primary engagements are long-term as a personne de confiance, helping legacy families sustain their family and business relationships for many generations. This work is in five areas: growing the human capital of the family by investing in the personal development of each individual and generation…the goal being happy, joyful, productive, contributive members of society, rather than entitled beneficiaries; building intellectual capital – a robust governance system, clear succession plans and successful decisionmaking; investing in the organization’s social capital – building traditions of civic contribution, family philanthropy, and maintaining social and political connections; fostering the development of the family’s spiritual capital; and finally, helping family members make choices to ensure wise stewardship of the financial capital of their enterprise.
For 26 years, Peter was involved in many facets of Laird Norton Company LLC, a 7th generation family enterprise. He concluded his tenure as President in 2003. His responsibilities at Laird Norton included the stewardship of the long-held values and traditions of 400+ family members’ financial, intellectual, social and human assets. He remains a member of the family and company.
Peter earned a Master of Science in Management from Antioch University, and a BA from Western Washington University in Physical Anthropology, with concentrations in Chemistry and Biology. He is currently working on a project focused on Lifelong Learning in enterprising families. Peter is a Member and past Chapter Chairman of Young Presidents Organization -YPO/YPO Gold; and Past Chairman of the Collaboration for Family Flourishing, a network of cross-discipline practitioners supporting affluent families. Formerly, he was Chairman of the Learning Academy, an experiential learning program serving the needs of family members in multi-generational enterprises; Peter has served as Trustee of several non-profit organizations including: Prescott College; the American Sail Training Association; Sound Experience, a marine science-environmental learning program aboard the 101’ schooner Adventuress; Explorer West School; Pathfinder School; Director of the Earth & Spirit Conference, Deva Foundation; and the Seattle Parks Foundation. Peter has enjoyed a meditation practice for 42 years.
A Seattle resident, Peter and his wife Melissa enjoy boating and exploring the beauty, majesty and wonder of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Along with their adult children, they are a family of lifelong learners and avid world travelers.
