Kirby combines her life experiences with her passions for research, client advisory, and her love of writing, which have culminated in many articles, research studies, and books including The Complete Family Office Handbook and The Complete Direct Investing Handbook. Kirby received honors including the prestigious Family Wealth Industry Thought Leadership award in 2018 from the Family Wealth Alliance, and the Richard Beckhard Practice award for lifetime achievement and outstanding contributions to family business practice from the Family Firm Institute’s (FFI) in 2018.

Kirby earned her undergraduate from Middlebury College, an MBA from Marquette University and a PhD from Saybrook University. Her prior experiences include working in the securities industry for a broker-dealer and more than a decade in a prominent multi-family office as the head of Research and Development. Kirby is Dean of Family Office at the Purposeful Planning Institute, a Fellow and Family Governance Faculty of the FFI GEN Program; co-trustee of the Harbeck Family Foundation; and currently serves on the advisory board Merton Venture Philanthropy and Hope Trust.

John’s early career started with a third generation family business where he worked for more than a decade, and then as an operations manager where he managed more than 150 employees, coordinated outsourcing initiatives, and managed turnaround efforts that improved profit margins. John worked in procurement and project management for Florida Power and Light and Northwestern Mutual, leading and supporting multi-million dollar projects. John has experience as a business owner, having successfully launched an antique furniture import business which was sold in 2013, co-founded a family office direct investment business in 2016, and has grown Tamarind Partners into the success it is today.

John earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee in Management Information Systems and earned his MBA in Finance from Florida Atlantic University. Additionally, John holds a real estate license in the State of Florida. John served in the United States Marine Corps Infantry. In his free time, John takes his two talented daughters to their events and he also enjoys traveling, golf, tennis, and hockey.

With more than 25 years consumer marketing, research, and client service experience with some of the most respected companies in the world, her specialties include strategic planning, research, brand strategy, marketing communications, innovation, and general business management. Kelly leverages these skills at Tamarind Partners in her broad role.

Kelly earned a Master’s degree in Advertising and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations Policy Problems with a minor in Business from Michigan State University. She began her career in consumer marketing and has extensive brand management experience, having developed and optimized numerous brands through strategic positioning which resulted in highly focused marketing strategies and communication.

Leading marketing teams throughout her career, Kelly was responsible for growing market share and achieving financial targets. Kelly developed both innovation and portfolio optimization strategies that led to successful new product launches for Nestlé, Haagen-Dazs, KFC, and Moen brands. In client service roles, Kelly provided team leadership and identified market opportunities that led to innovation-based growth opportunities through consumer segmentation insights as well as identifying brand and advertising optimization strategies.