Helping Families Purposefully Navigate Their Multigenerational Journey with Valerie Galinskaya

Today, I'm excited to speak with Valerie Galinskaya, Managing Director and Head of the Merrill Center for Family Wealth®. She works with ultra-high net worth families to help empower them to be purposeful about the impact of their wealth on themselves, their families, and their communities. Her insights have been featured in leading publications and outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Barron's, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance and CNBC. Valerie rejoined Merrill in 2014 after serving as Project Leader at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in New York. She was a 2025 ThinkAdvisor Luminaries Thought Leader of the Year, a 2025 InvestmentNews Women to Watch Financial Literacy Champion Finalist, a Crain's New York Business 40 Under 40 Honoree and a 2024 WealthBriefing Outstanding Contribution to Wealth for Good Initiatives Winner. She is a member of the Forbes Finance Council, Purposeful Planning Institute, Family Firm Institute and Collaboration for Family Flourishing. Valerie enjoys volunteering to encourage education and financial literacy, supporting the efforts of Public Education Needs Civic Involvement in Learning (PENCIL) and serving as former Associate Board Member of City Year New York. Valerie works with many families, and especially with the younger rising-gen members of these families. She tells us about some of the top goals and anxieties she encounters among families and their rising future generations. She then, delves into some of the external themes and trends that, in her experience, are impacting families most today. Throughout Valerie's years of work with enterprising multigenerational families, she has witnessed many who have struggled and many who have flourished. She outlines the most common and impactful areas of best practices that she has identified among the most successful families she has worked with. Valerie wraps up by offering her practical advice and tips for family members looking to navigate their collective enterprise journey. She also provides valuable suggestions and tips for family office executives and external advisors serving families. Do not miss this engaging conversation with a leading practitioner and thought leader in the family wealth advisory space.