Commitment to family legacies, past, present and future
The Professionals at the Strategy Group are committed to educating, empowering, and creating long-term success for our clients. We have worked with some of our client families for more than a decade, and take great pride in enduring relationships and the rewards of a long vision. Your aspirations for your family and your family enterprises extend decades into the future, and we are dedicated to helping you create a stable legacy.
Like the organizations it serves, The Strategy Group is itself a family business—Katherine Heath joined her father, Alan Heath, in the company seven years ago, and they work closely on most assignments. We also have an extended family of trusted experts and resources available to us when they are needed.
The Strategy Group Team:
Alan Heath
Alan Heath is the Founder and Managing Director of The Strategy Group, Inc. and also Special Counsel to the Owner Managed Business Institute, where for many years he served as Managing Director and Partner. Mr. Heath has been advising families in business, including their CEOs and top management teams, for nearly thirty years as both a consultant and an executive. He consults internationally to family businesses on issues of governance, organizational development, succession, exit strategies, internal capital markets, trust practices, and family offices. He is also a family facilitator and guest lecturer at Harvard Business School’s Executive Education program, Families in Business: From Generation to Generation, which examines pivotal issues facing family businesses. Alan regularly works with families in Latin America and was practice leader for the Owner Managed Business Institute in Mexico, Central America and the Southern Cone of South America.
While he now works almost exclusively as an outside advisor to family businesses, Mr. Heath has years of executive suite experience in a number of industries, including as president of a multinational vending machine manufacturing company and as vice president of marketing for an $8.8B food packaging corporation. Additionally, he has served as a director of a number of privately held family companies. Alan has frequently acted as an interim officer in companies with which he has consulted, holding positions such as COO, senior managing director, and vice president. Building on a career in global business, Alan regularly works with families not only in the US but also in Latin America and throughout the world. Mr. Heath has more than a decade of experience serving as an outside, independent, personal, lead trustee for several large multiple-family trusts. In this role, he advises beneficiaries on broad wealth management issues and counsels the next generation regarding wealth responsibility and wealth management. He is currently active with a client in the formation of a complex US private trust company.
Mr. Heath received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Economics from Kalamazoo College and his Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado School of Law. He did post-graduate work in finance at Western Michigan University and has completed the Corporate Boards course at Harvard Business School. Mr. Heath is a certificate holder in family business advising from the Family Firm Institute. He also serves on the Alumni Board of the University of Colorado School of Law and is a member of the Collaboration for Family Flourishing, a multi-disciplinary think tank focused on issues of family well-being. Mr. Heath is a frequent speaker on family business issues for organizations such as HSM, the Institute for Private Investors, Family Office Exchange, YPO, and at private family business events sponsored by global wealth management organizations, international universities, and others.
Katherine Heath
Katherine Heath is a principal of The Strategy Group, Inc. (TSG) She focuses on family education, family governance, conflict resolution, coaching the next generation and philanthropy. Katherine is also an Associate Consultant and Research Associate at the Owner Managed Business Institute (OMBI).
Katherine manages assessments and evaluations for both TSG and OMBI, administering and interpreting various diagnostic tools and personality type assessments. In addition, Katherine oversees many activities related to company operations and ongoing client relationships. In her role as a researcher, Katherine also writes proposals and articles for TSG—she recently co-authored an article in Verano Magazine, entitled Empresas Familiares—Claves Para La Supervivencia Generacional. Katherine has assisted at Harvard Business School’s Families in Business: From Generation to Generation executive education program, which examines pivotal issues facing family businesses.
Katherine earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the San Francisco Art Institute and pursued additional studies at Kenyon College, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Colorado-Boulder, principally in the area of Spanish language. She is currently taking postgraduate coursework in personality and behavioral assessments, conflict resolution and mediation. She is a member of the Collaboration for Family Flourishing, a multi-disciplinary think tank focused on issues of family well-being. She is also an active member of the Family Firm Institute, the Colorado Philanthropic Advisors Network, and the Association for Psychological Type.
Mollie H. Niess, Principal
Mollie manages diverse projects for The Strategy Group. Her responsibilities include writing, editing and marketing activities, as well as event planning for family and trust office meetings.
Mollie comes to The Strategy Group from an editorial, marketing, and events background where she held a variety of roles at multinational publishing and event companies. She has been a Group Show Director, managing large teams of marketing, sales, operations and conference staff that planned and executed global trade shows. She has also held client account management and editorial positions. Mollie has a global perspective on business and has worked with clients, speakers, authors, and teams from all regions of the globe. She has on-the-ground work experience in Canada, The Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, and all regions of the United States, as well as long distance client and team management experience in México and Brazil.
Mollie received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English & American Literature from Dartmouth College. She is an avid outdoorswoman and the mother to two young boys.
“When wealthy families have asked me to recommend an independent individual trustee, I immediately think of Alan Heath. Alan combines a solid understanding of fiduciary responsibilities, a keen awareness of investment and planning opportunities, and an intense commitment to the family enterprise. Having observed Alan, I know he possesses the most important qualities of a trustee—loyalty, impartiality, and independence. Alan Heath’s experience in advising wealthy families regarding their businesses and governance is impressive. The value that Alan and The Strategy Group can bring to a family cannot be overstated.”
-Family office executive, trust officer and trust company founder
