The Art of the Family Meeting Running Effective Family Governance Conversations
EFOA Webinar Series
The Emirates Family Office Association (EFOA) is pleased to invite you to the next session in our ongoing webinar series — a practitioner-led conversation on one of the most overlooked yet consequential skills in family governance: running effective family meetings.
Family meetings are where strategy meets emotion, where ownership meets relationship, and where the future of a family enterprise is — quietly — decided. Yet most families have never been taught how to run them well.
In this session, we will explore the practical art of designing, facilitating, and leading productive family governance conversations — covering agenda design, facilitation techniques, conflict navigation, and decision-making protocols in a family context.
Featured Speaker
Walid S. Chiniara, Esq. Family Office Strategist | Architect of Family Wealth, Legacy & Continuity
Walid is widely recognised as one of the world's foremost advisors to family enterprises. With nearly 45 years of experience and having advised more than 200 business families across the Middle East and beyond, he is the author of Dynastic Planning and the creator of the 7-Step Methodology™ — a framework for succession dialogue, ownership alignment, and long-term legacy planning. In 2024, Family Capital ranked him the leading advisor to family enterprises in the Gulf and among the top five globally.
Programme
4:00 – 4:05 PM Welcome, housekeeping & EFOA introduction
4:05 – 4:10 PM Opening context: why this topic matters to family offices in the UAE today
4:10 – 4:35 PM Speaker presentation: meeting design, facilitation & governance conversations
4:35 – 4:55 PM Moderated discussion: key insights & practical implications
4:55 – 5:20 PM Live Q&A from participants
5:20 – 5:25 PM 3 key takeaways from the speaker
5:25 – 5:30 PM EFOA close: next session preview & resources
What You Will Take Away
A practical framework for designing and facilitating effective family meetings
Techniques for managing disagreement and keeping conversations constructive
Decision-making protocols that work in a family governance context
A Family Meeting Facilitation Guide distributed to all registered participants 48 hours before the session
This session will be recorded. Registration is open to EFOA members and invited guests. For enquiries, please contact the EFOA team.