Background
William (Bill) Lyons is a Director of Governance at the Truist Center for Family Legacy. He is focused on helping families develop their human and intellectual capital. He has extensive experience in family meeting facilitation, family communication, family policy creation, next generation education and social impact. He is also co-leading the Truist initiative on Purpose and Social Impact.
Before joining Truist, Bill was a Senior Director with Abbot Downing’s Institute for Family Culture where he helped families clarify values to drive family business succession, family office governance, and succession planning for family and social impact enterprises. Previously, Bill was an independent consultant to entrepreneurs, family leaders, philanthropists, and family offices developing strategic communications, education, mentoring and family governance systems. He has served in senior leadership roles with a single family office, the philanthropic advisory firm Arabella Philanthropic Investment Advisors and as a trustee and advisor to several foundations, trusts, and donor collaborates. He began his career with the multifamily office Asset Management Advisors, which then became GenSpring.
Personal Interests
Bill is a graduate of Boston College, Georgetown University Law Center, and has a Masters in Family Studies from Loyola University of Chicago. He brings an interdisciplinary perspective as well as experience working with diverse leaders from deeply held identity- and faith-based communities to help individuals and families leverage their unique perspectives when working on generational succession, leadership development, and high impact systems change.
Bill is co-chair of the Nexus Working Group on Family Prosperity and has been a speaker at the Transitions Family Business Magazine, Family Office Exchange, Council on Foundations, Attorneys for Family Business, Family Firm Institute, Creating Change Through Family Philanthropy, and the FRA Family Office Symposium. Bill taught a course on family philanthropy as an adjunct professor at New York University and he provided editorial assistance to James E. Hughes, Jr. for the second edition of his classic book, Family Wealth.
