SANDRA MCNEELY MBA, ACFWA
Sandra is the founder and President of Abbey Legacy. Sandra facilitates a process that has been linked to higher levels of multi-generational family business success. Key elements of her process include succession planning, owner and multi-generation family meeting facilitation, alignment of management’s strategy with family vision and values and board effectiveness. Her ability to engage owners, the family, management, and the board results in enhanced communication, strong family relationships and keen alignment of owners and management. Her experience as a former CEO and certified financial planner along with her MBA in Finance round out the financial and management skills she brings to family businesses.
Sandra is particularly experienced in family business board development. According to her clients, an investment in independent advisors at the board level is one of the best decisions they have ever made relative to the performance of the businesses. She has served on various family business fiduciary or advisory boards and non-profit boards and has served as a board chair, compensation committee chair, and governance committee member. Sandra serves on the Family Firm Institute (FFI) Board of Directors, where she is honored as a Fellow and from which she earned both the Global Education Network (GEN) and Advanced Certificates in Family Business Advising. She is an experienced peer group facilitator and an accomplished speaker.
Abbey Legacy has an innovative, practical approach to family business consulting. Sandra McNeely, the founder and managing director of Abbey Legacy, uses this approach to resolve very practical dilemmas that get in the way of organizational excellence.
Often, succession can be one of the most painful and critical times for a family business. Mostly because every family business is a tangled and complex mix of family, management, and wealth creation. Too often decisions about who is best suited to take over leading your business can create tension and conflict. It makes families ask: Which is more important – getting along? Or getting ahead? It’s issues like these that are difficult for any family to settle. But you don’t have to tackle this project alone. Think instead about working with Abbey Legacy. Sandra has both the experience and education to act as your trusted advisor in wrangling these thorny issues to the ground
She may also direct your efforts towards putting together an advisory board. Since she has served as a board member herself, her expertise will guide your choice of these independent board members whose objective third party perspective can provide expert advice without bias.
This team of outsiders can nudge even the most reluctant family members and management to stay focused on the future, bringing everyone’s ideas to the table for evaluation and discussion.
And to protect your family business today while addressing current or future challenges that could impact value tomorrow, Abbey Legacy will assist with a strategy process that appreciates an organization’s history, mission, culture, and legacy, while looking forward toward a future that can handle change and adaptation.
One other extremely important value Abbey Legacy will bring to every consulting assignment: Ms. McNeely has an in-depth knowledge of the family business landscape of this region, gained over the years she has been working with family businesses in the area.